The Skeleton Man

Product Description

The day after Ray Bond receives a secret gift of $30,000 in cash from his uncle, the uncle is found dead--an apparent suicide--and Ray begins to receive anonymous threats

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-12 In this taut, suspenseful crime novel, Ray Bond's Uncle Ed gives the 18 year old a birthday legacy of $30,000, then commits suicide. Uncle Ed, like Ray's absent father, is a gambler who has become involved with the crime world. Ray is pursued by a ruthless killer, who demands the money supposedly to pay off his uncle's gambling debt. Ray does not reveal the situation to his girl friend, Laurie; his mother; or the police, and he refuses to turn over the money. Yet Ray begins to change his mind when a woman confidante of Uncle Ed's is murdered and the killer threatens Laurie's life. Ray reluctantly decides to meet the killer and give him the money, but the happy ending comes quickly and perhaps too neatly when Treasury men capture the killer and return the inheritance to Ray. The plot unfolds almost exclusively in short sentence dialogue, making the story particularly appealing to slower readers. Attention to only the most important details; well-drawn characters, especially Ray; and an exciting plot create a compelling mystery about a courageous teen caught in life-threatening circumstances. Phyllis Graves, Creekwood Middle School, Kingwood, Tex. Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Taut, suspenseful ... Well-drawn characters, especially Ray, and an exciting plot create a fine mystery."

School Library Journal

From the Inside Flap

Ray accepts his uncle's generosity, never suspecting he'll become trapped in a web of terror....

Ray Bond's Uncle Ed had always been a shadowy figure, with little interest in his nephew. On Ray's eighteenth birthday, Ed gives him thirty thousand dollars in cash. He makes Ray swear he'll never tell where he got it.

The next day Uncle Ed leaps from the twelfth floor of his midtown hotel.

Stunned, Ray keeps his promise and withholds his secret from his grieving mother and Laurie, his girlfriend. Keeping his word is harder when he hears from Uncle Ed's girlfriend, Alice Cobb. She tells him about Ed's gambling debts and her conviction that his uncle didn't jump, but was pushed from the window.

Ray also hears from Albert Dawson, the sadistic thug who may be responsible for Ed's death. He tells Ray that Ed owed him money. Furthermore, he knows where that money is. Ray senses Dawson is not the kind of guy to cross, not if you value your life....