Deadfall, Deadfall

A dark comedy mystery novel for fans of Carl Hiaasen, Tim Dorsey, Dave Barry, Lucy Score, and Elmore Leonard. When a frozen corpse drops out of the sky and lands in his pool, science writer Ed Beckett must outwit a murderer, dodge a tiny assassin, and survive a highflying NASA conspiracyor risk becoming the next punchline in a deadly cosmic joke. It all started when a NASA scientist mysteriously turned into a human popsicle. Now, Ed is racing through wind tunnels and flying in a highaltitude research jet at the Ames Research Center to clear his name. Along the way, he's stalked by Condor, a pintsized hitman with the tenacity of a mosquito and the skills of...well, someone who probably shouldn't have been hired to kill anyone. And if that's not enough, the real villain, Tal Blackadder, a sleazy real estate developer fronting for the Russian Mafia, is ready to send Ed on a oneway trip to the bottom of the San Francisco Bay. Amid highaltitude escapades, love triangles, and explosive confrontations, Beckett must use his wits and the help of his quirky team to stay one step ahead. The odds may be stacked against him, but he's not going down without a fightor at least a few good oneliners. Join Beckett on this rollercoaster of comedy and chaos, and find out if he can outsmart the killers before he becomes the final punchline. B.J. Balfour, national bestselling author of The Forge of Mars and The Digital Dead, transports readers into life and death on the cutting edge of technology, where a corpse can drop out of the sky at any moment.