The Bug Man Collection: First the Dead, Less than Dead, Ends of the Earth, and Nick of Time

Bug Man

by Tim Downs

All four novels from the Bug Man series now available in one e-book collection.

First the Dead

Nick tries to find a killer in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina’s attack on New Orleans. But the more he digs the stronger—and deadlier—the resistance becomes. Nick is there to collect bodies, and he's going to do just that—especially when he starts finding bodies that were clearly dead before the hurricane. He understands that all forensic evidence will soon disintegrate in the hot, contaminated water . . . and he knows that's exactly what the killer wants to happen.

Less than Dead

Nick has finally met his match. When a grave is discovered on property owned by the front-running candidate for the next presidential election, the FBI immediately becomes involved. The graves then vanish and Nick follows local legend to the bizarre Alena who keeps to herself in the mountains of Northern Virginia, training cadaver dogs. Together they discover that this small town—and the presidential-hopeful—have closets full of skeletons.

Ends of the Earth

Nick struggles to protect a victim’s family from agro-terrorists in North Carolina. After dissecting the remains of a bale of marijuana scattered in the tomato fields, Nick learns that the South American marijuana is strangely infested with a common North Carolina insect: the tobacco hornworm. To further confound the mystery, the bugs are infected with a fungus from Asia, and Nick begins to suspect his victim wasn't killed because of the marijuana, but because of the insects it contained. He then discovers that a vicious agricultural scheme is underway to cripple US corn and ethanol production.

Nick of Time

The Bug Man is getting married on Saturday  . . . if his fiancée can find him.

Forensic entomologist Nick Polchak lives in a world of maggots and blow flies and decomposing bodies. No wonder he's still single.

But Nick has finally found a woman as strange as he is—dog trainer Alena Savard, a woman who is odd, reclusive, and can seemingly talk to animals. It was a match made in heaven.

Nick and Alena are scheduled to be married on Saturday—but there's one small problem. Nick has disappeared.

Caught up in a murder case involving an old friend, Nick finds himself on a manhunt that's drawing him farther and farther from the church where Alena is waiting. But will he make it back in time? Could Nick's single-minded focus cause him to forget his own wedding? Is he really pursuing a killer, or is he running away from something else?

Genres: Mystery, Christian Fiction

1515 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 3, 2015

About the author

Tim Downs is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Indiana University. After graduation in 1976 he created a comic strip, Downstown, which was syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate (Calvin & Hobbes, Doonesbury, The Far Side) from 1980 to 1986. His cartooning has appeared in more than a hundred daily newspapers worldwide. Tim has written seven mystery/suspense novels: Shoofly Pie, Chop Shop, PlagueMaker, Head Game, First the Dead, Less than Dead, and Ends of the Earth. PlagueMaker was awarded the Christy Award for the best CBA mystery/suspense novel of 2006, and Less than Dead was a finalist for the 2009 Christian Book Award in suspense fiction. Tim lives in Cary, North Carolina, with his wife Joy. They have three grown children.

Reviews

[Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writing is unique to anything I have previously read. The Nick character weaves sarcastic humor throughout the tense story line so at one point I have brows furrowed and the next I am belly laughing. The intensely antisocial central character actually has a heart that shows in very realistic life situations. The settings are equally amazing and so well researched and described that they become completely immersive. I am finishing First the Dead, which is book three in the overall series and plan to take in the rest of the series as soon as I can.

[DIANA L BARRISS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

This set of books had everything: humor, intrigue, suspense, romance. All four books in the collection were exciting and quick-paved with many interest twists and turns.