Mr. Randall R Reneau

Who ever knew that the mining industry could be so very deadly? How does one keep one's wits about them as subversives undermine your success in their efforts to fill their own coffers? Keep it clean and above board and you might just get through this alive.

Not only is this story fast-paced, containing many twists and turns, it is also very instructive. I learned more about the ore speculation industry and how to feed the market just enough information to keep it interested in what you bring to the table. Author and professional geologist, Randall Reneau knows his stuff and shares that knowledge and know-how through a highly entertaining cat and mouse chase. Greed can kill you and the quest for the mother lode can make or break you. Buckle-up for the ride!

I am grateful to author Randall Reneau and Goodreads Giveaway program for having provided a free copy of this book. Their generosity did not, however, influence this review - the words of which are mine alone.… (meer)

Truly unbelievable.
And I mean that in every sense. The plot was too convenient, the dialogue seemed unnatural and stilted, the characters were unrealistic and too nice; even the bad guys. What professional hit man would make nice polite direct conversation asking about where his 'hit' could be found, and then put it off till morning because he was hungry and tired? What hit man would leave keys to his car, and compensation money in a pocket of someone he had just knocked out cold to steal their car?
Just don't get me started on the grizzly bear! Too unreal and convenient.
Reneau has talent for a story and clearly a lot of knowledge of mining and Spokane, but needs to focus on style. There is no depth to the characters, there is too much telling and not enough showing, no emotions and the narrative (to me didn't make sense). How can the narrator tell the reader exactly what another character is doing, when they are in another part of the country, before the characters have met up. Was it past or in the present?
The author clearly loves unusual words, or at least is trying to impress the reader with the ability to use a thesaurus. They stuck out like a sore thumb and distracted me from reading, while I checked their meaning and discussed the words with my partner. I really couldn't see the point in them.
Possibly I am being a bit harsh. The novel has got potential, but it needs more depth ( and not everyone is nice and cheerful all the time).… (meer)

I won a copy of this book and am very glad I did.

This book is freakin' fantastic. Randall Reneau, an old hand at mining, takes us on a thrill ride in Deadly Lode. We start off with an entrepreneurial geologist, Trace Brandon, looking for a mineral deposit on which to stake a claim---and the financial, geological, corporate, and criminal shenanigans that soon come about. There's a lot of very interesting and educational detail in the novel about what it takes to create a mining corporation but that's just footnotes on this roller coaster ride of a book. From radiation poisoning in the old west to a highway bandit in the mountains to mobsters in the Big Easy this book has a little bit of everything and it all works! I loved this book though I did think one of the villains of the book got a little too soft at the end. Reneau is one hell of a writer. Big thumbs up for this novel.… (meer)