Political Imbroglio

In Killer Weekend, New York Times bestselling author, Ridley Pearson, delves into the not-so-glitzy underbelly of Sun Valley, Idaho, an exclusive ski resort where billionaires play, and townies struggle to get by.

Eight years ago, Sun Valley patrolman Walt Fleming saved Elizabeth Shaler from a crazed, knife-wielding killer. At the time, Shaler was Attorney General.

Now Shaler, a controversial political figure, has returned to Sun Valley to announcer her candidacy for president at Patrick Cutter's exclusive media conference. Only the world's most powerful business moguls are invited to Cutter's conference. It's a coup for Cutter but a security fiasco for Fleming, now county Sheriff, who must find a way to protect Shaler from the plans of a hired assassin.

Ridley, who divides his time between Missouri and Idaho, says he was fascinated by the idea of a place like Sun Valley that attracts high finance as well as ski bums with PhD's waiting on tables. "There are strange cases because of this influx of billions of dollars in what used to be a hick town," he says. "In recreational ski towns, everyone brings their problems and they infiltrate the school system where kids discuss whose parent has the bigger jet and townies can no longer afford to live in the place where they grew up."

When he's not writing thrillers, Pearson dabbles in 60's rock and roll music. One of the founding members of The Rock Bottom Remainders, Pearson—and a dozen bestselling authors including Stephen King, Mitch Albom, Scott Turow, Dave Barry, Amy Tan, Greg Iles and Roy Blount, Jr.—doesn't claim to be musically gifted but is serious about raising money for literacy initiatives.

"We suck for good causes," says Pearson.

Since their inaugural performance in 1987, the group, which plays one to four times a year, has raised 1.8 million dollars.

Ridley Pearson has published two dozen novels. His work for television and film includes a documentary for A& E and a two-hour Movie of the Week for ABC. He is the recipient of the Raymond Chandler Fulbright in Detective Fiction. Killer Weekend is the first in a new series of crime novels featuring Walt Fleming. Read an excerpt here.