Stalking Lions

STALKING LIONS, another kind of theater of the mind. You've enjoyed them on radio; now read them in print. YOU HAVE TO FEEL FOR PARKER: Yes, he's safely back at college, but still on probation. What's more, he has a floor counselor who hates his guts and wishes him dead, and the dean of the school wishes he could expel him and blames Parker for the bad publicity generated when he appeared, semi-nude, on morning network TV, as the likely suspect in a campus coed's strangulation murder case, even though all the poor boy had done was try to go to the poor girl's aid . . . Then there is the gorgeous identical twin who thinks Parker may, in fact, be her sister's killer, until Parker convinces her otherwise and then agrees to help her find the real killer, even if it means pretending to be a model, going to a sleazy modeling studio downtown, searching the tunnels under the Morningside campus, tracking down an absent-minded professor, attending rah-rah football games with sis-boom-bah alumni ––one of whom has very deep pockets and his eye on Parker. However, it is Parker's bloodhound instincts that lead him from 'the frying pan' into the 'fire', or in this case from 'the rowing tank' into the 'drowning vat'. Stalking Lions the second book of the trilogy, which includes Stalking Bulls and Stalking Chickens.

STALKING LIONS, another kind of theater of the mind. You've enjoyed them on radio; now read them in print. YOU HAVE TO FEEL FOR PARKER: Yes, he's safely back at college, but still on probation. What's more, he has a floor counselor who hates his guts and wishes him dead, and the dean of the school wishes he could expel him and blames Parker for the bad publicity generated when he appeared, semi-nude, on morning network TV, as the likely suspect in a campus coed's strangulation murder case, even though all the poor boy had done was try to go to the poor girl's aid . . . Then there is the gorgeous identical twin who thinks Parker may, in fact, be her sister's killer, until Parker convinces her otherwise and then agrees to help her find the real killer, even if it means pretending to be a model, going to a sleazy modeling studio downtown, searching the tunnels under the Morningside campus, tracking down an absent-minded professor, attending rah-rah football games with sis-boom-bah alumni ––one of whom has very deep pockets and his eye on Parker. However, it is Parker's bloodhound instincts that lead him from 'the frying pan' into the 'fire', or in this case from 'the rowing tank' into the 'drowning vat'. Stalking Lions the second book of the trilogy, which includes Stalking Bulls and Stalking Chickens.

Steven Thomas Oney is the author of the award-winning Cape Cod Radio Mystery Theater series, heard and broadcast world-wide and over more than 225 NPR stations. During the outbreak of Covid in 2019, Oney temporarily suspended producing more radio mysteries in favor of penning a trio of Parker Robinson mystery novels. Commenting, Oney explains: "I have always felt that it was useful for a writer, when starting out, to try to present himself with a challenge in order to spur his creativity to greater heights. (Shakespeare was known for doing this.) I was also aware that author, James M. Cain, is often credited with having written the finest back-to-back, noir-style mysteries with his The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934), followed by Double Indemnity (1936). I felt that the basic storylines I had come up with for Stalking Bulls and Stalking Lions were sufficiently good, and had sufficient potential, that I might be able to duplicate what Cain had done, not with a pair of noir-style mysteries, but with a brace of fresh, youthful, amateur-detective-style mysteries. "Then, while finishing the first two, I had another inspiration for a third Parker Robinson mystery, Stalking Chickens. Now, however, raising the project from two books to three, required me to reconfigure my personal challenge. Therefore, I made the switch ––not by trying to duplicate what Cain had done–– but by trying to match what Carolyn Keene had achieved when she authored the first three Nancy Drew mysteries: The Secret of the Old Clock (1930), The Hidden Staircase (1930) and The Bungalow Mystery (1930). (The best of the lot, in my opinion.) "The lucky addition of the third Parker Robinson mystery showing up was fortuitous in that it allowed for a satisfying overall arc to the three stories ––that not only adds to the richness of the first two–– but also gives rise to that familiar poignancy and regret that always follows when the reader is forced to say goodbye to likable characters they've grown to have real affection for."