Death Row: A Cliff Knowles Mystery - Paperback

by Russell Atkinson (Author)

When a court ruling once again halts the carrying out of the death sentences of hundreds of condemned murderers, a frustrated vigilante organization decides to take matters into its own hands. In a mysterious and grisly act of horror, San Quentin's entire population of condemned prisoners is executed in the dark of night. But how? And who are these vigilantes? Answering those questions falls to retired FBI agent Cliff Knowles, now a successful lawyer. His lover, Special Agent Ellen Kennedy, is intent on completing a geocaching challenge known as the Fizzy Challenge, but inadvertently turns Cliff into suspect number one by going for one cache too many. She has no doubt Cliff is innocent, but he's kept a secret from her. He's kept a secret from everyone - and he knows that her faith in him is misplaced. His only chance of keeping Ellen in his life, perhaps even of staying off death row himself, is to get to the critical evidence before the FBI does.

Author Biography

Russell Atkinson served as an FBI Special Agent for twenty-five years, where he specialized in high-technology crimes in Silicon Valley. He was the first to investigate Raj Rajaratnam, the high-tech hedge fund manager who was convicted of massive insider trading in 2011. He was the case agent on the first federal prosecution in California under the Economic Espionage Act. He worked on several high-profile kidnapping cases and has arrested murderers and drug dealers. After retiring from the FBI he practiced law. With degrees in mathematics and law he worked for many high-tech firms in the computer industry including IBM, Fairchild Semiconductor, and Netscape. He served as President of the American Cryptogram Association and has written extensively on cryptographic topics. He was Head Cryptographer for the movie The Red Machine. Now retired, he lives in Silicon Valley and spends time with his interests: running, geocaching, guitar, cryptography, and, of course, writing.