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Don Tomlin’s life is turned around with a knockout punch in the boxing ring. He awakes with his bell rung but also with extrasensory perception. He utilizes this newly found insight in his career as a lawyer and then further as a policeman. His ability allows him to see further into a case’s complexity than his peers. As a senior detective in Yonkers, he receives a call of a probable suicide that involves a fellow police officer. Tomlin suspects foul play. The officer had been espousing extremist causes and was a member of a militia group located deep in the Catskills. As Tomlin probes deeper, a drug operation linked to the milita group becomes subject to a hostile takeover, and dead bodies begin to pile up. Tomlin will need to work with local law enforcement to solve his case and forestall a war.
Justice is a theme that runs throughout this fine crime novel, and the protagonist is a firm believer in delivering it. Tomlin’s survival from a near-fatal blow allows him a second chance, and he is faithful in walking a righteous path. The hero leaves no stone unturned in his vigorous investigations. The suspects in Frum’s narrative wille be familiar to readers—the anti-government/white supremacist militias and drug dealers—yet their motives and methods are nuanced and thus more intriguing. The author is an expert at creating diametrically opposed characters. For example, whereas Tomlin is a beacon of hope, his counterpart Barney Hancock operates from a disaffected worldview wherein everybody is expendable. The book integrates action and drama with a hint of social commentary in its portrayal of a high-pitched battle between law enforcement and radical rogues. This is a first-rate effort from inception to conclusion.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review