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Summary
Summary
"One of the most chilling and satisfying thrillers of the year." --Los Angeles Times
Newly-installed Santa Fe police chief Kevin Kerney receives a deadly welcome when a U.S. ambassador's ex-wife is brutally stabbed to death in her home. But before Kerney can begin to investigate, the FBI closes the case with trumped-up evidence. And the harder Kerney hunts for the truth, the more he knows that he may not survive the chase.
Author Notes
Michael McGarrity is a former deputy sheriff for Santa Fe County, he established the first Sex Crimes Unit. He also served as an instructor at the new Mexico Law Enforcement Academy and as an investigator for the New Mexico Public Defender's Office. He lives in Santa Fe.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Popular cop Kevin Kerney acquires new depth and substance in this sixth installment in McGarrity's solid series. In his previous job as deputy chief of the state police, Kerney killed a cop gone bad. Now he is settling into his new job as police chief of Santa Fe, N.Mex., and his new subordinates are of two minds whether they should trust him or not. They have ample opportunity to observe him in action, because as the book opens, Phyllis Terrell, the estranged wife of an ambassador and ex-military honcho, is found stabbed to death in the kitchen of her hilltop mansion, and Father Joseph Mitchell, an ex-soldier turned priest researching the government's covert operations, turns up dead in the Christian Brothers Residence at the College of Santa Fe. The police investigation has barely begun before evil Feds, who dismiss Kerney as merely "an over-the-hill lightweight cop who occasionally got lucky," move in and start sanitizing the crime scenes. The chief keeps digging on the sly, of course, as every possible witness ends up dead. McGarrity (Tularosa; The Judas Judge; etc.) writes well, with chapters that march the reader along, and is very convincing on procedural matters his credentials include a stint as deputy sheriff for Santa Fe County. Unfortunately, when he moves into action movie territory, the material does not seem natural for him, and in particular the main antagonist a human killing machine never comes off as anything more than an image taken from film. The strengths of this book are in the quiet moments, the procedural detail, the local scene and Kerney's reflections on his history and his future. (July 9) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
After six novels, McGarrity's Kevin Kerney series has established itself as one of the most consistently satisfying procedurals on the market. McGarrity, a former deputy sheriff for Santa Fe county, clearly knows police work, and his experience is reflected in precisely detailed descriptions of what cops do on and off the job. His respect for individual policemen and women is palpable, but so, too, is his hard-won understanding of governmental inefficiency and arrogance. The latter takes center stage here as Kerney, recently installed as Santa Fe police chief, must deal with power-hungry bureaucrats and lazy cops while trying to solve the murder of a U.S. ambassador's wife. When an FBI antiterrorist team attempts to shut the local police out of the murder investigation, Kerney smells cover-up and follows the trail to a maverick group of intelligence agents playing well outside the rules. McGarrity makes less use of his southwestern setting this time, but he handles the familiar theme of dedicated cop fighting the system with a masterful mix of realism (it really is a no-win situation) and suspense. --Bill Ott
Kirkus Review
About the only law-enforcement job Kevin Kerney (ex-sheriff's lieutenant, ex-Forest Service, ex-New Mexico State Police) hasn't held yet is Chief of the Santa Fe Police Department, and that's where this sixth case finds him. But before he can even get the normal trials of new leadership-reallocating funds, cutting deadwood, learning the political ropes-out of the way, he hits the ground running with the murder of Phyllis Terrell, the defiantly promiscuous estranged wife of a powerful US ambassador without portfolio. In minutes, it seems, an FBI task force is all over the case, and in the time it takes Kerney to question Phyllis's Mexican landscaper and turn him loose, task force head Charlie Perry has wrapped up the case. As Perry smugly tells Kerney, Scott Gatlin, who managed the ranch of Phyllis's wealthy father and warmed her bed along with dozens of others, has shot himself after obligingly leaving behind a full confession. This neat solution is chilling news, since it strongly suggests a government cover-up whose tentacles reach high and deep. Digging into the apparently unrelated killing of a Marymount priest, Kerney and a pair of trusted cops trace a nefarious plot that extends from legal maneuvering-wiretaps, disinformation, court orders to turn over evidence-to murder by government decree. McGarrity (The Judas Judge, 2000, etc.) is just the writer to keep the high-octane conspiracy clear, even though individual victims don't have time to leave much of an impression. Kerney's mind-boggling look at your tax dollars at work is his finest hour yet.
Library Journal Review
This entry in McGarrity's well-realized Kevin Kerney series (following Judas Judge) features a strong, likable protagonist who is now, after holding a variety of law enforcement assignments, Santa Fe's new police chief. As in all of McGarrity's books, the New Mexico setting, this time primarily within the city of Santa Fe, is as much a presence as the supporting characters, who are all intriguing and believable. It all begins with the murder of the estranged wife of an ambassador-at-large, a crime that brings in federal operatives concerned about national security issues. A second, seemingly unconnected murder of a visiting priest-scholar eventually reveals to Kerney and his detectives that there is far more to both killings than the feds are letting on. Deftly weaving the hunt for the solution to these murders with Kerney's adjustment to his new position and his long-distance relationship with his pregnant wife, McGarrity has written a good, stand-alone mystery and added another solid chapter to a wonderful mystery series. Highly recommended. Ann Forister, Roseville P.L., CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
