Betrayal by John Lescroart

Lescroart is one of the "top" writers of "lawyer" thrillers. BETRAYAL is a humdinger characterized by the contemporary scene in northern California, as well as, the American involvement in Iraq. Two thirds of the novel deals with a national guard deployment during year one in Iraq.
Evan Scholler is the commander of a platoon which is assigned as security to one of the "big" contractors in Iraq. Ron Nolan (ex-Navy Seal) is a high ranking member of Allstrong Security. An incident in Baghdad seriously wounds Scholler and Nolan's involvement gets him reassigned to work for Allstrong in San Francisco.
The "incident", Scholler's serious wounds, and a clash over the affections for Tara lead to greater violence. Nolan is murdered and Scholler is convicted and imprisoned for life.
At this point, the "old" hands from Lescroat's earlier novels take over and this excellent tale ends with an interesting twist!
This is a must read for those interested in the contemporary scene!

Midnight Rambler by James Swain

MIDNIGHT RAMBLER is a fast moving thriller about a serial killer. Swain has produced an exciting novel which takes the reader back and forth through Central and Southern Florida.

Jack Carpenter is the down and out ex-cop who lost his job and his family putting the killer, Simon Skell, in prison. Carpenter is haunted by the past victims of Skel. He feels he must discover what happened to the seven missing bodies. He wants to regain his family but cannot do so until the "case" is solved.

The action moves from Fort Laderdale to Orlando, Tampa, and Miami. In the process we are faced with abductions of adults and children. Finally we read about a gang of preditors looking for victims to satisfy their hunger. A lot of violence and derring-do is well developed by Swain.

Ernie Aiello

The Millian Dollar Wound by Max Allan Collins

THE MILLION DOLLAR WOUND is the final part of the Nathan Heller Trilogy. This volume describes Heller's life as a private detective (1930's) Marino (1940's) and return to civilian life after service on Guadalcanal

The following precedes the prologue: "Although the historical events in this novel are portrayed more or less accurately, ..., fact, speculation, and fiction are freely mixed here; historical personages exist side by side with composite characters and wholly fictional ones, ..."

This novel includes Barney Ross, Frank Nitti, Sally Rand, Robert Montgomery, Westbrook Pegler, Eliot Ness, and many more. Wartime Chicago is still filled with extortion, prostitution, corruption, murder, and gambling. All of which touch the A-1 Dectective Agency, Nathan Heller, President.

Ernie Aiello