January 1, 2016
The quintessential Brad Smith hero is an ex-con attempting to live a quiet life who finds himself drawn back into the world of violence, usually to help out someone he loves. Following in the tradition of Ray Dokes (All Hat, 2003) and series hero Virgil Cain (Red Means Run, 2012), Carl Burns lands in prison after taking a quixotic stand against corruption and absorbing the unintended consequences. Now out of prison, he has returned to his small Ontario hometown to support his estranged daughter, Kate, who is one of three witnesses in the rape trial of the town's mayor. The trial goes bad, and Kate slips slowly into addiction and depression. Burns watches helplessly, biding his time and helping the sister of his ex-wife attempt to battle a ruthless land-grabber. Typically, Smith combines elements of the comic caper novel with gritty thriller fare, but this time the comedy and the banter take a backseat to real-world realism. Even in a hard world, however, there's always room for fighting back, and nobody does stand-up guys better than Smith.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)
December 7, 2015
Carl Burns, the hero of this engrossing series launch from Smith (Shoot the Dog), returns after being released from prison to Rose City, Ontario, his hometown, where he hopes to improve his relationship with his grown daughter, Kate, whom he hasn’t been in touch with for 12 years. Carl’s crime was arson of a pig farm in which a fireman perished—a crime committed in Carl’s zeal to prevent the creation of more pig farms that would be detrimental to the community and its farmers. Now Carl has joined Kate’s favorite aunt and others to fight a corporate proposal to establish a local landfill. Meanwhile, Kate, along with three other women, is embroiled in the prosecution of former mayor Joseph Sanderson III for raping the four of them when they were vulnerable teenagers, 16 or more years before. Carl and Kate are forced to confront a media influenced by corrupt government officials who are willing to take any means to stop them. The two story lines build to a satisfying ending. Agent: Jennifer Barclay, Jennifer Barclay Books (Greece).