Domenic Stansberry, Big Boom

Big Boom

Domenic Stansberry

St. Martin's, May 2006, $23.95, 240 pp.

ISBN: 0312324707

Following the death of his father six months ago, former cop Dante Mancuso returned to his hometown San Francisco and became a private investigator working with Jake Cicero. Currently besides sipping coffee in North beach, Dante is working a missing person's case that hits home. Barbara and Nick Antonelli hired Jake to locate their missing daughter Angie. Dante knew Angie when she was growing up in this neighborhood, and even owns a picture of them when he was twelve and she seven. However, he really got to know her when they were both in their twenties. So though he assumes the capricious impetuous Angie temporarily ran away, Dante will do everything he can just to insure she is okay.

After interviewing the parents who he knows so well, Dante learns that the corpse fished out of the Bay is Angie. He changes his inquiry from missing person to homicide, refusing to believe Angie committed suicide as some accept. He begins looking into the late reporter's relationships, starting with Michael Solano who just broke with her, and Jim Rose who left a voice message, but soon finds each clue he follows up on wickedly lead back to his own past.

BIG BOOM, the second Mancuso private investigative tale (see CHASING THE DRAGON) is a terrific urban noir starring a flawed individual who is unable to let the case go as it has turned personal. As Dante uncovers the last days of Angie, he also can no longer deny his own demons from his past. Fans of San Francisco whodunit thrillers will appreciate this strong entry, as Dante discovers as much or more about himself as he does in solving what happened to Angie.