Iris Johansen, Stalemate

Stalemate

Iris Johansen

Bantam, January 2007, $26.00, 341 pp.

ISBN 0553803457

Forensic Sculptor Eve Duncan takes the skeleton, and through science and intuition puts a face to it, giving the authorities the possibility of identifying who it is. At present she is working on the sculptor of an eight year old boy, but Luis Montalvo calls her from his compound in Columbia, wanting her to do a reconstruction on a skull that will be in his possession. She refuses because he is an arms dealer, but he offers her a devil's bargain she is unable to resist.

He will identify the skull of the child she is working on and find his killer, but he will also help find her daughter Bonnie's remains and also aid her in locating Bonnie's killer. Unable to refuse a chance to find and bury her daughter, she flies to Columbia. Montalvo tells her he must dig up the skull buried near the compound of the man who killed her. Diaz, a drug lord who pretends to support the rebels and their leader General Armandariz, who is the father of Montalvo's wife, wants to stop them before the general finds out the truth. The General believes she is living the good life in Australia thanks to Diaz's lies, but Montalvo wants to prove that Diaz killed the generals daughter so they can work together to take their enemy out. However, Eve's lover Joe is injured, kidnapped and in danger of getting killed unless she follows Diaz's instructions.

The latest Eve Duncan thriller is the best work in this enthralling long running action packed series. The author finds some interesting ways to keep the storyline fresh, and a few of them will shock the reader. Although Montalvo is the antagonist, he is a sympathetic character, a weapons dealer with a soul who uses minimum violence to achieve his ends. The audience will be shocked to find they like him, and they will hope he finds the peace that has eluded him ever since his wife died.