Mark Bouton Cracks in the Rainbow

Cracks in the Rainbow

Mark Bouton

Five Star, Aug 2005, $25.95, 342 pp.

ISBN: 1594143498

In Southern California, police detective Stretch drives to inform his partner Rick Dover what he has frighteningly learned on his own time when his Bronco exploded and went over the cliff. Officially it looks like Stretch took a turn to fast, but Rick has problems with this scenario because his friend was too good a driver who had driven this relatively mild curve many times. The autopsy reveals an anomaly that does not fit a gas explosion; the victim's testicles were blown away. Rick enlists an ATF pal Harsha to look at the remains of the vehicle and the accident scene. Harsha concludes a bomb was timed for Stretch to go over the edge.

Rick and his new partner Falcon begin finding evidence that Stretch was working on a dangerous case by himself. They find FBI documents on Stretch's computer and a hidden taped card with one word BLACKFLASH. Soon the cops, the Feds, and others will collide with no one expected to walk away unscathed.

Though why the victim pursued his investigation without the aid of his capable trustworthy partner seems a stretch, fans will appreciate this fabulous police procedural that step by step uncovers why the detective was murdered starting with proving a homicide occurred. The story line is cleverly devised so that readers see how the case begins with Rick's doubts that soon mushroom into a wild frenzied skirmish in which so called friendly fire might kill the hero. Mark Bouton provides a pleasurable who-done-it.

Harriet Klausner