Michael Crow No Way Back

No Way Back

Michael Crow

HarperCollins, Jun 2005, $25.95, 292 pp.

ISBN: 0060725834

Someone has to take the fall when the media headlines a drug bust that went bad. Baltimore brass blames maverick police officer Luther Ewing; Captain Dugal suspends him for six-months. Luther is irate that his superiors made him the patsy when it was not really his fault and wonders how to pass time for a half a year for an adrenaline junkie like him.

However, CIA bigwig Mr. Westley keeps an eye out for renegade cops in trouble for doing their job especially someone he knows first hand like he does Luther from their days in Sarajevo. Luther detests Westley, but not as much as the Baltimore Police Department brass and the torturous thought of being idle for a half year. He agrees to baby-sit in what Westley says is a walk in the park. Luther knows walking in parks can prove dangerous, but accepts the assignment to protect a South Korean businessman from being abducted or killed from those who want stop his $7.5 million deal with rogue Russian generals. Luther as Terrence Prentice, falls in love with the Russian spy Nadya and realizes that Westley has lied about the danger to him and his client.

Once the police procedural aspects are over and Mr. Westley assigns Luther to his simple protection task, the storyline goes into hyperspeed and never slows down until the whole truth is revealed. Luther, Westley, and Nadya are stereotypes borrowed from the Cold War, but the audience will not care as they pull off an action-packed thriller in which fans will follow the escapades in one sitting to figure out who's who. NO WAY BACK is a tremendous thriller that espionage suspense fans will crow about the rush.

Harriet Klausner