Michael Koryta, Envy the Night

Envy the Night

Michael Koryta

St. Martin's, Aug 2008, $24.95

ISBN: 0312361580

When his other clandestine life as a mob hit man is exposed, U.S. Marshal Frank Temple II commits suicide. His family is shocked first by the revelation by the patriarch's death and his son who worshipped him cannot deal with his hero crumbling like this.

Seven years later, his twenty-four years old son, Frank III remains angry and still drifting as he has since his dad killed himself. When a friend from his dad's military days in Nam Ezra Ballard informs him the rat who squealed on his father is Devin Matteson, the son finally finds a reason to focus on life; he wants vengeance. He has the opportunity when Devin is coming from Florida to Wisconsin. The III waits at his late dad's cabin in Willow Flowage, but soon realizes he has a bigger issue to deal with; he and auto repair shop owner Nora Stafford are in deep trouble as some nasty killers stalk the area.

This tense thriller hooks readers from the moment Frank III leaves jail with a severe headache while thinking what to do about the info Ballard provided him. Character fueled mostly by the son, 'Envy The Night' is a fast-paced taut tale that never misses a beat even when the exciting storyline makes a turn from III the stalker to III the stalked. Michael Koryta is at his best with this action-packed Wisconsin thriller. This is an unputdownable thriller.

Harriet Klausner