James Patrick Hunt, The Silent Places

The Silent Places

James Patrick Hunt

Minotaur, May 25 2010, $25.99

ISBN: 9780312545796

Punished for his comment to his superior, St. Louis homicide detective George Hastings and his unit are assigned personal protection duty. They will perform security detail for the U.S. Senator from Missouri Alan Preston as he runs for the Republican presidential nomination.

However, the ambitious Preston's former job as a federal prosecutor comes back to haunt him. He got then CIA operative John Reese convicted of illegal selling of arms to Syria over ten years ago, but now the ex operative has escaped from the pen. Reese vowed during his trial to enact revenge and never swayed from his personal conviction during his decade behind bars. Preston rejects the FBI offer of protection as he does want a negative media spotlight shined on him. Hastings tries to keep Preston safe, but not only does he dislike the smooth politician, but believes the Senator is not telling the entire truth.

Rotating perspective between Reese and Hastings-Preston, the latest Hastings police procedural (see Good-bye Sister Disco and The Assailant) is an exhilarating fast-paced thriller (even without Maitland) in which the reader anticipates High Noon. Although Preston is a nasty individual who deserves the Macbeth treatment, fans will enjoy the expected encounter between Hastings and avenging Reese; who ironically is a much nicer person, even though he is now a psychopath, than the repugnant potential POTUS.

Harriet Klausner