Nash, Metropolitan
Frank Sennett
Five Stars, Oct 2004, $25.95, 236 pp.
ISBN: 1594142467

Lizzie, his girlfriend of twenty-months, dumps Nash Hansen by phone. Upset, the Chicago Daily reporter agrees with his fellow unattached peer Jerry Povaric that women stink. When he shoots up Lizzie's gifts and other paraphernalia Nash accidentally injures a squirrel. Feeling guilty, he takes the injured animal to a vet where he meets Dr. Sam and asks her out on a date. Reluctantly Samantha Parker agrees.

Nash is reporting on the National Electronics Exhibition when the corpse of a homeless person is found. As he reports and investigates the homicide over the objection of business manager Gil Francis, Jerry makes inquires into a dead person allegedly murdered by a homeless person at O'Hare. As their cases converge, the two intrepid journalists must overcome their by-the-book editor, the Feds looking into a KGB link, and killers who want Nash to star in the headlines as a corpse.

The second Nash journalistic investigative tale (see NASH, RAMBLER) is a fun who-done-it as Nash and Jerry alienate everyone they run into including his newest girlfriend. The fast-paced storyline brings Chicago to life from the underbelly as murders keep the hero and his partner scrambling. Nash remains a solid protagonist while Jerry adds depth to the inquiries. Fans of modern day urban noirs will want to ride the Loop with Nash and Jerry as they bounce from one problem to another.

Harriet Klausner