Bluetick Revenge
Mark Cohen
Mysterious, Jul 2005, $24.95, 310 pp.
ISBN: 0892968001

Attorney "Big" Matt Simms of the Denver law firm of Keane, Simms & Mercante hires private investigator Pepper Keane to perform two jobs for his client, Karlynn Slade. First he must "dognap" her canine from her husband and second he must keep her safe from him. Pepper knows neither duty will be easy because her husband is Thaddeus Bugg, head of the most violent drug dealing biker gang in Colorado, Sons of Satan. Matt explains that Karlynn left Thaddeus taking 300K with her only to have the FBI threaten her with arrest if she failed to cooperate on bringing down her ex and his cohorts. She agreed to life in the witness protection program instead of prison as long as Prince her bluetick coonhound joins her.

Learning that there is a bounty on whoever stole Bugg's mutt, the simple job turns more complex than the DNA double helix when Karlynn vanishes. Expecting the SOS crowd to come after him, Pepper is shocked when instead Thaddeus hires him to find her. However, the case spins further out of control when the trail leads to a cold case murder. Pepper would like to expedite himself in one piece and alive from this mess, but knows he has some difficult decisions to make to do so.

BLUETICK REVENGE is an exciting private investigative tale that is filled with much more action and less cerebral concepts than the incredibly superb predecessor THE FRACTAL MURDERS although some key characters reappear in this tale. Still this is a strong entry as the hero has extremely thorny choices to make in which morality is gray. Though not the mathematical delight of the previous keen tale in spite of math Professor Jane Smyers on hand, readers will take immense pleasure with this powerful thriller in which nothing is sound byte black and white.

Harriet Klausner