Fatal Harbor: A Lewis Cole Mystery
DuBois’ hero, Lewis Cole, has a suitably shadowy background. Once a government analyst, he moves about with hints of powers in reserve. He’s on a mission of vengeance here. A policewoman friend was beaten during a protest outside a nuclear plant, and Cole is hunting the radical responsible. As he closes in, so do men with Glocks and thick necks, and the mystery moves to another level. DuBois’s smooth style and fine sense of pace make the stock elements bearable, even enjoyable. There’s the elegant friend—think Win in Harlan Coben’s Bolitar novels—who shows up to help out when things get really dodgy, and there’s the highly placed government man who owes Cole a favor and pays back at just the right time. The Marxist professor pal of the radicals is too much, though, calling a hurt cop “a symbol of the corporate oligarchy . . . what happened to her was a just response to oppression.” Do they really talk like that? Still, this is a well-made and satisfying thriller. --Don Crinklaw