The Nomination: A Novel of Suspense
*Starred Review* This is the second Tapply novel to be published since his death in July 2009. Outwitting Trolls (2010) was presumably his last Brady Coyne mystery, and this stand-alone thriller may prove to be his very last book. It’s also one of his best, a masterfully constructed suspenser that could stand as a model for aspiring writers: here’s how it’s done. The president is nominating a state judge, pure as a prayer, a family man with a war wound, to the Supreme Court. A reclusive retired actress hires a ghostwriter to prepare her memoirs. A female bodyguard, whom we meet as she wrestles a potential assassin to the ground, is in flight from a mobster she betrayed. They’re all connected, and it’s a pleasure to watch a master craftsman bring the story lines into deadly convergence. The suspense is real, and the outcome will jolt the most jaded thriller fan. Think you know what will happen when the heroine sneaks up on the baddies holding hostages? Bet you don’t. And the mastermind orchestrating the bloodbath at the end—know who he is? Don’t be so sure. This is a heckuva read. Ave atque vale, Mr. Tapply. --Don Crinklaw