Field of Fire
Born's fourth thriller introduces a new hero, but an implausible premise, stock characters and some clichéd prose may disappoint fans of his earlier novels (Escape Clause, etc.), which featured Florida lawman Bill Tasker. ATF agent Alex Duarte, who has seen military duty in Bosnia, is on assignment in South Florida. After a wanted fugitive, Alberto Salez, whom Duarte has arrested, gives him the slip, Duarte becomes involved in a high-level investigation into a series of bombings that Deputy Attorney General Roberto Morales, an Alberto Gonzalez–like figure, suspects are the work of radical labor unions. Meanwhile, a shadowy hit man is pursuing Salez in an effort to silence him. The author, himself a special agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, puts little of his own real-life expertise into the plot. Despite advance praise from Michael Connelly, Tess Gerritsen and W.E.B. Griffin, this effort falls short of the standard set by top-rank suspense writers.(Feb.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.