Waterman - Softcover

The final twist may be a tad cute but Horning (Foul Shot has written a first-rate thriller. When taciturn stranger Scott Craik appears in tiny Brawlton, Va., things start to happen. Although Craik wants only to be left alone to work crabbing in Chesapeake Bay, he soon must deal with a crooked sheriff, a couple of vicious deputies, a knife-crazy local, teenage toughs and an infatuated girl. The girl's uncle, "the Judge," is boss of the small county and is smuggling guns, but only for the "right people." Colombian drug dealers are planning to take over the Judge's operation for their more lucrative trade. Craik is caught up in this whirlpool, which is roiled further by the fact that the CIA is looking for him. Under another identity he was a member of the Agency. We learn these details slowly, through a lot of Bay color. The pace builds from leisurely crabbing to a complicated whizbang of an ending. Some of the violencea rape, an ice-pick murderis a bit harrowing but readers will keep turning pages and end up cheering for the protagonist as he fights off all his foes.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Hornig's fourth book is set in Brawlton, a fictional Virginia town on the Chesapeake. Illegal activities flourish here, and when ex-CIA agent Craik decides to bury himself in Brawlton, he is sucked into the goings-on. The plot, although predictable, is tight and well paced. The characters, from the corrupt but patriotic gun-running judge who owns the town, to the girls in the cafe, are lovingly and carefully drawn. Even the bad guy sherriff's deputies are presented somewhat sympathetically. The networks of kin and power and the ever-present salt water form a colorful backdrop for this well-crafted, gripping tale. The ending is particularly satisfying, with the bad guys either dead or thwarted, a manipulative CIA agent left holding the bag, and Craik and his girl escaping in a beat-up Mercedes. Louise A. Merriam, L.E. Phillips Memorial P.L., Eau Claire, Wis.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.