Dark Humor

Goldman’s taut fifth thriller featuring Nils Shapiro (after Dead West) finds the private investigator out for revenge against Midwestern drug dealer Sammy Sykes, who killed his wife, Minneapolis police chief Gabriella Shapiro, two years ago. Despite vigorous efforts to track him down, Sykes remains at large. Frustrated by the cops’ lack of progress, Nils takes matters into his own hands by meeting with Sykes’s daughter, Anna, who served as a mole on the police force for her father and has since been put behind bars. Afterward, Nils tangles with one of Sykes’s men who’d wormed his way onto the prison staff, then unravels a conspiracy that takes him all the way to Amsterdam, where the drug lord may be hiding. En route to the novel’s operatic conclusion, Goldman serves up provocative information about the late Gabriella that smartly complicates the series’ stakes. Brisk pacing and breathless action make this a good bet for fans of Harlan Coben. Agent: Jennifer Weltz, Jean V. Naggar Literary. (Dec.)