September 26, 2022
MWA Grand Master Deaver’s bland fourth thriller featuring professional reward-seeker Colter Shaw (after 2021’s The Final Twist) takes Shaw to the tough Midwestern city of Ferrington, where entrepreneur Marty Harmon’s startup company has been working on developing miniature nuclear power plants. After the theft of one of the company’s products, the Pocket Sun, Harmon hires Shaw to retrieve it; he also hires Shaw to locate and protect its inventor, Allison Parker. Parker and her teenage daughter, Hannah, have fled their home in Ferrington after the early release from prison of Parker’s ex-husband and Hannah’s father, former cop Jon Merritt. Merritt was convicted of attempting to murder Parker, and she fears he’ll try to finish her off. Once Shaw finds Parker, the Ferrington police are unable, or unwilling, to devote resources to guarding her, and she takes matters into her own hands, which makes Shaw’s job more difficult. With the personal puzzles Shaw grappled with in previous books resolved, the once-complex protagonist has become just another eccentric, skilled lone ranger. This is a forgettable page-turner that lacks the intelligence of Deaver’s best work. Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider Literary.
