Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner
Deadbeat
Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Leo Atkins
Class/Genre: Mystery Private Investigator Noir Thriller
Series: Connor Gibbs # 1
Berkley Prime Crime, Mar 1999, $5.99, 320 pp.
Cody "Blister" McGraw tries to engage the services of private investigator Connor Gibbs. The nine-year old child desperately wants Connor to locate his missing father, Noah Sizemore. In exchange for accepting his case, Blister offers Connor his entire savings that he accumulated over the past three years. Unable to resist the offer of $67.12, perhaps because his ex-wife rarely allows him to speak with his own child, Connor accepts the case.
Connor soon learns the family background. While Noah was bowling and drinking with friends, his pregnant wife drives herself to the hospital to give birth. On the way, a drunken driver crashes into her car. She gives birth by herself just before dying. The driver Able Johnson just about gets away with vehicular homicide. Two years later Noah kills another driver by running him off the road. Noah jumped bail and everyone is looking for him. Connor soon finds himself threatened by various thugs in his quest to locate Noah. Though preferring nonviolence, nothing will deter Connor from satisfying his client.
Connor Gibbs is definitely no DEADBEAT as he may be the best character found in a mystery in several years. The story line is amusing, witty, and interesting especially the relationship between Connor and Blister. Leo Atkins has a winner that deserves wide reader attention. That should encourage the author to bring readers more tales starring the former Duke University giant, Connor.
Harriet Klausner
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner
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