Book Review: Gatekeeper

Reviewed By: Luke Croll - RAM

Gatekeeper     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Archer Mayor
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Police Procedural
Series: Joe Gunther # 14
2003, Time Warner, 296 pages

In his latest novel, Joe Gunther, the head of the Vermont Bureau of Investigation is going up against the drug trade in his State. A known dealer is found murdered and a relative of an important politician dies following a drug overdose, catapulting the VBI into a dangerous investigation. Female detective Sammie Marten starts a dangerous undercover investigation to go to the heart of the drug trade, whilst Lester Spinney and Gunther’s girlfriend Gail find it hitting close to home. Can they finally stop drugs in Vermont?

In ‘Gatekeeper’, Mayor relies heavily on the geographical nature of Vermont and its surrounding area. This means that for someone who has very little knowledge of Vermont, the novel can at times be quite confusing and it may be necessary to refer to a map to have an understanding of how the drugs pipeline can work.

The novel is described as ‘a Joe Gunther novel’, but really, Gunther plays a very small role in the events of the book. The main part of the novel centres on the activities of Sammie Marten in her undercover sting operation, and this section holds the reader’s attention well. However, when Mayor moves away from this, there is little to maintain the pace and action.

‘Gatekeeper’ is a perfectly adequate police procedural, but at times; it is slow and can almost feel laborious. If you have any interest in Vermont, then you will find the novel interesting, but there are better and worse police procedurals around. There is nothing wrong with ‘Gatekeeper’, but equally, there is nothing amazing here either.

Luke Croll - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Luke Croll - RAM

Luke Croll - Conference interpreter and translator
http://lukecroll.translatorscafe.com