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Book Review: Shock Wave, James O. Born, G.P.Putnams Sons, New York, 2005
James O. Born has all the credentials for a great South Florida mystery writer: U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, Deputy U.S. Marshall, chief of the Broward Office of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement ( known as the State Police in most states), and now Special Agent for FDLE. Presumably this last assignment gives him time to write and write he certainly can. Shock Wave is his second hard-cover tale about FDLE agent, Bill Tasker, protagonist of his first, Walking Money, which came out in 2004.
All the elements of a great read are here: fast pace, involved plot, interesting characters, major and minor, and a real taste of the sun, sand and salt of South Florida. Bill Tasker is your quintessential cop: stressed, over-worked, and indefatigable in his pursuit of a mad bomber. His stress comes from his personal life and his professional life. He is divorced and is still emotionally entangled with his ex and the kids. On the job he has to deal with overlapping law enforcement agencies, Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the local City of Miami police department. All of these agencies have their own agendas and Tasker has to thread his way through the politics and personalities of each, fighting the people who are supposed to be on the same side, as well as the various villains who are the targets of his investigations.
All of this is par for the course, of course, in this genre. But it is reality as well. All cops are divorced, different law enforcement agencies have different agendas and South Florida seems to be a magnet for the off-center. After all, if you were a crazed explosives expert, where would you rather practice your obsession, in Miami, Ohio or Miami, Florida?
The format serves Born well, however. The beautiful, perhaps lesbian AFT officer who helps him, the black City of Miami cop, the white hip-hop wannabe FBI agent, Tasker's ex wife who he can't shake loose of, the bomber's topless dancing wife and the bomber himself, all come across with more humanity than one usually encounters in thrillers. The weird ones are still weird, but even they manage to stay on this side of credibility. Quivering, ready to tip, perhaps, but still believable.
Born adds to their credibility by making the almost unbelievable setting of South Florida vividly real. You feel the heat, sense the flatness of southwest Miami-Dade County, smell the chemicals, and ride the rollercoaster of the chase on nearly every page. When you can capture the feel of a place as well as Born does, South Florida offers an incredibly broad range of settings for a hunt such as the one he draws the reader into here.
Shock Wave has the whole package of plot, character and setting and makes an enjoyable, while thrilling ride through South Florida. And stay tuned, there will be more.
James O. Born has all the credentials for a great South Florida mystery writer: U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, Deputy U.S. Marshall, chief of the Broward Office of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement ( known as the State Police in most states), and now Special Agent for FDLE. Presumably this last assignment gives him time to write and write he certainly can. Shock Wave is his second hard-cover tale about FDLE agent, Bill Tasker, protagonist of his first, Walking Money, which came out in 2004.
All the elements of a great read are here: fast pace, involved plot, interesting characters, major and minor, and a real taste of the sun, sand and salt of South Florida. Bill Tasker is your quintessential cop: stressed, over-worked, and indefatigable in his pursuit of a mad bomber. His stress comes from his personal life and his professional life. He is divorced and is still emotionally entangled with his ex and the kids. On the job he has to deal with overlapping law enforcement agencies, Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the local City of Miami police department. All of these agencies have their own agendas and Tasker has to thread his way through the politics and personalities of each, fighting the people who are supposed to be on the same side, as well as the various villains who are the targets of his investigations.
All of this is par for the course, of course, in this genre. But it is reality as well. All cops are divorced, different law enforcement agencies have different agendas and South Florida seems to be a magnet for the off-center. After all, if you were a crazed explosives expert, where would you rather practice your obsession, in Miami, Ohio or Miami, Florida?
The format serves Born well, however. The beautiful, perhaps lesbian AFT officer who helps him, the black City of Miami cop, the white hip-hop wannabe FBI agent, Tasker's ex wife who he can't shake loose of, the bomber's topless dancing wife and the bomber himself, all come across with more humanity than one usually encounters in thrillers. The weird ones are still weird, but even they manage to stay on this side of credibility. Quivering, ready to tip, perhaps, but still believable.
Born adds to their credibility by making the almost unbelievable setting of South Florida vividly real. You feel the heat, sense the flatness of southwest Miami-Dade County, smell the chemicals, and ride the rollercoaster of the chase on nearly every page. When you can capture the feel of a place as well as Born does, South Florida offers an incredibly broad range of settings for a hunt such as the one he draws the reader into here.
Shock Wave has the whole package of plot, character and setting and makes an enjoyable, while thrilling ride through South Florida. And stay tuned, there will be more.
posted by Jack Latona at 12:35 PM
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