Pun Salad

This is the second book in Adam Plantinga's (so far) three book series featuring protagonist Kurt Argento. It went on my get-at-library list thanks to its Best Novel Edgar Award nomination. (There are scattered references to the series' first book in this one, but I didn't find that I was missing any vital information by not having read it.)

After that first book, though, Argento is in Arizona, house-sitting for a friend. He's trying to adapt to his new life, without a job, and missing his dead wife, caring for his loyal dog, Hudson. That life is disrupted when Kristin, accompanied by her toddler son Ethan, tracks him down and begs him to investigate the disappearance of her missing husband, last seen in the town of Fenton.

Argento is very reluctant to get involved, but soon enough Kristin and Ethan also go missing. Which causes him to snoop around Fenton and discover some very shady and secretive dealings involving the local police force. Pulling the strings is a silver-haired genius, who is also (we quickly learn) a murderous sociopath. After harrowing and tragic events, Argento embarks on an audacious, high-risk scheme to take down Silver Hair's operation.

It's very violent. And we could quibble about the plausibility of the plot. But, for me, it was also a page-turner. I was reminded of Lee Child's Reacher series, turned up a few notches on the hard-boiled scale.