Point and Shoot

February 18, 2013
While not quite up to the standard of its predecessors, the concluding volume in the Charlie Hardie trilogy (after 2011’s Hell and Gone) offers Swierczynski’s appealing blend of bizarre plot developments and frenetic prose. The one-time police consultant’s adventures began when a house-sitting gig in Los Angeles led to his crossing paths with the Accident People, killers who stage murders designed to look accidental. Hardie later became a murder suspect and wound up incarcerated in an unusual prison. Now Hardie finds himself in his tightest spot yet—inside a satellite orbiting Earth. He’s there to guard “something” for the Cabal, the masters of the Accident People, who have promised not to harm his wife and son in return. The arrival on the satellite of a man who happens to look just like Hardie imperils our hero’s mission. Readers are in for a wild and immensely enjoyable ride. Agent: David Hale Smith, DHS Literary.

May 15, 2013
Can the unkillable man make the epic journey from outer space to home in time to save his loved ones? In Maryland, a drone in an intelligence agency notices a name from the murky past popping up on his screen. Charlie Hardie vanished after being implicated in multiple murders. Nearby, in Philly, Charlie's wife, Kendra, is contacted simultaneously by her long-lost husband, who is frantically advising her to flee, and by an imperious voice warning her that she and son CJ must stay put or die. Charlie, it turns out, is on a tiny satellite in "low earth orbit." The mention by a mystery voice of Eve Bell--a nefarious name familiar to Charlie--snaps him out of his lethargy. Eve was Charlie's fellow prisoner in his last scrape (Hell and Gone, 2011, etc.), and her name evokes bitter memories. So too does the name Deke Clark, Charlie's partner as a federal agent, who may have betrayed him. Both are forgotten in the instant that the voice reveals itself to be a perfect clone of Charlie. Friend or foe? This question lingers as the two work by turns together and against each other. Back on Earth, Deke is abruptly barraged with discordant memories of his own about Charlie and decides, at great personal risk, to uncover the truth. A secret, and seemingly omnipotent, cabal tries to thwart both efforts. Cheeky movie quotations at the beginning of each chapter add zip. Swierczynski's writing crackles with fresh attitude. But his plot may have jumped the shark this time, and readers unfamiliar with previous episodes could feel lost in the maelstrom.

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April 15, 2013
Charlie Hardie has had a rough time since he encountered the Accident People (Fun and Games, 2011), who happen to make up the evilest of all evil cabals. World domination is their goal, if only no-account ex-cop Charlie would quit buzzing around their operation like a pesky mosquito. You'll recall Charlie escaped from an inescapable subterranean prison in the second in the series, Hell and Gone (2011), and went looking for the cabal's head honchos. That didn't work out so well, and, by book's end, Charlie was back in captivity. This time, though, rather being imprisoned far below ground, he's locked up in a satellite orbiting 500 miles above the earth. That's weird enough, to be sure, but matters take an even weirder turn when Charlie receives a visitor in spacehimself. Well, not really himself, but a double who claims to be from the government, on a mission to save Charlie. Over the top? Of course, but Swierczynski uses his comics background to fine effect here, blending Flash Gordon, Dick Tracy, and a touch of Jim Thompson into a pulpy brew that's far more fun than it has any right to be.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)