Kill the Heroes

June 12, 2017
At the start of Thurlo’s uneven fourth Charlie Henry mystery (after 2016’s Rob Thy Neighbor), the war veteran and pawnshop owner attends the dedication of a new public park in Albuquerque, N.Mex., honoring local heroes. When a gunman opens fire, an Army helicopter pilot sitting near Charlie is fatally shot in the chest. A message later found on the gate of an area middle school suggests that the shooting may have been an ISIS terrorist attack. Charlie worries for the safety of his friend Dawud Khoury, who was his translator in Afghanistan and is now a U.S. citizen. After Charlie and fellow vet Gordon Sweeney are shot at, the cops’ interest turns to Dawud’s 16-year-old son, Caleb. The arrival of a dangerous CIA agent raises the stakes. While the focus on Islamophobia and terrorism is timely and the action scenes are well done, the pervasive tough-guy talk and otherwise awkward dialogue get tiresome. Charlie’s burgeoning romance with single mother Ruth Brooks, who works at his pawn shop, doesn’t add much. Agent: Peter Rubie, Fine Print Literary Management.

July 1, 2017
Are terrorists making a statement by killing heroes, or is the motive more personal?While former Army Ranger Charlie Henry and his girlfriend, Ruth, are attending a dedication for a new public park in Albuquerque, someone opens fire. Charlie, "a modern Navajo" who's not comfortable being labeled a hero--"he knew that showing pride and immodesty was contrary to the Navajo Way of his ancestors"--promptly jumps into action. Even so, several people are injured and one killed. The incident is blamed on terrorism, but Charlie and Gordon Sweeney, his partner in FOB Pawn (Rob Thy Neighbor, 2016, etc.), find more reason to take a closer look because Charlie may have been the target. Meanwhile, Dawud Koury, a Christian Arab who risked his life serving as their interpreter in Afghanistan, is being harassed, and he and his family sorely need help. To top it off, Ruth, who's been in the witness protection program, has to worry about the abusive, dangerous ex-husband who's escaped from prison. The duo work with their friends in the local police force and get some help from a former CIA contact who's using his vacation time to watch over Charlie. Since Nathan Whitaker, the chopper pilot who was the only park fatality, ran a company dedicated to helping vets find jobs, Charlie and Gordon look into the possibility that one of the company's clients, some of whom suffer from PTSD, might have wanted him dead. Another suspect is the estranged husband of Whitaker's girlfriend, a man with a bad attitude and a hair-trigger temper. Several other attacks on Charlie and notes claiming the Islamic State group is responsible have the FBI and Homeland Security looking even harder for terrorists, but Charlie's far from convinced. The story will heat up with car chases and bullets flying before the truth comes out. Not much mystery, but plenty of action and local color make this installment more fun than most thrillers ripped from the headlines.

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July 1, 2017
In his fourth outing (Rob Thy Neighbor, 2016), Iraq War veteran Charlie Henry finds himself in the middle of another crime that hits close to home. Charlie is among those being honored for his service at an Albuquerque park dedication when a bullet strikes the man sitting next to him. Did a skilled sharpshooter hit his target, or was the bullet intended for Charlie? Many believe that an Afghan man, Dawoud Koury, and his family were behind the hit, but Charlie and his pawnshop partner, Gordon, know Dawoud from when he was their interpreter in Afghanistan. Far from being Islamic terrorists, Koury and his family are Christians and left Afghanistan to avoid religious persecution. Charlie would like to pin the shooting on his girlfriend Ruth's violent, jailbreaking ex-husband, but above all, he wants to establish Dawoud's innocence. This fast-paced mystery makes an easygoing read, spiced with plenty of humor. Charlie and his pals are good old boys, to be sure, but without the xenophobic baggage. Charlie's Navajo lineage is alluded to, but the character isn't defined as a Native American detective. A solid southwestern mystery.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)