Deadly Cove

May 9, 2011
Protests at the Falconer nuclear power station on New Hampshire's coast form the backdrop for DuBois's suspenseful, satisfying seventh mystery featuring magazine reporter Lewis Cole, who once "worked as a research analyst for an obscure section of the Department of Defense" (after 2006's Primary Storm). When someone shoots local peace activist Bronson Toles dead at one of the demonstrations Cole is covering, Cole looks into the backgrounds of Curt Chesuk, leader of the violent Nuclear Freedom Front, as well as the head of the pro-nuclear New England Trade Union Council and Toles's family. As the demonstrations continue in the emotional aftermath of Toles's murder, Cole arranges to interview the elusive Chesuk at his secret compound, a meeting that puts both Cole and his best friend, Det. Sgt. Diane Woods, in peril. Well-drawn and sympathetic characters add to the story's authenticity. The cliffhanger ending will leave series fans anxious for the follow-up.

May 1, 2011

Ex–Department of Defense analyst Lewis Cole is caught in a fatal crossfire between rabid anti-nuke activists and the corporate and union stalwarts behind New Hampshire's Falconer Unit 2.

In an eerie prefiguration of last month's headlines, a calamitous nuclear accident, this one deep inside Russia, has flushed out hundreds of protestors against the construction of a nuclear reactor. Bronson Toles, the aging countercultural hero who runs the Stone Chapel, a pioneering music venue, is joined by Curt Chesak, coordinator for the Nuclear Freedom Front. Or not quite joined, since Chesak is so wary of publicity that he never appears in public and is never seen without a mask except by his most trusted followers. Denise Pichette-Volk, the hard-charging new managing editor at Shoreline, insists that Lewis (Primary Storm, 2006, etc.) supplement the monthly features he writes to justify a salary that the Defense Department paid for years ago as the price of his silence about an ugly secret with daily hard-news stories about the demonstrations. On top of not liking the pressure of acting like a real reporter, Lewis feels stuck in the middle between idealistic young protestors like UNH student Haleigh Miller and his old friend Diane Woods, of the Tyler Police Department. At length, there's a murder less important in itself than for its devastating effects on Paula Quinn, Lewis's ex-lover and colleague at the Tyler Chronicle. And there's a good deal more violence and soul-searching.

As usual, DuBois works hard to give every possible attitude toward nuclear plants a sympathetic hearing, and he's honest enough to acknowledge that solving the mystery does nothing to solve the problems he raises so compellingly.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

June 1, 2011

Journalist Lewis Cole (Dead Sand) probes the murder of a protestor at an antinuclear rally.

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