Gray Ghost

December 11, 2006
The pleasures of the outdoors lift the second Stoney Calhoun novel
\t\t (after 2004's Bitch Creek) from Tapply, best
\t\t known for his many mysteries about Boston lawyer Brady Coyne (Out Cold, etc.). Stoney, who lost his memory when he
\t\t was struck by lightning years earlier, knows how to tie a gray ghost—a fly
\t\t used for salmon—as well as other skills useful to his new life as half-owner
\t\t of a bait shop in Portland, Maine. Occasionally, hints about his past arrive
\t\t like muscle twinges—survival skills of the sort learned in law enforcement,
\t\t reinforced by infrequent visits from "a grayish, nondescript guy from some
\t\t government agency who'd been sent to keep an eye on him." But Stoney is mostly
\t\t on his own as he struggles to find out why a burned corpse turns up on a small
\t\t island, and why the fishing client who was with him when they discovered the
\t\t body is also killed. Readers will look forward to learning more about Tapply's
\t\t new character, who with any luck will be around as long as Brady Coyne.
\t\t

February 1, 2007
Seven years ago Stony Calhoun emerged from a VA hospital with the memory of his previous life ostensibly obliterated by a direct lightning strike. He has curious attributes of unknown origin, including proficiency in hand-to-hand combat and knowledge of criminal investigation. Settled into a nondescript but contented life as a partner in a fishing-guide business on the coast of Maine, Stony believes his synaptic gap is a good thing. Then he and a client discover the charred remains of an anonymous body on an uninhabited island, and later, the client is murdered on the porch of Stony's isolated cabin. The local sheriff, who used Stony's investigatory skills in " Bitch Creek" (2004), enlists his reluctant cooperation again. Nothing is as it appears as Stony's role morphs from witness to suspect to investigator to target. Tapply, best known to mystery fans as the author of the delightful Brady Coyne series, presents a complex plot with wonderful characters while teasing readers with small hints about his protagonist's murky past. Here's hoping this series will take hold the way the Coyne novels did decades ago.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)