Indelible

March 1, 2021
The author of this impressive novel has poured elements from radically different genres into the blender and set it on high spin. First, the actioner. Officer Sean McPherson rides shotgun in a squad car as the driver is destroyed by a sniper. Then comes a touch of the paranormal, with ""intuitive"" Cynthia Winters ""able to read the energy of an object."" Her insights help bring the story to its wild conclusion. Then there's a soup�on of foodie lit in which characters respond to upsets with shopping and eating, each meal described in loving detail: ""Chicken soaked in chardonnay, sauteed with artichoke hearts."" Then it's romance. Officer McPherson, of the sniper attack, so loves a woman that ""his heart gallops at the sight of her."" The last fourth of the book explodes into a first-class thriller. The sniper has been here undercover all along and makes his moves in scenes of knife and gun violence culminating in a hospital and with revelations of a dirty cop. The last page promises further surprises in a sequel, which Buchanan better deliver soon.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.