Description:
Smokey Dalton is a man on the run, and he's got something to hide. In her second Dalton novel, author Kris Nelscott takes these invitations to cliché and instead crafts a refreshingly straightforward thriller that moves adroitly through the sweltering heat and simmering racial tension of the summer of 1968, when the Democratic National Convention came to Chicago. In A Dangerous Road, PI Smokey became the unwitting protector of a 10-year-old boy who had witnessed Martin Luther King's murder--and who knows that James Earl Ray was the fall guy for a government-mandated assassination. Now, several months later, Smokey and Jimmy have taken refuge with friends in Chicago. Just as he's letting go of the reflex to look over his shoulder, Smokey hears that neighbors have seen someone watching him. But when he tries to find out who the stranger is, he gets sidetracked by a plea to find a missing 14-year-old boy who has disappeared without a trace. When the body of another neighborhood child appears on Smokey's doorstep, bearing the traces of torture administered by a pro, the investigator knows that the shadows of Memphis have lengthened and darkened--and that they may stretch all the way back to his own military past. To save Jimmy from their pursuers, Smokey will have to swallow both personal and professional pride, forming uneasy alliances with Laura, an ex-almost-lover, and with the Chicago police. Nelscott is interested in delineating the ordinary rather than the extraordinary: the novel's plot is well-articulated and suspenseful, but even more rewarding are its glimpses into the social constraints and preconceptions that surround Smokey (whose rusted Impala and skin color combine to form "a neon sign advertising trouble"). This is a solid follow-up effort that should have fans looking forward to a third appearance. --Kelly Flynn
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