Friday, November 09, 2018

FFB Review: Corkscrew by Ted Wood

Friday means Friday’s Forgotten Books hosted by Patti Abbott. Make sure you check out the full list over at Patti’s blog.

Fifth in the series, Corkscrew opens with Reid Bennet at home doing his job as Chief of Police in Murphy’s Harbour. Biker gangs have been a problem before in Toronto and a biker gang is about to be an issue again.  This time it is the “Devil’s Brigade” and they are looking for their own kind of fun in the resort town of Murphy’s Harbour.

He has to keep things peaceful as he is a police force of one plus his dog, Sam. With reinforcements from the Ontario Provincial Police a long ways away, he has to keep things on as an even keel as possible. For the time being, their leader who goes by the name of “Russ” and Chief Bennett have worked out an understanding and uneasy truce exists. It actually helped a bit that Russ knew what had happened in Toronto so he has some grudging respect for Reid.

While the uneasy truce holds, Reid is able to focus on a bigger issue of a missing thirteen year old boy. Kennie Spenser went off with his expensive Nikon camera to take pictures and never came back. There has been no sign of him, the boy’s Mom is very upset and worried, and the boy’s drunk stepfather is of no help at all. Not only do the stepfather and the missing boy have a history, apparently the stepdad has also been physically violent with the wife. Clearly, the stepdad is a suspect in the teen disappearance, but he isn’t the only one.

As in earlier books in the series, plenty is going on in Corkscrew by Ted Wood. Not only do we learn a little more backstory on Reid, we see the beginnings of a new romance for him. That additional depth and evolution of the character does not get in the way of the action and the mysteries at work in Corkscrew. Another very good tale in a very good series.



Corkscrew
Ted Wood
Charles Scribner’s Sons
1986
ISBN# 0-684-18568-7
Hardback (also available in paperback and digital formats)
233 Pages


Material supplied by the good folks of the Dallas Public Library. 



Kevin R. Tipple ©2018

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