cover image Double Deal

Double Deal

Michael McClister. Minotaur Books, $23.95 (272pp) ISBN 978-0-312-26562-5

When Tennessee governor Lucas Gannon receives death threats, he turns for help to his former FBI, CIA and Vietnam buddy, Elmo Finn, in this second excellent mystery from McClister (after 1999's Victim's Choice). Finn and 'Nam buddies George Graves and Roy devise an ingenious test of Gannon's security, but the next day a trio known as Red, White and Blue kidnap the governor's wife, Nikki, from the home of her mother, Louise Perry. Gannon decides to call up the rest of his 'Nam team, helicopter pilot Henry Wood and computer whiz Cecil Beech, and use them instead of the police to try to recover Nikki. Gannon's experience in six presidential campaigns proves invaluable in setting up a special-purpose headquarters in Nashville, off-limits to all but the 'Nam team and Louise. Meanwhile, in a mountain enclave 100 miles east of the state capital, the members of a neo-Nazi group go about Aryans-only ""God's Country"" chanting ""88"" for Heil Hitler (H is the eighth letter of the alphabet) and ""ZOG"" (for Zionist Occupation Government). Might they be connected to the kidnappers, now demanding the release from prison of a murderer and bank robber who once belonged to the neo-Nazi group? Who are Red, White and Blue? McClister keeps the reader guessing as the body count mounts and the action moves to a spectacular climax in mountain country. Crisp dialogue and an ever twisting plot make this one hard to put down. (Oct.)