cover image Ambush

Ambush

Paul Carson, . . St. Martin's, $24.95 (376pp) ISBN 978-0-312-36711-4

Clichéd prose mars this tale of revenge from Irish author Carson (Betrayal ). Scott Nolan, a mild-mannered American doctor who's recently moved to Dublin, and his adored wife, Laura (she of the “dancing blue eyes that mocked and taunted”), enjoy a wonderful life filled with love (“They kissed, long and lovingly, wet and hungrily”). When Laura is shot dead in an ambush aimed at Ireland's antidrug-crusading justice minister, Harry Power, Scott enlists the help of his Irish cop brother-in-law, Mark Higgins, to find and kill the mastermind behind the attack. Ireland's senior police officer, Commissioner Peter Cunningham, and Power agree to a secret plan whereby Scott uses his medical skills to extort information from drug dealers he and Higgins kidnap in their effort to track down the villain. The modern Dublin setting may interest U.S. readers who otherwise will find the writing itself out-of-date. (June)