The Queen: A Patrick Bowers Thriller

Not given to formulas, James mixes up a fresh recipe for the next installment of the Bowers Files that's a quarter-cup Sherlock Holmes mystery, a dash of plot-twisting Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a heaping tablespoon of Tom Clancy international espionage, and a pinch of Jonathan Kellerman criminology for those hungry for new thrillers without raunchy sex and gratuitous violence, but with all the humanity and less sap than formula Christian fiction. Richly textured character descriptions and revelations, villains with environmental consciences, bad guys you can nearly wish well, and a love story are all threaded smartly throughout. These are not lightweight good guy%E2%80%93bad guy chase scenes, but complex stories moving freely across world cultures, characters' minds, and belief systems. The downside of James's recipe is that readers will have to develop a taste for genre bending and endure mild whiplash as the narrative hopscotches from multiple points of view, or from a scene of tender love and forgiveness on to heinous misdeeds of terrorists and serial killers. Even so, with a brilliant strategy, James manages a checkmate, and he seems to have many more moves in store. (Sept.)