Have Mercy on Us

Back for a fourth adventure, Harry Kline, a Concord, Mass., forensic psychiatrist, enlists the help of his fiery FBI agent girlfriend, Veronica Pace, to track down a twisted serial killer called The True Believer, whose victims were all active in a fight to stop land development near Henry David Thoreaus famous Walden Pond. As Kline struggles to discover if the killer is Stephen (Veronicas college lover, who just happens to be in Concord), he also fights an inner demonthe fact that he may have prostate cancer. Luber (Pray for Us Sinners), himself a forensic psychologist, is for the most part up to the mark here. At times the action seems forced and the dialogue stilted. Still, Luber will satisfy his fans, once again displaying an uncanny ability to find the perfect fact or scene from Concord history to illuminate the ambiguities of even the most heinous crime scene. (May)