Shadow Man

Set in Southern California in the mid-1980s, Drew’s entertaining, well-constructed second novel (after Gardens of Water) subverts action hero tropes. Ben Wade, a former big-city cop, moved back to his small hometown of Santa Elena to try to save his marriage after being shot on the job. Although that didn’t work out, he and his ex both still live there, taking care of their teen daughter, Emma. His quiet life is disrupted when a serial killer makes his way to Santa Elena and strangles a local woman. Around the same time, a local teen, an undocumented immigrant, kills himself, and Wade’s investigation into the latter stirs up some of his own memories. He’s joined in his investigations by medical examiner Natasha Betencourt; a potential romance between them seems to have stalled. As they dive deeper into both cases, Wade and Betencourt are forced to start looking into Wade’s own past as well. The darkness that affects Wade, a lone wolf who rides horses for pleasure, forms the heart of the story, and Drew draws it out nicely while still moving the plot forward. Agent: Dorian Karchmar, WME Entertainment. (June)