Flat Spin: A Cordell Logan Mystery

In journalist Freed’s deftly plotted first novel, Cordell Logan, one-time member of the U.S. government’s elite “Alpha” antiterrorism assassination squad, is struggling to make ends meet as a flight instructor in California. Cordell sees a chance for a fresh start when his beautiful ex-wife, Savannah Carlisle, gets back in touch with him, albeit for an unflattering reason. The man she left Cordell for, his Alpha colleague Arlo Echevarria, has just been gunned down, and she wants Cordell to inform the LAPD of Arlo’s classified past. He agrees, but also begins his own investigation into the crime’s connections to Savannah’s father, Texas oil tycoon Gil Carlisle, and to the Russian mafia. Readers will find Cordell, intrigued by Buddhism and still emotionally vulnerable from his divorce, an engaging protagonist, despite his incessant wisecracking. Freed, who shared a Pulitzer Prize for the L.A. Times’s coverage of the Rodney King riots, capably balances humor and serious themes. Agency: Jill Marr, Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. (May)