The Good Killer

When Iraq vet Sean Tennant, the hero of this satisfying crime novel from Dolan (The Man in the Crooked Hat), stops a shooting spree in a Houston mall by fatally shooting unstable Henry Keen, he draws unwanted attention to himself. Sean is actually Sean Garrety, and he and his wife, Molly Winter, have been in hiding from small-time crook Jimmy Harper, whose brother died while committing a robbery with Sean, and from Adam Khadduri, the dodgy art dealer they robbed. Sean speeds to rural Montana to join Molly, who’s lying low at a retreat, and the couple flee across the country, with Jimmy and Adam’s men in hot pursuit. Despite the many players, Dolan gives each of them their own believable motivations and emotions. The action concludes, not with a shoot-out, but with one of Keen’s victims as she deals with the aftermath of the tragedy, providing a calm coda after the relentless chase. Both action junkies and readers who like their thrillers on the cerebral side will find something to enjoy. [em]Agent: Agent: Victoria Skurnik, Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary. (Feb.)