The Killing Look

When Union Army veteran L.D. Cade, the hero of this assured thriller from Rhoads (the Jack Keller novels), arrives in bustling San Francisco after the Civil War, his only assets are a Colt Navy revolver and the experience that’s taught him when to use it and when to hold fire. That’s enough to get him hired by shady businessman John Hamrick as a bodyguard, his principal duty being to protect everyone in the Hamrick household from Chinese tong assassins. What he doesn’t know is that the plot against Hamrick’s family is led by a white man pretending to be the leader of the Green Dragon Tong. When Mr. Kwan, the real head of the tong, finds out about this, he inserts his formidable female assassin into the mix. Even after Cade is fired by Hamrick and arrested by the crooked police, his toughness, native decency, and attraction to Hamrick’s wife impel him to stick with the task to the bloody end. Rhoades does a good job illuminating the racial and ethnic tensions of the period. With any luck, this is the start of a series. (Aug.)