Jesse James, Jack the Ripper, the Corleones, Hannibal Lecter—great villains make great reading. And while Holton's (The Left Hand of God) 10th and unfortunately last (he died in 2001) Larry Cole novel lacks continuity and cumulative narrative power, his Chicago criminal Joe Donegan is a fine villain. On the surface, Donegan would seem to have no advantages: nobody likes him, nobody trusts him; he's a suspect in every crime he commits, but he's just smart enough to elude his would-be accusers. In addition, he's cunningly chosen law enforcement as his medium in which to rob and kill. A detective assigned to a violent crimes unit, Donegan forms an alliance with alderman Skip Murphy, after Murphy's sexual foreplay gets out of hand and he kills his partner. Murphy covers up the crime by burning down a building and murdering several people who might have been witnesses. It's just the beginning in a new phase of Donegan's criminal career: political assassin. Allied against him are Commander Larry Cole and his sidekick, Sgt. Blackie Silvestri. In truth, despite their formidable reputations, the police protagonists are pretty ineffectual. In the book's biggest shortcoming, the heroes aren't instrumental in bringing down the evil doers. The denouement may be realistic, but some readers may feel the author isn't playing by the rules. Otherwise, this is a fast moving, entertaining procedural in which the villains hold the spotlight. Holton is especially good at conjuring up interesting characters, good or bad. (Feb. 13)
FYI:The author was a 33-year veteran of the Chicago police department.
