Going Nowhere Fast

The Shamus Award-winning author of the Aaron Gunner series (including You Can Die Trying ) takes an unfortunate detour with this tale of a retired couple on a cross-country trip in their new Airstream trailer home. Near the Grand Canyon, Dottie and Joe Loudermilk are visited by Bad Dog, their youngest, least loved and most troublesome child, and find a dead man in their toilet. The dead man has an assumed name, Bad Dog is being pursued by a very large, very angry pro football player and soon cops and government agents are beating a path to the Loudermilks' Airstream. Meant to be funny, the earnestly madcap narrative is mostly repetitive--former policeman Joe mutters, ``Jeeze Looweez,'' every second page, while narrator Dottie routinely--and patronizingly--placates him. The plot is carried by coincidence and the semi-moronic Bad Dog's sporadic moments of criminality, which are nowhere near inspired enough to keep this series launch up to speed. Mystery Guild selection; Literary Guild alternate. (Aug.)