The Vigilantes

Griffin's plodding 10th police thriller in his Badge of Honor series (after The Traffickers), co-authored with son Butterworth, adds little that's either new or exciting to a shopworn plot. Despite debilitating chemotherapy for prostate cancer, Will Curtis decides to take justice into his own hands and kill John "JC" Nguyen, the slimy drug dealer who slipped his 24-year-old daughter, Wendy, a "roofy," then raped her. While he's at it, Will also whacks shyster lawyer Daniel Gartner, who got JC acquitted on a technicality at JC's trial. Will's good at his work, so he decides to kill every other sexual criminal he can locate running loose on the streets of Philadelphia. Sgt. Matt Payne tries to figure out who's behind this murder spree while pursuing his ongoing love affair with Dr. Amanda Law, the damsel in distress he rescued in The Traffickers. Unfunny interior dialogue and other suspense-impeding devices slow the predictable action to the point that only series fans will find much to enjoy. (Aug.)