The Chicano War

Brock Callahan, exfootball star and licensed private eye, sets out to find the brother-guardian of an 11-year-old Mexican-American boy. He is soon in the middle of a dispute involving Los Angeles criminals trying to take over the rackets in Callahan's rich seaside town from the Chicanos who have run them with impunity. Arson, a shooting and finally the murder of the head L.A. mobster threaten to blow the town apart. Callahan must prove that the chief Chicano was framed, nail the killer and make a home for the appealing 11-year-old. Gault (The Dead Seed seems more concerned with fostering ethnic harmony than writing a mystery. Despite plenty of plot turns, the book suffers from a deliberately vague, offstage solution. The local color is good, though, and fans of Callahan, a relentlessly nice man, will love this caper. (April 15)