Airtight

Lt. Luke Somers, of the New Jersey State Police, faces a critical deadline in this solid stand-alone from Edgar-finalist Rosenfelt (Heart of a Killer). When an anonymous tip names drug addict Steven Gallagher as the killer of Judge Daniel Brennan, who was about to sentence Steven in court, Somers confronts Steven and winds up shooting him in self-defense. Steven’s Marine brother, Chris, tells Somers he has one week to clear Steven’s name and find Brennan’s real killer, or else Chris will kill Somers’s brother, whom he has kidnapped. Somers’s desperate search for another explanation for Brennan’s murder takes him to Brayton, a town bitterly divided by a lawsuit over a plan to extract natural gas by fracking, with a major landowner in favor and the mayor against. Somers may be forced to cross ethical lines to save or avenge his brother. Rosenfelt’s cat-and-mouse game doesn’t rank high on the thrill meter, but Somers is a protagonist with series potential. Author tour. Agent: Robin Rue, Writers House. (Feb.)