Gone ’til November

Karen White’s lugubrious opening tones are fitting introduction to our harried protagonist: Sara Cross, St. Charles County, Fla., deputy sheriff and single mother of a six-year-old boy with leukemia. She’s first on the scene after fellow deputy (and former lover) Billy Flynn has shot and killed a 22-year-old New Jersey black man for fleeing a traffic stop. Sara senses something off about the shooting, and her investigation eventually leads to a confrontation with Morgan, an elderly, extremely proficient yet oddly humane hit man who is suffering from newly diagnosed cancer. These two well-drawn characters are the heart of the novel, and Karen White’s somber, serious performance admirably brings them both to life. A Minotaur hardcover (Reviews, Nov. 2). (Feb.)