In Plain Sight

Canadian author Knowles's unsparing, blood-soaked third crime thriller to feature mob-enforcer Wilson picks up where the previous entry, Grinder, left off. Wilson wakes up handcuffed to a Hamilton, Ont., hospital bed, where the cops want to know who he is and why he was found lying in the street next to a homicide scene. In addition, the Russian mob and the Italian Mafia want him dead, but they've all underestimated Wilson, who has a knack for remaining invisible in a crowded room and of evading detection while in plain sight. Soon, Wilson slips into the streets of Hamilton, where he deftly plays the dirty cops against the mobsters. Gunfights and well-choreographed scenes of carnage abound. Wilson, who makes no pretense of which side of the law he's on, remains unburdened by quaint notions of redemption. This is pure, visceral action, reading more like an episode of a serial than a self-contained novel. (Sept.)