A-List: A Jake Longly Novel

Fans of TV adventure shows offering constant danger will best appreciate Lyle’s predictable second novel featuring former major-league pitcher Jake Longly (after 2016’s Deep Six). When Jake hears that Kirk Ford, the lead in the blockbuster Space Quest movie franchise, has been arrested after 19-year-old Kristi Guidry was found strangled in the actor’s bed, he quips, “I really hate it when that happens.” That flip attitude makes empathizing with Jake an uphill slog. Kristi’s death comes just a week after Jake and his girlfriend, Nicole Jemison, survived a deadly encounter with some thugs aboard a yacht off the Alabama coast, because Jake was able to fight back by throwing two baseballs that he just happened to be carrying. Jake and Nicole look into Kristi’s murder on behalf of his father, Ray, who runs a PI firm. Meanwhile, the dead girl’s gangster uncle, who has a hook in the local DA’s office, complicates their efforts. The solution, telegraphed early on, will surprise few readers. [em]Agent: Kimberly Cameron, Kimberly Cameron & Associates. (Dec.) [/em]