Young cop, Archie Wildcraft and his wife Gwen were the perfect couple and madly in love with one another. When she is shot with his gun and, it appears, he is the victim of a botched suicide attempt, it is all very confusing. This is the third of a series featuring Detective Merci Rayburn. If you haven't read any of them, start with the first - The Blue Hour. I am now going back and reading the other two but they clearly should be read in order. I am just delighted to have found a new (to me) author. Parker knows how to tell a story and I can't wait to read the rest of his. ( )

Third book with Detective Merci Rayborn. Lots of action, Wish they were more books with her. T. Jefferson Parker great story teller. ( )

It is not bad but for some reason it bored me. The last few pages were really good though. ( )

Average detective mystery. Features Merci Rayborn ( )

First of all, I liked this core story. Well described, interesting, clever and not too contrived. I thought the books biggest drawback was that I felt like I was being loaded up with another story. Lo and behold, The Blue Hour and Red Light both come before this third book. I would STRONGLY suggest reading those first as the reader may then wax nostalgic over characters I really wanted to like, but never got close enough to fully embrace them - the father, Mike, Hess, etc. On the other hand, I feel like I know the plots (or at least the spoilers) of the other two books now and am hesitant to read them now. Compare this to Robert Crais - with brief nods to most prior books and no giveaways - and I find Mr Parker's style too informative. ( )