LAST REDEMPTION

5 stars out of 5

My guess is that every avid reader has a series (or two, or three) that never fails to be a sure bet for an entertaining, comforting go-to. I know I do, and  this one isn't all that far from the top of my favorites list. This entry - the eighth - certainly doesn't disappoint; in fact, it just may have moved the series up a notch or two.

At the outset, Rick's life is something of a roller coaster; happily, he's going to be a father as his fiancee, interior designer Leah Landingham, is in the early stages of pregnancy. Not so happily, he's been diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, for which the prognosis is early death (and meantime, he's experiencing brief lapses in memory). He plans to tell Leah, and his sometime P.I. partner and best friend, Moira MacFarlane, but the time just never seems right.

He's also trying to get comfortable working behind a desk rather than in the field, where danger lurks at any given moment (and has resulted in injuries that no doubt contributed to his brain condition). That switch in focus, he says, he owes to Leah - and his intense desire to become a first-time dad. His resolve gets set aside, however, when Moira calls to say her son Luke is missing - not long after his girlfriend Gabrielle took out a Temporary Restraining Order against him. Moira, needless to say, is frantic with worry, although she refuses to believe that her son did anything to warrant the TRO, much less anything worse.

But spotting Luke at Gabrielle's condo building - but going into an adjacent unit - hints at a different story that spirals into a scenario immediately calling to my mind the currently (as I write this) in-the-news trial of Elizabeth Holmes, founder of the much-hyped but ill-fated blood testing firm Theranos. In any event, it's a plot that ultimately puts Rick in serious danger almost from the git-go (and for those who might care, some of what happens gets a little cringe-worthy in spots). 

The ending wraps things up nicely, with one exception that no doubt will play a role in the next installment - to which, needless to say, I'm looking forward. Meantime, thanks once again to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to enjoy a pre-release copy of this one. Great job!

Last Redemption by Matt Coyle (Oceanview Publishing, November 2021); 352 pp.