This book sees the return of Clara Rinker, who previously turned up in Certain Prey, where she met Davenport but eluded him. Now following a failed attempt to have her killed, she's back, and out for revenge on the mob bosses set up the bungled hit. This brings her back from semi-retirement in Mexico, and into Lucas' jurisdiction again.

A great story. Took a little while to get going, but really got going. Clara's unborn child and her husband were both killed in the attack on her, and the people responsible are all criminals anyway, so you have a lot of sympathy for Clara as she works her way down the list of people she wants to whack. Her trademark careful planning is well detailed and plausible, and you sense that Sandford is willing her on.

I really enjoyed this one, and unlike some reviews I've seen, thought the ending worked very well. Sandford resists any temptation to have any kind of stand-off scene between Clara and Lucas at the end of the book, which I think would have been the way that things would have happened in most books of this type: a conversation between the hero and anti-hero where they tell each other what they think. Instead, the books ends with a feeling that there was more to have been said - which I think is better than feeling that too much was.

Good one.

Completed : 30-Jul-2007 (audiobook)