The Disposable Man

Archer Mayor is a good plot crafter. He sets up crimes bereft of any clue except one - and that one clue leads to many more. In this outing, there are ambitious city politicians, CIA spooks, and Russian mafia of all things. If Mayor was heavy handed or trite, he would have these evil forces pulling every impossible dirty trick from a comic book you could imagine. Thankfully, he shows restraint. The writing and dialogue is lean, the story moves quickly (sometimes too quickly) and there is a cliffhanger type of ending. One thing that would change my review to five stars is this: I don't feel a payoff from the climactic endings. All the events leading up to the finale are satisfactory. Not to readers - you will get the most satisfaction from these books if you read them in sequence. You will get to know the characters and understand their motivations and personalities.

THIS IS A GOOD BOOK. IF YOU WANT TO BECOME A MYSGTERY FAN YOU CAN'T DO ANY BETTER THAN JOE GUNTHER, ARCHER MAYOR'S DETECTIVE. I THINK ALL OF ARCHER MAYOR'S BOOKS ARE GREAT AND I LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT ONE. THE ONLY THING THAT I WISH IS THAT JOE GUNTHER WOULD GET A LITTLE TOUGHER, HE SEEMS TO BE TOO NICE A GUY FOR A DETECTIVE. AT TIMES HE APPEARS TO BE ALMOST A STUMBLEBUM, BUT THEN HE ALWAYS COMES THROUGH I HIGHLY RECOMMEND ANY OF ARCHER MAYOR'S DETECTIVE NOVELS.

This latest entry in the Joe Gunther series is a worthy successor to the previous installments. Once again, the small town of Brattleboro, Vermont is in the midst of an unexplainable crime, and the locals are on the case, only this time it is Joe himself who comes under suspicion, and has to work to save his career and reputation. The story, tho' tinged with intrigue, is believable, and Mayor's depiction of small-town Vermont and its people is once again dead-on. Mayor is one of a few who have really crafted outstanding series based upon small-town law enforcement (others being Stephen Havill for New Mexico and Gerry Boyle for rural Maine). Good job!

In Brattleboro, Vermont, police lieutenant Joe Gunther wonders why a foreigner would be murdered in a nearby quarry? The victim carried no identity and no one seems to be claiming a missing Eastern European. The only marks of meaning are some strange tattoos on the body of the corpse that abruptly arouse the attention of the FBI and the CIA.The CIA wants Joe to back out of the case, something he refuses to do. Instead, they invite him to DC, but before he can leave someone tries to kill him. Still, the intrepid law enforcement official continues with his inquiries even though he is no longer sure who he can trust.Just about any other writer besides the great Archer Mayor would flop miserably with this way out story line of a technological shootout between Russians in Vermont. However, Mr. Mayor not only pulls off the plot, but makes Joe seem more human in the face of his findings. Mr. Mayor is one of the sharpest writers of police procedurals, who also should be paid by the state tourist bureau because his descriptions of Vermont is breathtaking.Harriet Klausner

~In Brattleboro, Vermont, police lieutenant Joe Gunther wonders why a foreigner would be murdered in a nearby quarry? The victim carried no identity and no one seems to be claiming a missing Eastern European. The only marks of meaning are some strange tattoos on the body of the corpse that abruptly arouse the attention of the FBI and the CIA. <P