5/13/12

Collateral Damage by H. Terrell Griffin


★★★★
Genre: Mystery
Subject: reprisals for old actions, camaraderie
Setting: Florida
Main Characters: Matt Royal, Logan Hamilton, Jock Algren, J.D. Dawson
Series: yes, #6 Matt Royal
Dates Read: May 9 - May 12
Number of pages: 352
Off the Shelf (pre-2012)? Source?: yes, NetGalley for review
Category for 12 in 12 challenge: Class Schedule

Matt Royal is a retired lawyer who lives at the beach on a Florida Key. One morning there is a knock at his door and his visitor is an old army buddy, Charles Desmond (Doc) who saved his life in Vietnam. Doc is here to ask Matt to help him find the person who murdered his son on the beach.

Enlisting the help of another friend, Jock, who is very high in a Federal Agency who can delve into areas that Matt has no access, and working with the local authorities, Matt uncovers connections of Desmond's son's murder with 2 other murders that occurred on the same day. Fighting off 2 separate attempts on his own life, concerns deepen when the local detective that he was working with disappears at the same time as his client.

The action is fast paced, the writing makes the reader feel the hot breezes of the keys as well as the sweltering humidity. Kept on the edge of your seat until the very end, the reader is given a great ride even though the clues are openly presented and the solution easily devised. It's still a great read.

Initially, I was a bit concerned because this is the 6th book in the Matt Royal series and I have not read any of the previous adventures but that will be remedied, most definitely. However, it does well as a stand alone mystery with just a few references to previous adventures that don't seem to effect the story other than character definition.

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