AT THE CITY'S EDGE

You can usually count on Grover Gardner to deliver a smooth, interesting performance. This time, however, his delivery is decidedly drab. Maybe it's the unremarkable plot and predictable outcome of this work that make him hold back a little. After an Iraqi war veteran returns to Chicago, his brother is murdered in front of his 8-year-old son. Soon the killers are after the boy as well. That's when the veteran once again becomes a fighting machine. As the action picks up, the author makes you wonder who the culprits are--gang bangers or gangsters? This second book by Sakey isn't nearly as good as his first (THE BLADE ITSELF), and maybe Gardner knows it. A.L.H. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2008]