CHOKER

The fifth in the Ike Schwartz series splits into parallel mysteries, one involving terrorists hoping to cause national chaos, the other involving teenagers and devil worship. Ike, retired “spook,” now sheriff of Picketsville, Virginia, is on vacation when his old friend and former colleague Charlie Garland asks him to help find the missing friend-of-a-friend. What Ike finds involves a complicated, very-real threat to national security. Meanwhile, Picketsville's back-up law enforcement, Frank Sutherlin, and Episcopal priest Blake Fisher investigate possible Satanic rituals. Lloyd James provides an intelligent narration. Ike has a likable energy, Charlie is appropriately prickly, and Fisher sounds like a man on a mission. Ramsay's engrossing double mystery and James's smart reading are two good reasons to listen. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2009]