Alligator Alley

November 1, 2022
At first, this comes off as a polished crime tale, smooth if a tad routine. It's nighttime in the Everglades, and two bad men take the life of a female government worker who has been tailing them. Back in DC, the woman's boss asks for help in tracking her killers. That's the cue that brings Lawson's series hero, Joe DeMarco, onstage for his sixteenth adventure. We're still on familiar ground, but the pattern starts to fragment when we meet Lawson's associate, the hard-edged Emma. She's a former secret agent who specialized in wet work; she doesn't sleep until a job is done and doesn't think anyone else should, either. No banter here. This compelling Nora is far deadlier than Nick. The author's style is completely unadorned, not a metaphor in sight, but as the plot moves forward, readers may wonder why their palms are sweaty. The narrative is that seductive. The heart of the matter is a plot by bent FBI agents to rob Medicare thieves, and Lawson's detail-rich exposition of the topic delivers a fascinating how-to-do-it brief, complete with tips on money laundering. This one sneaks up on you, but it's a really stunning thriller.

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Starred review from November 21, 2022
The murder of 23-year-old Andie Moore, a Department of Justice employee, propels Edgar finalist Lawson’s outstanding 16th thriller featuring Joe DeMarco, bagman and fixer for Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives John Mahoney (after 2021’s House Standoff). Andie’s boss at the DOJ, Henry Cantor, asks Mahoney for DeMarco and retired DIA agent Emma, the “most enigmatic, secretive person Mahoney had ever known,” to investigate, because he thinks Andie was killed by an FBI agent, thus making an FBI investigation questionable. Cantor is almost right, except it was two FBI agents who were the culprits, as revealed in an early chapter in which Andie is shot to death in her car while parked on the Everglades Parkway (aka Alligator Alley). DeMarco and Emma travel to the Everglades, where they follow a long and twisting trail to the truth. Along the way, the tension rises as the path to justice is almost derailed several times. Assured prose matches the two capable protagonists: the crafty DeMarco and the relentless, brilliant Emma. This is perhaps Lawson’s best in the series to date. Agent: David Gernert, Gernert Company.