She Treads Softly: Fatal Harbor

Saturday, January 20, 2024

Fatal Harbor

Fatal Harbor by Brendan DuBois
1/30/24 (originally published 5/8/14); 250 pages
Severn River Publishing
Lewis Cole #8

Fatal Harbor by Brendan DuBois is a very highly recommended tale of justice and vengeance. As the eighth book in the Lewis Cole series it would behoove those new to the series to at least read the previous book, Deadly Cove, before Fatal Harbor, but, honestly, you will want to read more. Lewis Cole is a wonderful character and this series is addictive.

Lewis Cole's best friend, Detective Diane Woods of the Tyler Police Department, is in a coma after protest coordinator Curt Chesak beat her with a pipe. Chesak then, seemingly, disappeared. Cole, with help from his friend Felix Tinios, a security consultant, set out piecing together clues they have in order to find Chesak. It quickly becomes apparent that they are being followed. Someone or some organization does not want him to investigate and they are armed. What these individuals don't know is Cole's determination and resolve to bring his own brand of justice to bear on Chesak no matter the personal cost.

Fatal Harbor shows a new side to the character of Lewis Cole that readers may have suspected was always there, but now it is out in the open. This is personal. He is angry and seeking vengeance, yet he is still observant and careful in his methods. The well-written narrative moves at a fast pace with several surprises and twists along the way. The ending was absolutely excellent. This may be my favorite book in the series read along with Deadly Cove. I actually highlighted several written passages while reading. Thanks to Severn River Publishing for providing me with an advance reader's copy. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.