A WHISPER OF BLACK

Another bromidic round of far-fetched roughhouse in the North Carolina wild with Tyler Vance, the irritatingly righteous star of Harvey's debut (A Flash of Red, 1996). When last heard from, widower Ty had bested a band of Bosnian brigands bent on running heavy-duty ordnance back to the old country from a base inconveniently close to the Vance family homestead outside Greensboro. This time, a couple of Serbs who survived the carnage accost the freelance writer (whose stock in trade is small arms) in the backwoods where he's testing a brace of new pistols. The Balkan bravos, who hold Ty responsible for the disappearance of a seven-figure bankroll, demand their money and warn him that his kin may be in danger from Hector Diaz, a Mexican druglord whose cousin was slain in the earlier shootout. Ty (who sermonizes incessantly on subjects ranging from down-home values to taxation) plays along for safety's sake. With a little help from redneck friends and the commanding officer of a special forces unit at Fort Bragg, Ty (on the outs with local law-enforcement agencies) saves son Cullen and dad Odie from attempts on their lives. One of the would-be killers escapes—an ex-CIA operative named Harmony Cahill—but this essentially good-hearted assassin subsequently joins forces with Ty. Ty, meanwhile, finds a way to lure Diaz north of the border. Before he can arrange a showdown with his principal adversary, however, he must gun down four of the vengeful Mexican's advance men at close quarters in an open field. He does so with commendable efficiency and goes into his mano a mano with Diaz somewhat the worse for wear. Fortunately, Harmony is there at the close to keep him alive. Harvey can be a expert hand at violent action, but such scenes can't redeem a creaky and improbable narrative featuring a cocksure, thoroughly unlikable protagonist.