FOXHAWK IT BEGINS

A young man seeking to reinvent himself gets caught up in a secretive plot in this complex thriller.

After a short, dissatisfying stay at the intelligence agency nicknamed “The Office,” Charlie Foxhawk Carter wants a fresh start. He leaves behind Richmond, Virginia, his family and friends, and all of his old expectations. Like many other young people, he moves to San Francisco during the Summer of Love. In San Francisco, he takes a position as a claims investigator for Life Beneficial. For his first case, Charlie investigates the death of murder victim Bob White. He’s soon getting pressured by the company president, his immediate supervisor, and White’s own parents to sign off on the cause of death so the claim will be paid. When he resists, Tony Vitolinich, Charlie’s cousin, suddenly becomes the prime suspect in the murder. While working to clear Tony, Charlie, who left his longtime crush Isobel back in Richmond, meets Heather Chicago, the girl of his dreams, who has her share of secrets. He also learns that White’s father, Bull, who’s been causing much of the turmoil in Charlie’s life, is a high-ranking Office official. Eventually, Tony and his girlfriend, Jane, who’s also Heather’s sister, are abducted, and Charlie and Heather must race to locate and rescue them while avoiding The Office’s clutches themselves. There’s a lot to like about Cervarich’s latest work, including the winning protagonist Charlie, who, like many young adults at that time, was trying to find his own way. Unfortunately, his doing the right thing and following his moral compass serves to get him into more and more trouble as he angers important, shady people. Cervarich does a magnificent job of evoking San Francisco during a turbulent time, but with all the mysticism and drug use in the novel, it’s difficult to tell what’s real and what’s imagined; Office agents also seem to lurk everywhere, which feels unrealistic. Still, this intriguing first volume in Cervarich’s series bodes well for future installments.

A young drifter fights the good fight in this atmospheric, engaging character study.