DIVISIBLE MAN: Eight Ball

by Howard Seaborne ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 5, 2021

In this eighth series thriller, a pilot who can float while invisible investigates a sniper targeting far-right extremists.

Will Stewart, a pilot at Wisconsin’s Essex County Airport, has a way of getting involved in tense, high-stakes rescues and criminal investigations. An accident mysteriously endowed him with the ability to render himself imperceptible to the naked eye, and also float in a way that isn’t subject to inertia or gravity; over time, he’s discovered various ways to control his flight. For direction and velocity, he nearly always relies on homemade, handheld propeller units, which are useful but limited by battery life. Will often partners with his brilliant, dedicated wife, Detective Andy Stewart, who’s now attending an FBI training program. Few others know of Will’s abilities, but one who does is FBI Special Agent Leslie Carson-Pelham, whose late boss told her the secret. She asks Will to eavesdrop on a right-wing White supremacist’s plans to mount an attack on the U.S. government and start a race war; instead, Will witnesses the man’s death by sniper fire. It’s just one in a string of hits on extremist targets, and although Will foils a would-be kidnapping and helps bring down a chief suspect, it’s soon clear that the killer is still on the loose, which causes general panic. On leave from the Academy, Andy consults with one of her instructors, Mrs. Palmer, who displays razor-sharp intelligence, a genius for invention, and world-class ballistics expertise. She has invaluable and surprising insights that suggest that the sniper’s next target will be the president of the United States, so she and the Stewarts converge on the president’s Detroit campaign rally. Along the way, multiple deceptions put Will and Andy in mortal danger—and could lead to a national political firestorm.

Any reader of this series knows that they’re in good hands with Seaborne, who’s a natural storyteller. His descriptions and dialogue are crisp, and his characters deftly sketched; for example, Pidge, an ace pilot whom Will trained, is described as “a little under five feet of coiled cobra with short blonde hair and a disarming pixie smile” whom Will “always assumed would die alone in a bar fight at the age of ninety.” The book keeps readers tied into its complex and exciting thriller plot with lucid and graceful exposition, laying out clues with cleverness and subtlety. In one instance, for example, Will is afloat, reconnoitering a scene; later on, an almost accidental observation he made before leads him directly to a crucial realization. It doesn’t feel contrived, and neither do some other surprising plot twists. Seaborne gives a pilot’s attention to the aerodynamics of Will’s self-powered flights, during which he must account for obstacles, such as power lines, while working out trajectories, and so on, which gives the book a satisfying procedural air. Also, although Will’s abilities are powerful, they have reasonable limitations, and the protagonist is always a relatable character with plenty of humanity and humor.

Another riveting, taut, and timely adventure with engaging characters and a great premise.

Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-73568-349-2

Page Count: 404

Publisher: Trans World Data

Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2021

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

THRILLER | POLITICAL, MILITARY & TERRORISM | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE | GENERAL FICTION