THE INCIDENT AT TERLINGUA

In Ryan’s thriller, a loner finds friendship, community, and danger in a small Texas town.

As the novel opens, Jake Plumb is driving along the hot, dry roads of Texas in search of a new life, or at least an end to the chaos of his old one. A trained engineer who’d been unwillingly involved in a bridge disaster that cost dozens of lives, Plumb is now a drifter with a growing alcohol problem, seeking some kind of oblivion: “A place free from time—no future, no past. Just now. Stasis. An end to memories and futures. Nothing to haunt a fellow.” When Plumb encounters the small, dusty town of Terlingua, he thinks it might be as good a place to start over as any. He heads to the bar, orders a meal and a beer, and is immediately approached by Chavez, the town’s tough-but-fair sheriff, who wants a friendly chat. The next day, Sheriff Chavez bumps this up to a friendly warning: Either Plumb gets in his truck and moves on out of town, or he accepts a position as a probationary deputy, helping Chavez out at the office. Chavez has his own motive for wasting the engineer’s talents on simple office work: the sheriff is illiterate, and therefore can’t do most of the work himself. Plumb decides to accept the offer, and the two are immediately called to the scene of an auto accident that takes a surprising turn—the dead body pinned under the car turns to dust before their eyes. The incident will pit this mismatched pair against a powerful drug cartel and involve them in a mystery that extends well beyond sleepy little Terlingua.

Ryan skillfully lays the groundwork for the tense confrontation that builds steadily through the book; this is a well-handled crime thriller, with Chavez, Plumb, and a heroic dog quickly finding themselves facing powerful, sophisticated enemies. The action, particularly at the novel’s climax, is sharply done and will satisfy pretty much any thriller fan. But the narrative’s strongest element is perhaps its most surprising: Both men at the center of the story are struggling to find better versions of themselves, and they largely succeed with each other’s help. Sheriff Chavez sees this exchange more clearly than Plumb does at first. “He could redraw Jake while Jake began to redraw Chavez’s world,” he thinks. “That would help Jake and him.” For Plumb’s part, he finds unexpected friendship with both Chavez and the dog, Idyll. The author periodically gives readers intriguing insights into how this former engineer sees the world: “Jake solved problems by seeing a video in his head playing out to a solution,” Ryan writes. “When the picture was right, the solution would be right.” Even as the dangerous plot escalates, readers will be equally fascinated by the sympathetic and deepening examination of the two central characters as they’re put under greater and greater pressure. Chavez, whose own life was turned around by the tough love of a lawman years earlier, is happy to pay things forward with Jake Plumb, and readers will be gratified as Plumb reaffirms his scientific skills while also adding new dimensions to his life, from archery to law enforcement.

A fascinating blend of action and personal drama set in the boiling Texas landscape.