IMPERVIOUS

Buchanan’s third Sean McPherson novel again pits Sean “Mick” McPherson and the forces of good against the archvillain Georgio “The Bull” Gambino and his lethal henchmen.

This thriller begins when a hired valet is killed by a car bomb at Mick and Emma Benton’s wedding at the Pines & Quill retreat in the picturesque village of Fairhaven, not far from Bellingham Bay in Washington state. The backstory for the murder involves many killings—all orchestrated by the vengeful Gambino—including more than one attempt to kill Mick and Emma. The star of this particular show is Gambino’s protégé, Toni Bianco, a stone cold killer passing as a Bellingham police officer—not the only Gambino mole in the BPD. (Gambino’s soldiers are everywhere and can be identified by the “Family First” tattoo on their lower backs.) More violence ensues, in Bellingham, San Francisco, and New Orleans. After much violence and death and a bang-up conclusion, the good guys come out on top, but barely. The kicker, though, is that Georgio is still out there, untouched and plotting (of course, there is yet another sequel, Iniquity, in the works). All the backstory this requires isn’t always gracefully interwoven. What’s more distracting, however, is that as the plot unfolds, characters recount details that they—and readers—already know well from earlier parts of the book (“including Kevin Pearce, the valet who died in the explosion when he moved Mick and Emma’s Jeep at the wedding”). This kind of needless repetition happens more than once, and it feels not just odd, but oddly scripted. The characters’ speech can also seem unnatural: They speak not of “Gambino” but of “Georgio ‘The Bull’ Gambino,” as if respecting trademark law. That said, there are many engaging characters. Mick’s brother-in-law is a superb chef who prepares tantalizing dishes. Except for the occasional murder, the Pines & Quill seems a real Eden, lovingly described as such. And if Gambino is a ruthless antagonist, Buchanan lightens the plot with appealing palate cleansers such as a canine romance.

A propulsive plot and engaging characters help make up for some awkward writing.