KILLER MOVE

A Florida realtor targeted by unknown antagonists is suspected of assorted crimes while a parolee returns to his old stomping grounds to avenge the death of the woman he was convicted of murdering.

Bill Moore makes a good living selling units for a condo chain in the Keys off the coast of Sarasota, Fla., and he's happily married to a magazine editor, Stephanie. But he wants to become super-rich. While pursuing the big deal that will enable him to start his own business, he starts receiving mysterious messages and getting packages he didn't order, all tagged with the word "Modified." When his wife walks out on him after discovering convincingly faked photos of him in a tryst with a co-worker, he becomes an odd man out desperate to prove his innocence. Meanwhile, the convict, John Hunter, is carrying out a cold-blooded plan that involves abducting the man whose $8 million house Bill is hoping to make a killing on. When people around him start dying, Bill begins questioning everyone: Is it possible his wife has set him up for a fall? A solid, workmanlike writer, Marshall (The Intruders, 2007, etc.) evokes the Florida setting quite well. Atmosphere is his strong suit. But much of novel seems forced and secondhand. Moore is not particularly likable, and Hunter is one of the less memorable killers in recent crime fiction.

A mildly enjoyable thriller that sets up a sequel on which only committed fans of the author may want to take a flyer.