THE LAST MAN TO DIE

New Orleans p.i. Micah Dunn (Deep Kill, etc.), a Vietnam vet left with a useless arm and lots of nightmares, finds himself in the middle of one when he becomes involved with the unearthing of a skeleton on nearby Ship Island. The remains are soon identified as those of Max Chantry, a firebrand reformer who disappeared in 1949, thought to be the victim of the mob and corrupt officialdom. Intrigued, Micah starts finding and talking to people who knew Chantry—his widow, son, secretary, and a retired cop familiar with the case. Before long, Micah has become the center of a storm of violence—two murders and attempts on his own life. Who could feel so threatened after all those years, and why? The answers provide some bizarre, barely believable plotting, slowed often by Micah's bouts of introspection, but with a puzzle adroit enough to hold the reader to the end.