FINAL EXPOSURE

When an aspiring writer’s wife is murdered for no apparent reason, he can’t rest until he finds the killer.

After several years as a successful San Francisco lawyer, David Collier makes the life change he’s always wanted. He and his photographer wife Rebecca move north of the city to a little beach house where he can fulfill his dream of writing fiction. David’s lifelong best friend, police detective Chuck DiLucca, ribs but supports him faithfully, as Rebecca and David did through Chuck’s messy divorce. While the spouses are having dinner at the new beach house, Rebecca, responding to the doorbell, is shot in the head by a stranger that the author identifies for the reader as Bashaar. Hearing the noise, David goes to the door and is also shot, though not fatally. Bolstered by his friends, he gradually recovers, even though Bashaar tries to finish the job with a long-distance rifle while David is in the hospital. Once David is released, equipped with cane and hearing aid, his writing dreams pale next to the urgency of finding Rebecca’s killer. His strongest lead comes from a hunch about her last roll of film. As David gets closer to the inevitable showdown with Bashaar, Carlson (Almost Graceland, 2007) feeds the reader tidbits from Bashaar’s perspective to sharpen the picture. All to no avail.

An uninspired thriller lacking dimension or style.