IMPOSTER

A crack federal agent investigates his own mother’s murder.

Bunn (Drummer in the Dark, 2001, etc.) lets us know early and endlessly that protagonist Matt Kelly is an enigma: “He’s like water. He flows around life, but there’s nothing to see.” Maybe Matt simply wants to present as little target as possible to censorious father Paul, a wealthy Baltimore developer who doesn’t let his campaign for the U.S. Senate be derailed by the explosion that kills his wife in the opening pages. Whatever the reason, Matt’s ability to “melt into any setting and become unseen” serves him well as an up-and-comer in the little-known bureau of State Department Intelligence. It doesn’t gain him any traction, however, when he tries to help the Baltimore PD in their investigation of his mother’s death. Smart money has pinned the blame on a group of neo-Nazis who recently purloined some assault rifles and explosives from the National Guard Armory, but Matt doesn’t think that scenario makes sense. With little love lost for “fibbies,” Baltimore’s finest do everything they can to keep him from honing in on their case. Grizzled but goodhearted flatfeet Connie Morales and Lucas D’Amico are also initially turned off by the quiet, preternaturally handsome rich kid (in addition to his secretiveness, the author can’t stop mentioning Matt’s good looks), but they warm to him after martial-arts-schooled Matt helps save a cop’s life during a shootout. Sexual tension between Matt and Connie simmers no more than is decent, the violence is strictly PG-rated and a high number of characters are regular churchgoers: Westbow is an imprint of Christian publishing powerhouse Thomas Nelson, after all. Thankfully, the author doesn’t moralize nearly as much as one would expect. Regrettably, he doesn’t develop the drama as well as one would expect, burying the makings of a fine thriller beneath layers of monotonous character development.

Mediocre thrills, though it may interest those looking for a good, clean read.