Smoke & Mirrors [Mass Market Paperback]

John Ramsey Miller is the new king of rock 'n' roll. As Exhibit A of that proposition, I am respectfully setting forth SMOKE & MIRRORS, his latest Winter Massey thriller. Miller has been moving his Massey mythos right along, painstakingly developing his character in a number of different settings and situations, so that neither the hero nor the story has become repetitive, predictable or stale. Along the way he has continued to raise his own bar and jump over it with each successive work.

Having said that, SMOKE & MIRRORS is going to be tough for even Miller to top, given its solid, non-stop action, served up with complex but comprehensible plotting and rugged characterization. It begins sedately enough --- at least for a page or two --- with Massey partaking in a hunting trip in the Mississippi delta country just below Memphis. His sojourn is interrupted by Sheriff Brad Barnett, an old friend of Massey's who brings terrible news. A 19-year-old babysitter has been killed by a high-velocity shot in what appears to be an unfortunate but otherwise innocent hunting accident.

There are two things, however, that bring Massey into the investigation. The first is the presence of one of Massey's business cards in the area from which the shot was apparently fired. The second is of profound significance to him: a solitary red toothpick, soaked in oil of cloves, which is also found nearby. The toothpick is the calling card of Paulus Styer, a nightmarish assassin who is more than Massey's equal and who, at the last meeting of the two men, almost ended Massey's life. Styer is a master of murder and of disguises, and his presence, even as it puts Massey on guard, makes him wonder Why here? And why now?

The answer is tied to a powerful gambling conglomerate with tentacles that reach from the statehouse of Mississippi all the way into the halls of the Federal government. A major gaming resort is planned for the Tunica County area, and the only thing standing in the way is the reticence of a sole landowner. Given that literally billions of dollars are riding on the successful completion of the project, the land must be obtained either conventionally or otherwise.

Styer is capable of providing pressure in frightening but effective ways, and in the instant case he sees not only the opportunity to complete a job but also to settle his unfinished business with Massey. Styer and Massey play a cat-and-mouse game throughout, with Styer at times hiding in plain sight. FBI agent Alexa Keen, featured most recently in TOO FAR GONE, is there to help, but Styer is so clever and diabolical that even with the odds stacked against him, he appears to hold all of the cards. The book plays out to an extended, cataclysmic climax, one from which none of the parties involved will escape unchanged.

Miller lobs plot-point hand grenades into SMOKE & MIRRORS from start to finish, bringing surprise after surprise to the page just when the reader thinks it's safe to draw a breath. And no sooner is it over than the beginning of Miller's next novel, a stand-alone work titled THE LAST DAY, is previewed in the back. It simply doesn't get any better than this.

Paulus Styer , a professionally trained assassin, once told Ex US Marshal Winter says he will walk away from his (the target) if his Massey does not search for him. Ex-Marshal Winter Massey and his family go deer hunting in the Mississippi Delta. Tunica County Sheriff Brad Barnettt asks Winter to look at a corpse who had his business card near it. Winter knows immediately that his enemy assassin Styer left his calling card, toothpicks soaked in clove oil.

Winter realizes why Styer is in the Delta; he plans to kill the former Marshal and whoever contracted him for a hit. Brad deputizes him because he needs someone who knows the assassin. After doing some investigating in the county record they both believe Styer killed the wrong person. The Sheriff's girlfriend Leigh Gardner owns the last strip of land that Royal Resorts International covets in order for the firm to build a new gigantic gambling complex in the Delta. The woman he killed was supposed to be Leigh. The theory is that Styer came to kill her and her children. Skyer abducts Leigh's daughter Cynthia forcing Winter to take counter action.

The protagonist is a quixotic mix of macho ruthlessness and gentle sensitivity depending on friend or foe. The assassin sets up a brilliant cat and mouse game in which he makes and breaks the rules while disguising himself so his antagonist cannot recognize him. There is plenty of action, but the thrust of this fine crime caper belongs to the cast as Brad and Winter become brothers-in-arms in a war against Styer.

Harriet Klausner

John Ramsey Miller doesn't disappoint in his latest offering in the Winter Massey saga. If you've been following Winter's adventures, you won't want to miss this one. I don't want to go into detail for fear of spoiling it. Just check it out.

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