The Seventh Enemy [Hardcover]

Boston lawyer Brady Coyne, last seen in The Snake Eater, offers to put up his old friend, TV-show environmentalist and sportsman Walt Kinnick, for the night, little suspecting he'll be drawn into a fast-paced mystery surrounding an emotional disagreement over gun control. Kinnick, an avid hunter, has come to town at the behest of Gene McNiff, leader of Second Amendment For Ever (SAFE), to testify against assault-weapon control. McNiff declares Kinnick "dead meat" when he unexpectedly supports the bill. Kinnick moves on to his remote Massachusetts cabin, where he receives a telephone death threat, after which he's shot and seriously injured during a stroll in the woods, an event that the local sheriff dismisses as a hunting accident. Coyne learns that his friend has earned first place on SAFE's published enemy list-on which he himself is named seventh. With some help from Alexandria Shaw, a persistent and personable reporter, Coyne winds his way toward a disturbing finale in his fine 14th adventure. Tapply expertly delivers a straightforward mystery that resists simplifying the issue it addresses.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Tapply's popular New England sleuth, Brady Coyne, finds himself on an assassin's hit list after he and a long-time friend testify in favor of gun control. This issue and Tapply's talent (see, for instance, The Snake Eater, LJ 11/1/93) should insure demand.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A new Brady Coyne novel is as easy to slip into as a well-worn pair of jeans. The unassuming lawyer-sleuth isn't tough, isn't particularly brave, and, all things considered, would rather be fishing. And fishing is what he does, with childhood buddy Wally Kinnick, who hosts one of those outdoor-sportsman television shows. The fishing trip is a welcome respite from the previous day's events, when Wally was scheduled to speak in opposition to pending Massachusetts gun-control legislation. But he had a change of heart at the last minute and testified in favor of the law. The pro-gun folks were seriously unhappy. Wally tops their enemies list, and Brady, as his perceived lawyer, is number seven on the same hit parade. When Wally is shot and seriously wounded, Brady decides to find out who and why. He acts out of loyalty but also because he doesn't like the idea of number seven working its way to the top of the list. Author Tapply, an avid outdoorsman, fluidly incorporates both sides of the volatile gun-control issue into an entertaining and satisfying suspense novel. Wes Lukowsky

An assassin is working his way down the list of "enemies" who are against the gun-control bill, and after his friend Walt Kinnick is murdered, Boston lawyer Brady Coyne realizes he is number seven on the list. 12,500 first printing.