Fury (Hardcover)

Along with Meg Dougherty, a gifted photographer and a decent investigator in her own right, Corso reviews the case of Walter Leroy Himes. Himes is about to be executed for murdering women across Seattle and leaving their bodies in dumpsters. Although Himes claims that he never killed anyone, most of the victims' family members, the police, and a large segment of the public want Himes executed. Although Himes is a thoroughly nasty individual, Corso believes him to be innocent of these particular crimes, and he decides to explore and analyze the evidence himself. Reopening the case will make a good newspaper story, and it will also give Corso an opportunity to avert a possible miscarriage of justice.

Corso is a terrific character. Sharp-tongued, intelligent, brusque, and tough as nails, he is defensive when anyone tries to penetrate the shell that he has built around himself. Dougherty has also had her share of hard knocks in life, and she is a good match for Corso. "Fury" is fast-paced and Ford's writing is often colorful and amusing.

The only flaw in "Fury" is the hackneyed plot. How many times have we read about murder cases being reopened because the wrong man may be on death row? There are dozens of books out there with this same plot, and it has been done once too often. In addition, some of the story's twists and turns are a bit too contrived.

However, Frank Corso redeems "Fury" with his strength, integrity, and compassion. He is one cool dude, and his character is one of the best protagonists in any detective thriller around. If you can overlook the warmed-over plot, you will get a big kick out of this perceptive, straight-talking, and world-weary journalist.

At the beginning of the book, Leanne Samples, a somewhat simple though good-hearted girl, comes to the _Sun's_ offices to recant her testimony in the trial of Leroy Himes, the prime suspect in a series of "Trashman" rape/murders three years previously. Leanne had thought at the time to accuse Himes of rape and save herself the embarrassment of dealing with an unwanted pregnancy and the hassle of confronting her overprotective parents. She insists on talking only to Corso, because he was one of the few people to treat her kindly during the trial.

Corso himself had had his doubts about Himes' guilt and written a column to that effect, but it seems as if everyone else in Seattle is content to move forward with Himes' execution, only a few days away at this point. When he gets involved, Corso suddenly has an exclusive and people start buying the _Sun_ again. As he digs further, in the company of his partner, freelance photographer Meg Dougherty, an unfortunate woman who was tattooed all over her body by a vengeful boyfriend, Corso discovers that the police are trying to cover-up a pair of new murders that fit the MO of the previous string and which, coupled with Leanne's recantation, pretty much guarantee Himes' innocence.

I enjoyed the book, though it was hard to warm up to Frank Corso. He's got a rough, hard-edged exterior, although he's always got a kind word and a ready ear for life's losers, like Leanne or Himes. He's just a bit too prickly and unfriendly to the other people in his life for him to be an attractive character. He's especially mean to Meg, which makes the scene where the two of them fall into each others' arms that much harder to believe.

This was the first Ford book I've read since his debut Leo Waterman mystery _Who in Hell is Wanda Fuca?_ and Waterman makes a brief appearance in this book, tying the two series together. Ford draws a great picture of Seattle, though I'm still trying to decide if I want to spend any more time in Frank Corso's company. I guess I'd have to give this one a rather mixed recommendation.

Newspaperman/true crime author Frank Corso is the protagonist in Mr. Ford's second series. He's a hard boiled, cynical anti-hero who prefers his solitude.

He is a clever, resourceful and relentless archangel type---undaunted in his quest for justice as defined by his sense of right and wrong. Fiercely loyal to his friends, he is a commanding presence.

Mr. Ford's atmospheric writing places the reader right in Seattle as Corso and his allies have six days to clear a venal death row inmate.

It is a riveting plot that moves at a breakneck pace, told from multiple points of view.

Mr. Ford has created another series peopled with characters you care about. "Fury" is the initial entry---highly recommended.