Tracking Time (Paperback)

In any case, I found _Tracking Time_ tiresome even for airplane reading. I thought the plot was contrived, the characters quite thin (particularly the monsterous parents who were clearly set up to "deserve" the children they got), and I didn't find April Woo particularly compelling as a heroine.

I could see that the writing was fluent, and Glass seems to have a good feel for police procedure, so perhaps it really is just that it hit the wrong notes for my taste. You be the judge.

Ms. Glass deftly presents an excellent suspense story that has its small surprises throughout, but is not a whodunit. The strongest area of the narrative is characterization; the extremely sympathetic Dr. Maslow Atkins, the thoroughly distasteful over-privileged teenagers, the self-absorbed parents, and the homeless bum, PeeWee. The regulars: April Woo, Skinny Dragon, Mike Sanchez, and Jason Frank remain fresh in this series.

The tale hinges on Dr. Atkins disappearance. He takes off for his regular jog in the park at dusk, not even carrying his billfold, and drops from sight. He is known as a man of very regular habits, and when he fails to show up for an appointment, Dr. Frank is concerned enough to call in his friend Detective April Woo. The suspense notches sharply upward when we find out the would-be killers were interrupted in their attack on Dr. Atkins, and have hidden the wounded man in a culvert in a remote part of Central Park. Will the killers come back and finish the job? Will the police and K-9 dogs locate him first? Will Dr. Atkins somehow effect his own release? I found the scenario a real page-turner.

I get exasperated with April, who goes from a splendidly efficient police officer to giggling girlishness over her infatuation with chauvinistic Mike. However, this is an ongoing trait in the entire series, and I put up with it as you do with a friend who seems to have a glaring weakness. A larger theme of the story is how children who "have everything" can go so disastrously wrong. Unlike some other readers, I had sympathy for the parents who, while gravely flawed themselves, had such monstrous offspring. Most troubled children do not have the advantages of the best schools, and the best counseling money can buy. In their inept and offhand way, these parents did love their children and surely, whatever their faults, did not deserve to be saddled with these juveniles from hell.

This is a worthy addition to a good series with an added bonus that it gives you something to think about after you close the book. Recommended.