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CATCH THIS SHADOW
``The Shadow Catchers'' by Thomas Lakeman; St. Martin's Minotaur ($23.95)
Special Agent Michael Yeager's suspension from the FBI is minor compared to his pangs of conscience and the inability to forgive himself after his last case involving a kidnapped child ended tragically.
In ``The Shadow Catchers,'' Michael literally drifts into the small Nevada town of San Cristobal, and is caught up in the murder of an ex-Marine, a missing child and local politics.
The agent soon learns the crimes are not isolated events and that children have been disappearing for several years. It's a dirty secret no one seems to want to talk about, especially aging sheriff Rafe Archer whom Michael is supposed to be helping. The sheriff, who "seemed not to have aged so much as eroded, until only the hardest and least forgiving part of him remained," has been making up his own laws for years and his arrogance not only may cost him an upcoming election, but something far more important.
Thomas Lakeman, a literature and creative writing professor at University of South Alabama, knows how to ratchet up the suspense and keep it on a steady upward spiral in this well-plotted debut. The Shadow Catchers'' is pitch perfect noir, filled with dark corners, even in the sunlight. Lakeman knows how to apply touches of the western novel - Michael is the epitome of the high plains drifter - horror and the hard-boiled mystery in this rousing debut. The author also captures the ennui and insulated nature of a small townthree hours out of Vegas and six miles from nowhere.'' Here, silence is the law, but it has done more harm than good.
The realistic characters are worth caring about. It's a heart-breaking moment when a child talks about a villain who has eluded the adults: He ``takes the bad parts inside you. All the bad parts nobody wants.''
The Shadow Catchers is one of the best debuts of 2006.
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CULTURAL EVOLUTION
``Chinatown Beat'' by Henry Chang; Soho Press ($22)
Jack Yu has been torn between cultures all his life. A junior detective, he is only the 88th cop of Chinese-American heritage on the NYPD, a force of nearly 29,000. It's the "American" part of his life as well as his job that have resulted in near estrangement with his traditional father who died just four days ago. Assigned to the part of Chinatown where he grew up, he tries to protect a far-flung community that, at best, distrusts the police.
It is an evocative, often bleak, but fascinating view of being at "cross-cultural odds" that fuels Chinatown Beat, the successful debut by New York author Henry Chang.
On the surface, Chinatown Beat'' is a police procedural as Jack finds his way in the NYPD and hunts for an Asian murderer-rapist who preys on children. ButChinatown Beat's'' procedural aspects take a distant back seat to the social issues inherent in the various Asian cultures that Chang explores.
A secret society, gangs, hidden brothels and power brokers play into Chinatown Beat.'' A young woman, held virtually as a sex slave by a crime lord, adds to the complex view of Chinatown that Chang explores. Jack melds the various cultures into his personality - embracing all things American while also knowing that asking a street fortune teller about the killer will raise his esteem in the community. Chang's vivid vision makesChinatown Beat'' a debut that works.
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(c) 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Distributed by Mclatchy-Tribune News Service.
