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It's the end of summer vacation time and the people who visit Martha's Vineyard for the summer are returning home and to get off the island they must take a ferry. But the ferry workers have gone on strike, making the visitors and the people who live there all year round very angry. Then when an explosion goes off on a ferry that's still running because it is manned by scabs, Eduardo Alvarez is found dead on board. Because he was a striker and the only one on the ship, it is thought that he is the bomber. That's when his widow goes to JW Jackson's wife and begs her to get her husband to prove that her Eduardo was innocent of the bombing. JW is a former Boston cop and is now a well-known self-employed family man on the island. JW accepts the job. As he investigates deeper into the strike and the bombing, he discovers that nothing is simple when it comes to the striking union and their fight with the boat owners. He finds that this job of investigation isn't a simple or safe one. Meanwhile on the island, Larry Bucyck notices some unfamiliar men carrying uzi machine guns, unloading crates with the lights out on their dark boats late at night. He calls his old friend and lawyer, Brady Coyne and asks him to come to the island to help him find out what's going on. Brady Coyne also happens to be a good friend to JW Jackson too. On Brady's first night there he goes to sleep in Bucyck's house but leaves during the early morning desperately searching for a good cup of coffee, which Larry didn't have the fixings for. So Brady takes the car and leaves. When he gets back the next morning, he finds Larry dead, shot and tortured. Right away he contacts Jackson and the two work their cases together when they discover who really bombed the ferry. Before long the danger level rises for the men and they know that they might have to resort to harsh violence to get to the bottom of both cases. The chapters are written from each of the men's point of view, and interest is added by slight time hopping, where one talks about what the other went through. THIRD STRIKE is the third and last book written by Philip R Craig and William G Tapply since Craig has passed away recently. And that's too bad for readers who like well-written books. This book is not only clearly well written, but the mystery section is also solid and strong and there's a sense of wit, humor and strong masculine presence throughout it. What more can a reader ask for? THIRD STRIKE is a home run.
Reviewed by A. L. Katz, December 2007
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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