Terry Ambrose © 2013
I downloaded the eBook from the “Read Now” section of NetGalley.
Protagonist Wilson McKenna is the victim of identity theft, and he’s furious. A retired skip-trace professional, he returns from a mainland visit to his Hawaii home to find overdrafts on his bank account. He admits to his banker that he gullibly had given his social security number to a person on the phone. (I expected credit card fraud and other ramifications from this, but they never came). A box of new checks had been stolen from his postal box, and on the island of Kauai, expensive purchases were being made. McKenna heads to Kauai to find the perp.
One reason the book caught my attention was the Hawaii setting. I’ve never been there (never plan to go), but books in that setting usually offer a touch of the exotic. This one didn’t, and I was amused to be caught up in the urban workings of this little island rather than the expected descriptions of lush scenery, marvelous beaches, craggy clefts... Author Ambrose has references to those things, but gave greater detail to the weird traffic patterns, strip mall layout, and abundance of coffee bistros. It was all a bit refreshing, and nicely done.
As for the story, Ambrose gets protagonist McKenna tracking leads on a very serious crime setup. McKenna will not back off from the investigation, even at the insistence of local law enforcement. His tenacity nearly gets him killed, but solves the case.
For me, the first-person presentation was well done, with witty moments, middle-age anxieties and pompous renderings that made Wilson McKenna very real. Secondary characters (including a car) were also good.
This is the second book in the McKenna mystery series. Possibly more to come. Light and fun reading. I’ll look for them.
Learn more about the author at his Web site.
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