Blacklight Blue (The Enzo Files, 3)

There are two fatal flaws, the protagonist’s actions are inane and there is no resolution of the principal question. An assassin is stalking Enzo and his family. The reason for this is never revealed. Enzo decides to track the killer down to end the threat. (Track him down? He’s right there trying to kill you.) He begins by trying to identify why the guy is after him, as a means of locating him. (Why? He’s right behind you.) He backtracks to when his foe was kidnapped as a child and journeys to find the birth mother. (The killer is right behind you, Enzo.) Since the police are interested in the killer for other homicides, they are in touch with Enzo. (Do you suppose someone in this group would think of simply setting a trap for this guy who’s right on Enzo’s tail?) In the midst of this, an incredibly attractive woman picks up Enzo in a bar for a one-night stand. He asks her if she’d mind hiding him and his family at her house because they’re being pursued by a guy who uses guns and bombs like the rest of us employ silverware. Of course she agrees. Who wouldn’t? And, he suspects nothing. She’s obviously an operative of this well-resourced entity that’s out to get Enzo, which becomes even more apparent when she contradicts her cover story multiple times. She’s also supposed to be a famous athlete. (Is it hard to find photos and other information about famous athletes?). You are asked to believe that a trained operative can’t keep her story straight and selects a high profile person as her cover. Back to the chase, Enzo tracks down the kidnapper, in hopes of learning something that will help him find his adversary. (Who he sees 50 yards away and two cars behind him in the process.) We already know where he is, Enzo. If you slog through all this stupidity, you may wind up rooting for the assassin.

Disappointing. That a man as smart as Enzo is supposed to be could make such an obvious mistake - glaringly obvious to the reader long, long before it is revealed (without wishing to make a spoiler) - is just silly. The plot is not as extraordinarily convoluted as in Extraordinary People, but throughout the book I was wanting to shout "look behind you" (or words to that effect). Plus the number of dead bodies per page in the first part of the book is just absurd. If I hadn't already read and enjoyed several of his books, especially the Scottish ones, I doubt that I would read another.

This is a book in the middle of a series about Enzo short for Lorenzo MacLeod. They are well constructed stories and worth a try if you are partial to mysteries. I read my first when a friend passed onhis copies and I am now reading the net to the last of the six that are in print. The same charaters appear in all of them.

Lots of twists

Good series

The most current one although the next has just been published. Love the Enzo "files".

This book was really great. Now I need to get the next one in the series to find out what happens next.