Washington, DC resident Roger Smith is 65-years-old and looking forward to next year, when he'll retire from his job at the Government Printing Office (GPO) and get his pension. A long-time widower, Roger anticipates having time to spend with his daughter and her family, and pursue his painting hobby.
Roger's quiet life is upended when he hears someone enter his home in the middle of the night. Roger slips out of bed, gets a baseball bat, and hides behind his bedroom door. When the intruder slips in and shoots the bed multiple times, Roger slugs him with the bat and inadvertently kills him.
Before calling the police Roger contacts his neighbor, ex-convict/bar owner John McKenna, and asks him to line up a criminal defense lawyer.
Homicide detectives Grace Lillinthal and Bryan Maxwell arrive at Roger's house, and Grace - knowing Roger is claiming self-defense - is taken aback to see defense attorney Philip Hogan. After Lillinthal hears Hogan was sent by John McKenna, she gets suspicious and sets out to discover what's really going on.
Lillinthal knows McKenna's bar is a hangout for lowlifes and thieves, and McKenna has a reputation for facilitating criminal activity.
From Roger's perspective, there's plenty he doesn't want Detective Lillinthal to discover.
Twenty years ago, Roger lost his beloved wife Marie to cancer. After the long expensive battle, Roger owed almost $45,000 on credit cards; was behind on his mortgage, gas, water and garbage bills; and couldn't afford his daughter Lily's tuition for journalism school.
In the difficult circumstances, Roger thought about his neighbor John McKenna, a bar owner who could 'fix you up' if you needed a fence, or a money launderer, or someone who could disable alarms, or someone who'd sell you a gun, etc.
Roger's job at the GPO gave him access to passport blanks, and McKenna once asked Roger if he'd make a fake passport for his nephew, who was in the sights of the police and a Mexican cartel. Roger refused at first, but financial troubles made him change his mind.
Since then Roger and McKenna have been in the fake passport business, and Roger has been making one fake passport per year, for a fee of $50,000 each time. Now it looks like a fake passport recipient fears exposure, and sent a hitman to kill Roger.
And that's what Roger's hiding from Detective Grace Lilinthal.
After the hitman tries to kill Roger, Roger consults with his 'passport partner' McKenna, who's the target of an assassin as well. Roger and McKenna agree to figure out who's after them and do something about it.
This is the beginning of an intricate cat and mouse game that involves assassins; the police; the CIA; the FBI; Montreal; Canadian Mounties; China; criminal gangs; and murder.
While Roger and McKenna are dealing with assassins, Detective Lillinthal is doing her best to arrest them for SOMETHING - though she's not sure what.
This is a entertaining story featuring the lighter side of crime. Read it for the shivers and laughs.
Thanks to Netgalley, Mike Lawson, and Blackstone Publishiong for an ARC of the book.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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