Tough Customer: A Novel

Dodge Hanley is a former cop who is now doing private investigations for a law firm. He's been divorced from Caroline King for thirty years but still has strong feelings for her. That's why he's surprised when he gets a call from her asking for his help. Before he can respond, Caroline tells him that their daughter has almost been killed by a mad man who has been stalking her. When he arrives in Houston, Caroline introduces him as an old family friend, not admitting to her daughter, Berry, that he's the father,she never knew. The women tell Dodge what happened. Orin Starks, a former co-worker with Berry entered her home and confronted her. He said he was going to kill her. However her scream for help brought her friend Ben Lofland, who had been in another part of the house. Surprised, Starks wounds Ben and flees the house. Dodge is a no nonsense, chain smoking private investigator in the Clint Eastwood-Dirty Harry mode. He begins working with local deputy sheriff, Ski Nyland, an Afghanistan War vet. As the men search for Starks, Starks goes on a killing spree and one of the bodies found by police is another former co-worker of Berry and of Starks, who had problems with Starks at their former employment. I wanted to like this book more but found the characters sterertypical and uninteresting. By the time I finished the novel, I just didn't care what happened to the plot or the characters. I have enjoyed Sandra Brown's previous novels and know she is a legend in the mystery writing field but this novel disappointed.

Excellent story, lots of emotion & action. One of Brown's better books.

Unexpected endings are fun! Sandra Brown is awesome. :)