Frank Pavlicek is called to the wilds of Virginia when a friend and fellow falconer dies in mysterious circumstances. Is it a simple hunting accident, a plot by a local militia group, or did the dead man discover a larger conspiracy to profit from domestic terrorism? Frank is repeatedly warned off the case by the local cops and the feds, but he persists, through car bombs, assaults, murders of key witnesses, even when his partner framed for everything and taken into federal custody. The action builds steadily to a climax that will keep you glued to the page. If you’re a fan of the PI genre, thrillers, or political novels, you’ll enjoy this book. -my Amazon review of Cold Quarry
by Andy Straka
This is the third book in the Frank Pavlicek series, so there are some back stories that I’m not familiar with. Frank and his friend, Jake Toronto, were NYPD detectives. Something happened. Something disgraceful. Something bad enough that they had to leave the force and become P.I.s. Something bad enough that law enforcement makes Jake for the bad guy in the book. That’s all I really know, and it’s enough.
We see the story from Frank’s perspective. Jake is keeping Frank (and the reader) in the dark about his involvement in the circumstances surrounding their friend’s death. Despite the evidence that piles up implicating Jake, despite Jake’s history of unorthodox investigatory techniques, and despite his refusal to tell Frank several crucial details, there is a never a second of doubt in Frank’s mind that Jake Toronto is still playing for the good guys. Frank keeps going straight ahead with his investigation, sure that in the end, Jake will be standing next to him as they solve the mystery. This tells us a great deal about Frank, which is good, because even though we are seeing his POV, we really don’t get a lot of explicit insight into his character. He’s more like Dirty Harry than Lennie Brisco. We learn about him by his actions, not his words or thoughts. I grew to know and like this character, although it did take a while.
Toronto is more of a cipher. He’s out of the story more frequently than he’s in it. We get to know him primarily through Frank’s loyalty to him. In this novel, that strategy works. Most of the suspense hinges on what’s happening under the surface, which is exactly where Toronto’s character spends his time in the novel. I finished the novel feeling that I’d like to know more about Jake Toronto.
There is a third recurring character who enters late in the book and plays a small role, Nicole Pavlicek, Frank’s daughter. She is featured in the first book of the series, A Witness Above
Cold Quarry
Tags: Andy Straka, book review