NIGHTCRAWLERS

Old Man Nameless just keeps rollin’ along.

Sixty-one and supposedly semiretired, the Detective without a Name (Spook, 2003, etc.) still has the chops to go hard and fast when Tamara Corbin, his young, black, bright partner, gets herself between a rock and a wacko. While stalking a deadbeat dad, Tamara stumbles into something far worse—a slavering psychopath, a terrified little girl and a kidnapping with the darkest kind of potential. Around the same time, Robert Lemoyne, confused, angry and volatile, stumbles on Tamara, who before she knows it has a gun to her head and no wriggle room. Meanwhile, Jake Runyan, now the firm’s star field investigator, is hip-deep in homophobes. His gay son, estranged and disaffected, has asked for a favor. Joshua’s lover has been severely beaten, and Joshua wants his father to nail the bashers. In his careful, phlegmatic way, Jake begins a hunt interrupted by the news that Tamara has gone missing. Jake and Nameless hook up, and with the timely help of McCone Investigations (in a nice plug for Marcia Muller, Pronzini’s wife) track the beast to his lair, sorting out the bat-swinging homophobes and several smaller fry in the best Nameless manner.

Decently written and briskly paced. For fans of this longest of long-distance runners, though, the best news is that the close of his 29th leaves Nameless nowhere near breathless.