Blown Away

This is the 6th installment of G. M. Ford's "Frank Corso" series of thrillers. Nominated for numerous writing awards, Ford has also written the "Leo Waterman" series and several stand alone mystery/ thrillers. Corso is, in this book, a well-known and controversial journalist and book author. He has just signed a new deal with a publisher who has told him, in no uncertain terms, to investigate a year-old bank robbery in a small backwater town in the middle of Pennsylvania in the dead of winter. Corso is furious and resistant at being told what to do, but becomes intrigued when first the local police chief warns him to leave town and then he is attacked in his hotel room with the apparent intention of kidnapping. When those efforts fail, he is run off the road and nearly drowned in the town's icy lake. Now he's on board and asks his publisher to send a private investigator who can work with him. But no sooner does Chris Andriatti arrive than they are summarily confronted by the FBI and whisked off to Los Angeles, where a series of robberies have been committed with the same MO as the cold case--a person is kidnapped, wired with a bomb, and sent into a bank to get the money. If the police interfere in any way, the bomb goes off and the kidnap victim and anyone around them die. The FBI and ATF are vying for control of the investigation but it is Corso who is asking the right questions and finding the real behind the operation. Once the bad guys in LA are wrapped up--or blown up--Frank and Andriatti head back to Pennsylvania because Frank wants to know who set him up to be kidnapped and killed. However, Andriatti is not who she claims to be and Frank is taken completely unawares. This is a fast paced thriller with a good plot and interesting characters. The Pennsylvania winter is as much a character as the people. What I really did not like, however, was that one of the major characters is never explained--where they came from or why and how they are involved. And the ending was so wrong. Here's a brief review from Publishers Weekly.