The Hamptons are the haunt of retired design
engineer Sam Acquillo, whose younger days in the boxing ring
have left him with a head injury that could go lethal if re-injured.
Brittle skull or not, Acquillo is still a physical guy who
loathes walking away from a fight. Especially if the other
guy throws the first punch. The time out (after The Last Refuge,
Two Time and Head Wounds) Acquillo is looking for his ex-boss’s disappeared girlfriend,
Iku Kinjo. At first he suspects young Iku simply grew tired of
her much-older lover, but when a dead body turns up, Acquillo
realizes he’s walked into another case of murder. The plot,
which pits defenders of intellectual property rights against
predatory financiers, is brisk, but the mainstay of this book
is Acquillo himself, a wounded hero trying to find himself. As
he says, “I used to wake up in the morning feeling a rich
blend of panic and hollow despair. Now I’m merely undecided.” This
noir-ish series, energized by Acquillo’s sassy one liners,
is one of the finest around.
