The vigilantes

Griffin's plodding 10th police thriller in his Badge of Honor series (after The Traffickers), co-authored with son Butterworth, adds little that's either new or exciting to a shopworn plot. Despite debilitating chemotherapy for prostate cancer, Will Curtis decides to take justice into his own hands and kill John "JC" Nguyen, the slimy drug dealer who slipped his 24-year-old daughter, Wendy, a "roofy," then raped her. While he's at it, Will also whacks shyster lawyer Daniel Gartner, who got JC acquitted on a technicality at JC's trial. Will's good at his work, so he decides to kill every other sexual criminal he can locate running loose on the streets of Philadelphia. Sgt. Matt Payne tries to figure out who's behind this murder spree while pursuing his ongoing love affair with Dr. Amanda Law, the damsel in distress he rescued in The Traffickers. Unfunny interior dialogue and other suspense-impeding devices slow the predictable action to the point that only series fans will find much to enjoy. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Legendary Philadelphia Homicide sergeant Matt Payne returns in this tenth "Badge of Honor" title, following The Traffickers (2009). Unfortunately, this effort pales in comparison to nearly every book that Griffin (www.webgriffin.com) and his son, Butterworth, have previously cowritten. The rich character development for which Griffin is known is here replaced with trite phrases and inner monologs on the problems of society and love. What could have been an outstanding police procedural by a great writer simply seems phoned in. Even Audie Award winner Scott Brick (see Behind the Mike, LJ 10/15/09), despite his best efforts and mastery of accents, can't salvage this novel. Recommended only for die-hard fans, who will be left hoping for a return to the usual excellence they've come to expect. [The Putnam hc was a New York Times and Publishers Weekly best seller; see Prepub Exploded, BookSmack! 1/7/10.-Ed.]-Scott R. DiMarco, Mansfield Univ. of Pennsylvania Lib. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.