DIVINE FURY

An intrepid San Francisco reporter investigates what appears to be the sabotage of a gay liberal candidate’s gubernatorial campaign.

Multicultural and multitalented reporter Enzo Lee has returned to his beloved Bay Area hometown after experiencing professional and personal heartbreak on the East Coast. He wants to stick to covering light and frothy news at the city paper, but his sexy young editor, Lorraine Carr, cajoles him into covering the race for governor of California. This hotly contested election has come down to liberal, gay candidate Andrew Harper and conservative businessman George Chapman. Enzo’s keen investigative instincts kick in, albeit against his better judgment, as he begins to suspect that the repeated unlucky occurrences plaguing the Harper campaign might not be coincidences. As a result, his story gradually begins to intertwine with those of Brent Daggart, the fanatically hateful executive of a Christian ministry, and Steve Walberg, a traumatized Army vet looking to get revenge on the government in any way he can. Author Lowe has put together a remarkably diverse and realistic cast of characters in this second mystery starring Lee (Project Moses, 2012). Fortunately, all have their own unique voices, or the reader would not be able to keep track of them all. The mystery is simple but gripping, and the heroes are most definitely worth rooting for. The adrenaline-filled climax, combined with compelling characters, keeps readers engaged. Lowe also has a great eye for detail, noting everything, from Enzo’s meals to the look of particular street corners in San Francisco. The overall effect is a blend of sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the Bay Area which sets this thriller apart from other entries in the genre—a vast improvement on the sea of similar, less fleshed-out suspense stories.

A fast-moving, detailed thriller.