THE DARK CIRCLE

A gritty shamus tracks a sex trafficking ring in upstate New York.

After a tour of duty in Afghanistan, righteous Jake Cantrell, last seen taking down a blackmailer while working as a security officer at St. Andrews College, loses this gig when he defends himself against an assault by two student athletes high on opioids. Investigative journalist Lauren Kenniston, who witnessed his campus attack, asks Jake to find missing student Deborah Chapman, an enormously talented aspiring jazz singer. Beginning with a missing person’s report filed by Deborah’s roommate, Mariana, Jake follows a twisty maze that leads from Deborah’s distraught mother to a high-powered agent poised to make Deborah a star to a casino on the land of the Mattaway Tribe. Could the murder of Deborah’s father four years ago be connected to her disappearance? Jake ultimately finds her in a drugged stupor in Binghamton, the captive of Rasputin, a pimp with a posse of gangbangers. Jake’s inherent rectitude and his undeniable chemistry with Lauren compel him to pursue the case further while Deborah clings to life in the hospital. Mrazek’s rhythmic, muscular prose and vivid character portraits make every chapter land like a short story. The complex road to the solution links the opioid crisis plaguing St. Andrews, murdered orphan Cheryl Larsen, and ultrahandsome contract killer George Washington. Many answers are found at the Stoneberry, the aforementioned casino.

A brisk and bracing second case that slakes the thirst for a classic gumshoe.