About a year ago, I read and reviewed Judgment by Joseph Finder, a standalone novel featuring Judge Juliana Brody, a happily married up-and-coming judicial star who goes to a legal conference and does something out of character: she has a one-night stand. All kinds of legal (and other) wrangling went on as a result, and I totally enjoyed the character and the book. When I saw that Finder’s latest, House on Fire, was coming out, I hoped it would feature Juliana Brody again, because I think Finder did a good job with a female protagonist, and I was curious if he would do it again. Although it turns out that House On Fire is #4 in the series featuring private security specialist Nick Heller rather than Judge Brody, I was happy to receive a copy from Thomas & Mercer in exchange for this honest review.
Nick is devastated by the opioid-related death of his old army buddy Sean. After saving Nick’s life in Afghanistan, Sean became addicted to the pills he used to treat the chronic pain from his war-related injuries. It seems that the powerful drug Oxydone was too addictive, and he OD’ed on an Oxydone inhaler. Nick soon has a new client, who he meets at Sean’s funeral: she happens to be part of the multi-billionaire Kimball family, the owners of the pharmaceutical company that makes Oxydone, and she wants Nick to help her with her whistleblower efforts, saying her family has been responsible for enough deaths. She claims that the company knew the drug was overly addictive, but buried the study that showed it in order to get the drug to market. Things get a little complicated between Nick and his client, and being kind of a sensitive and introspective guy, he realizes it: ”I’ve always taken on other people’s battles, even when I shouldn’t. It’s a lesson I still haven’t really learned.” As his investigation gets underway, he encounters his old flame Maggie, who has apparently been hired by another family member, and all the Kimballs seems to want the 80-something year old patriarch to move on and let them take over.
It’s a fairly quick read, but has an engrossing plot with well-drawn characters and just the right amount of non-gratuitous violence and surprises (I did NOT see the end coming, but then, I usually don’t). I really like Finder: five stars.