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We should all send a note of appreciation to Elaine Kerley of Newport, Kentucky. In the acknowledgments at the close of A GARDEN OF VIPERS, Jack Kerley's latest and greatest installment in his series featuring Mobile police investigators Carson Ryder and Harry Nautilus, Kerley thanks his wife for urging him to leave the advertising industry and begin writing. If not for such encouragement, we might not have one of the finest thriller series currently being written.
Kerley has demonstrated a talent that runs deep and true. Ryder and Nautilus are an unlikely team of police investigators whose professional relationship and personal friendship rings with a real world authenticity.
A GARDEN OF VIPERS initially centers on the investigation by Ryder and Nautilus of the brutal murder of a radio newswoman who, interestingly enough, has some ties to Dani Danbury, Ryder's significant other. Some additional incidents, including another horrendous murder, indicate the presence of a homicidal maniac in Mobile. Both Ryder and Nautilus are distracted by the revelations of personal betrayals --- Nautilus from the past, Ryder from the present --- that have a common source in Buck Kincannon, eldest son of a rich and powerful local family whose influence extends beyond the local environs.
The trail of the murders lead not only to the murky background of Kincannon family secrets but also to previously unknown and untold incidents in the past that threaten to be revealed by Nautilus and Ryder's investigation. As the two men come inexorably closer to the truth, they find themselves in danger from separate sources with a common origin.
With regard to the latter point, the always masterful Kerley utilizes an interesting plot device at the book's conclusion. By putting his detectives in separate dilemmas in which each is unable to assist the other, he provides two surprise conclusions with multiple revelations. This is not smoke and mirrors, either. Kerley's literary style remains first-rate, with his descriptions --- whether of scenery or of heartbreak --- so sharp and clear as to be almost painful in their beauty.
While the focus of A GARDEN OF VIPERS is primarily on Ryder, the equal billing that Ryder and Nautilus receive remains applicable. Nautilus arguably is the more interesting of the two at this point, being a bit more enigmatic, and further exploration of his personal life in the next volume of this most worthy series certainly would not be cause for complaint. With respect to Ryder, A GARDEN OF VIPERS certainly provides more grist for Kerley to grind in a future book. If you haven't jumped on this series yet, this is the novel and now is the time.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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