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Tarmac
Lynne Heitman
Little Brown £10.99 tbo
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Reviewed by Heather O'Donoghue |
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If you liked Lynne
Heitman's first novel, Hard Landing, then you'll
certainly enjoy Tarmac, another tough thriller set
behind the scenes at a major U.S. airport, in this case, Miami
International. Heitman used to work as General Manager of a
large airport, and her settings are strong, convincing and, on
occasion, eye-opening (this may be an airport novel in one
sense, but certainly not in the other: not at all the thing to
read on a plane journey!). In Tarmac, Alex Shanahan is
investigating the murder of John McTavish, an old friend who
supported her during her expose of sleaze and malpractice in her
previous airport job, and Heitman's previous novel Hard
Landing. Shanahan, in the company of ex-alcoholic,
ex-FBI private investigator Jack Dolan, uncovers a lethal trade
in counterfeit aircraft parts scavenged from crashed planes and
sold as new. The plot is expertly handled. To begin with,
Shanahan, Dolan and we as readers feel confident about being
able to work out what's going on: tension builds as Dolan and
Shanahan try to nail those they have identified as responsible.
But in the last few chapters, a series of quickfire revelations,
which go off like the climax of a firework display, cause them -
and us - to see the whole set-up in a series of different
lights.
The characterization is classic. Shanahan
is feminine and tough (not a contradiction in terms!) and Jack
Dolan is a very satisfactory creation of a fairly familiar kind:
decent, troubled and sexy. The relationship between them is
nicely drawn, if not wholly unexpected. A particularly appealing
character is a keen young computer whizz, Felix, who teams up
with Shanahan and Dolan, and touchingly hero-worships them both.
I hope we can look forward to more books from Heitman featuring
this investigative trio.
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