Fangs Out

Fangs Out (Mystery)

By David Freed

ISBN #978-1579623333

The Permanent Press

Price $29.95

304 Pages

Rating 5-stars

“Never A Dull Moment.”

Cordell Logan, a private flight instructor is in the air when another plane calls an inflight emergency. With no instruments, the pilot can’t see to land. Cordell leads him to the landing strip, saving the life of a war hero and his wife. The Medal of Honor recipient, Hub Walker learns from Cordell’s mechanic that Logan had been in Air Force Intelligence, and was something of an investigator. He tells him that a recently executed man was put to death for the murder of Walker’s daughter, but his last words were that he didn’t do it, that Walker’s best friend was the murderer. Now, to put his mind to rest on the subject, he offers Cordell ten thousand dollars to prove the dead man was the actual murderer, not his friend. Needing money for his flight school, Logan accepts.

Cordell had worked for the Air Force Alpha Team, a group of assassins who hunted down terrorists and killed them, so he was tough and trained in killing.  I got a good laugh at this, as I’ve never heard of an Air Force assassin team before. They’re usually Army, Navy or Marines. So this was a little different. Well, there was the men’s adventure series, The American Avenger, about an Air Force pilot assigned to CIA, but we know about those men’s adventure paperbacks! The author also makes fun of Navy Intelligence, which I got a good laugh at. In fact, the author entertained me thoroughly in this fast paced action mystery set in California. The characters were three dimensional, and Cordell Logan was an interesting character, as were the other players in this romp. There was never a dull moment, and the author kept the action moving smoothly.  The only sour note I saw was the ending when a neighbor enters the house with a carbine while it was surrounded by SWAT. Not likely to happen in a real situation.

A fun read, and highly recommended!

Tom Johnson

Detective Mystery Stories