Corrupted Memory

Starred review from April 20, 2015
Boston computer whiz Aloysius Tucker, the narrator of Ray’s compulsively readable sequel to 2014’s Terminated, finds his world falling apart after the body of a young man, who looks just like his dead father, turns up on his South End doorstep. Tucker subsequently learns that his father, who worked on secret government weapons projects, had a second, hidden family. Meanwhile, problems erupt on his mother’s side of the family, ranging from hurt feelings to compulsive hoarding. All Tucker wants to do is get to know high school biology teacher Lucy, his potential new girlfriend, but he soon finds himself knee-deep in the agendas of such people as an irate FBI agent, a Bible-quoting local cop, a sleazy spy for Iran, and a loan shark, plus others specializing in assorted types of violence. Against a meticulously detailed Boston background, the likable but undisciplined Tucker lurches from one crisis to the next. Agent: Eric Ruben, Ruben Agency.

April 1, 2015
A second case for computer programmer Aloysius Tucker (Terminated, 2014) continues to chop away at all he holds near and dear. It isn't enough that there's a dead man outside Tucker's place in the South End of Boston. It isn't even enough that his FBI buddy, Bobby Miller, has to pull him out of Fenway Park, where he's making excellent progress with Lucy, a biology teacher on her third date with him, before he can find out whether the Red Sox beat the Orioles. No, it gets worse: the stiff is named John Tucker, which just happens to be the same as that of Tucker's late father. It turns out that the old man, an engineer for Global Defense Systems, had been keeping a second family in Pittsfield for many years: another woman-Cathy Byrd, who was Tucker's babysitter when he was a child-another son, who's the dead man on the sidewalk; another collection of framed photographs; another set of memories Tucker's never going to share. While Tucker's still recovering from this punch to the gut, someone kills Cathy. Then, shortly after Tucker's mother, world-class hoarder Angelina, pulls a knife on him when he grabs some documents of his father's from one of the enormous piles of papers all over her house, someone sets fire to the house, trusting that all those papers will burn hot enough to destroy the last of Tucker's family-unless you count Sal Rizzo, the mobbed-up cousin whose family business suddenly seems perilously close to Tucker's own. Forget the elementary mystery; Daniel and his soulful hero seem to be reworking the tribulations of Job. In just two adventures, Tucker's managed to lose his job, his wife, his mother, and a half brother he didn't even know he had. You have to wonder what losses remain for the next installment.

Starred review from June 1, 2015

Software programmer Aloysius Tucker is enjoying a Red Sox game with his potential new girlfriend when he receives a text photo of his father lying dead in front of his house. The only problem? His father died 15 years ago. When Tucker arrives at the crime scene, his FBI friend, Bobby Miller, informs Tucker that the victim is a half brother he never knew he had. Then, the Boston cop assigned to the case confronts Tucker with an illustration of a missile defense system that he drew for his father many years ago. To further muddy the waters, more bodies pile up, and Iranian spies make threats. Tucker is dumbfounded; he didn't know his father as well as he thought. VERDICT Crisp writing, an engaging plot, and well-drawn characters make this follow-up to Terminated a corker of a mystery. Fans of Boston crime writers Dennis Lehane, Jeremiah Healy, and Hank Philippi Ryan will delight in picking up this new series.

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