Seven years ago Stony Calhoun emerged from a VA hospital with the memory of his previous life ostensibly obliterated by a direct lightning strike. He has curious attributes of unknown origin, including proficiency in hand-to-hand combat and knowledge of criminal investigation. Settled into a nondescript but contented life as a partner in a fishing-guide business on the coast of Maine, Stony believes his synaptic gap is a good thing. Then he and a client discover the charred remains of an anonymous body on an uninhabited island, and later, the client is murdered on the porch of Stony s isolated cabin. The local sheriff, who used Stony s investigatory skills in Bitch Creek (2004), enlists his reluctant cooperation again. Nothing is as it appears as Stony s role morphs from witness to suspect to investigator to target. Tapply, best known to mystery fans as the author of the delightful Brady Coyne series, presents a complex plot with wonderful characters while teasing readers with small hints about his protagonist s murky past. Here s hoping this series will take hold the way the Coyne novels did decades ago.