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The newly formed Vermont Bureau of Investigation is fighting an uphill struggle. Drugs and its resulting consequences on the people who live in the state are growing by leaps and bounds. Crime is on the rise, including two strange homicides -- and the politicians are only interested in sound bites, not substantial police work. Joe Gunther and his team in the VBI are asked to help the local police stop drug trafficking in the State of Vermont. One of his agents, Sammi Martens, goes a little too far when she moves undercover as loose and dangerous Greta Novak. Sammi hopes to gain the trust of the criminals involved so she could distribute the drugs and arrest the dealers. Sammi does this without the okay from her boss, Joe Gunther, but Joe agrees to it only because Sammi had already made a lot of progress before she told him of her ruse. The case is taking its toll on all four members of Joešs VBI team: one of them, Lester Spinney, has a son that is involved with drug use; Sammišs boyfriend, also a member of the team, feels left out when Sammi goes undercover without his knowledge or feedback; and Joešs girlfriend, Gail Zigman, is distancing herself from Joe when her niece is shot while trying to steal money to support her drug addiction. GATEKEEPER, by Archer Mayor, is the fourteenth book in the Joe Gunther series. This superlative series of books doesnšt glamorize the policemenšs job and never pulls its punches. The outcome of their cases is not always successful and things arenšt always neatly tied up in a bow for the readers. Mayor makes sure his books are straightforward and truthful. Mayor gives us a complex and interesting set of characters. Gail Zigman, Joešs girlfriend, is out to change the world. Shešs very ambitious and constantly fails to recognize her own faults and weaknesses as she tries to fix everyone elsešs life. Unfortunately she misreads the drug addict friend of her comatose niece and she puts herself in some very dangerous situations. Sammi Martens is too much of a hothead. In her capacity as law officer she does things without thinking them through all the way. And her boyfriend, as one of the more savvy and streetwise VBI members, realizes he needs to insert himself in her case at times to rescue her from death. Lester Spinney is fighting demons of his own, both from his childhood and from his training as a cop, that stop him from taking a good look at his wife and children to see what they really need from him. Then luckily there is Joe, the calm father figure, to ground them all and help the VBI work with, and protect itself from, the political world. GATEKEEPER is a well written police procedural, it holds the readeršs interest by letting us understand the mindset of the people who fight the crimes of the modern world. Although this is the fourteenth book of the series, this stands on its own, itšs a compelling and fascinating read. I thoroughly recommend it.
Reviewed by Sharon Katz, October 2003
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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