Sniper's Moon

Jere D. Turner is Adult Collections Co-ordinator at the Regina Public
Library in Saskatchewan.

Frank Keogh is a Vietnam veteran and a New York Police sniper who is
plagued by problems. His co-workers and superiors believe he may be
enjoying his work too much, his marriage is on shaky ground, and his
mental state is not good as he ponders his parents, his marriage,
Vietnam, and his belief in the work he is doing.

The story opens with a short prologue, which gives some background on
Frank’s parents, including the death of his mother. We then jump right
into the action, where we see Frank on the job, preparing to kill a
young man who is holding hostages. Before the killing, we read how
“days after a clean surgical kill, Frank would feel a stillness in
him, a kind of sweet sadness.” However, this stillness changes to
terror when both a friend and his mistress are killed, and Frank is the
main suspect; Frank is on the run and must find out who framed him. With
money stolen from a drug bust, he travels across the country and
discovers not only who the killer is but also how the killings are
related to his father and to a past occurrence. All works out well,
possibly too well, for all concerned (except the bad guys).

The story line suffers from a couple of problems, the first being the
prologue. The obscure scene where we see Frank’s parents and the
oblique reference to his mother’s death make no sense until much later
in the story. Then there is the abrupt leap from New York to a small
town in Oklahoma, where three bank robbers are in the process of a job.
After killing a state trooper during the robbery, they escape and
decide—on the flimsiest of whims—to head for New York, where they
eventually become major players in the story. Notably the story’s
minor characters are as interesting as, or possibly more interesting
than, the protagonist.

However, the story is good, moves along at a fair pace, and is
generally quite believable. The tension really picks up about halfway
through, and the ending is surprising and satisfying, if a bit too pat.

Recommended for all fans of the violent world of police work.