Absolute Zero

Starred review from February 4, 2002
Ex-cop Phil Broker, hero of Logan's previous three thrillers (The Big Law, etc.), takes a break from managing his small Minnesota resort in this latest outing and fills in for his uncle as a wilderness guide in the northernmost reaches of the state. It's hardly a pleasure trip: Broker's soldier wife, Nina, has just split with their child, and one of Broker's three clients, action writer Hank Sommer, is constantly fighting with his wife, Jolene, by cell phone while Dr. Allen Falken and lawyer Milt Bane look on. Caught by a sudden blizzard as they are kayaking, Broker nearly drowns until Sommer fights their kayak across the lake, but ruptures his colon in the effort. At a minimal hospital with no surgeon in snowbound Ely, Falken operates with local nurse anesthetist Amy Skoda, but Sommer goes into post-op coma and Skoda gets the blame. Then Sommer's sexy wife takes Sommer home early, and the kinky death of a CPA, Cliff Stovall, hits the news. Pondering Sommer's last words—"tell Cliff to move the money"—Broker teams up with Skoda to visit Sommer and Jolene, but Skoda gets info that puts their lives in danger. Lured back to Ely and tricked by experts, Broker and Skoda are put out of action, and the scene is set for a shattering surprise ending. Logan parlays the plot elements with the icy finesse of James M. Cain and draws characters so real you can feel the body heat steaming off the page. Once again, he proves himself an awesome storyteller with a unique voice and a flawless sense of place and mood. Major ad/promo; 6-city author tour; Harper Audio.

February 1, 2002
Continuing his winning streak, Logan (The Big Law) brings back recurring character Phil Broker, now as a wilderness guide rather than an undercover police officer. Broker leads three minimally equipped men deep into the Minnesota woods to hunt moose. Before they can bag a beast, however, a massive storm destroys most of their supplies and critically injures one of the men. As the troupe's guide, it falls to Phil to get to civilization and bring back a rescue team before the man dies. The rescue and subsequent events connect their four lives in unexpected ways. Readers will delights in the first-rate characterization and compelling plot filled with unexpected twists. Recommended for popular fiction collections. Jeff Ayers, Seattle P.L.

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2002
Part adventure, part medical thriller, part twisted love story, Logan's latest wintry Minnesotan tale features Phil Broker, the ex-undercover cop last seen in " The Big Law" (1998). Broker is leading three friends--a doctor, a lawyer, and a writer--on a canoe expedition in the Boundary Waters when a winter storm comes out of nowhere. The writer is critically wounded and must be rescued and rushed into emergency surgery. All goes smoothly until he stops breathing in the recovery room, unattended, and lapses into a coma. A few days later, his accountant turns up dead as well. Broker takes a closer look at the cast of characters and finds that the writer's beautiful, volatile, cash-strapped wife and his two concerned canoeing buddies may not be quite what they seem--and what looked like a tragic oversight at the hospital might have been something entirely different. The first 50 stormy pages alone are worth the price of admission, and the shifting loyalties and shifting narrative perspectives that follow make the rest just as hard to put down.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)