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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Two Intertwined Tales Entertain, 28 April 2005
Many authors have tried writing mysteries with one another. There are several approaches you can use: One story featuring both authors' characters; one story alternating narrators; two stories similar only in theme; and two intertwined stories. The last is the most difficult, and few collaborate in the mystery genre to try. Thankfully for mystery fans, Philip R. Craig and William G. Tapply (real life fishing buddies) took on this difficult challenge and produced a gem in Second Sight.I have been reading Mr. Tapply's work for a couple of decades and had not read Mr. Craig's work before. So I started out with some doubts about how well I could appreciate the two together . . . especially since I had not read their first collaboration, First Light. The book opens with J.W. Jackson as narrator and I soon felt like I knew him as well as I do Brady Coyne, about whom I have been reading for so long. Chapters alternate narrators between J.W. and Brady, and this device works well until near the end when they are often in the same scenes and there's a bit of redundancy. J.W. is a retired cop whose beautiful wife wants him to settle down. When an FBI agent asks J.W. to escort a famous singer, it looks like an easy way to make a few bucks . . . until the agent tells J.W. to be sure and carry his gun. Many people like to get attention by harassing celebrities, but J.W. soon gets a sense that there's more going on. At the same time, Brady Coyne is called to the bedside of a dying friend who wants to reconcile with his missing daughter. The friend asks Brady to find her and bring her home. Except for a sense of duty and a good relationship with the young woman, Brady feels at sea doing this. But he soldiers on. Calling old friends of the young woman, Brady gets a lead to Martha's Vineyard where J.W. lives. With an upcoming benefit concert, there's no place to stay and J.W. offers to put Brady up. Once on the island, there paths diverge as J.W. drives the beautiful Evangeline around in disguise while Brady shows photographs of the missing young woman. Before long, dead bodies are stacking up like cordwood, and both J.W. and Brady fear that it's about to get worse. Will Brady find the girl before her father dies? Will she go see her father? Can J.W. keep Evangeline and her daughter safe? Those questions are kept open until near the very end when the two stories twist together engagingly. For those who are interested in ESP and psychics, there's a subplot in the book about a fortune teller that you will enjoy. Very nice work!
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