SILENT KILL<br><b>Peter Corris</b><br><i>Allen & Unwin</i>
Employed to protect Rory O'Hara, a man who's claiming he'll shift Australian politics with the introduction of a new party, Hardy finds everything falling apart after two of O'Hara's staff and his girlfriend go missing.
Almost everyone on the team turns out to be not who they claim, and Hardy spends most of the book tracking down people who've been beaten up or threatened by the man who first appears as one of O'Hara's two IT workers.
The Australian Intelligence Service is called in to reveal what's going on before a vicious climax.
There's a genuine Australian feel to the story, and although the characters are fairly thinly drawn, it is a good holiday read.
- Mike Crowl is a Dunedin writer, musician and composer.
