Cybertheft, neo-Nazi thugs, Russian mafia, inconsiderate and incompetent doctors, and a bitter dispute among condo owners keep retired Boston cop Eddie Perlmutter busy in Forman's enjoyable, episodic second crime novel (after Boca Knights
). Having been diagnosed years earlier with “compulsive explosive disorder,” the vigorous 60-year-old is now more intent on salvaging or redeeming miscreants than punishing them. Eddie's reputation and his new PI agency in Boca Raton, Fla., bring him lots of intriguing cases, which he solves or resolves in often ingenious ways. Eddie, who still fights to control his temper, is capable of busting a nose, but mostly he devises retribution that merits the phrase “poetic justice” if rehabilitation fails. While Forman's sense of humor can be childish (as in Boca Knights
, Eddie talks to “Mr. Johnson,” his penis), he deals with such serious issues as anti-Semitism, gay rights, and health care with more insight and sense than most genre authors. (Feb.)
