Waterman

The final twist may be a tad cute but Horning (Foul Shot has written a first-rate thriller. When taciturn stranger Scott Craik appears in tiny Brawlton, Va., things start to happen. Although Craik wants only to be left alone to work crabbing in Chesapeake Bay, he soon must deal with a crooked sheriff, a couple of vicious deputies, a knife-crazy local, teenage toughs and an infatuated girl. The girl's uncle, ""the Judge,'' is boss of the small county and is smuggling guns, but only for the ``right people.'' Colombian drug dealers are planning to take over the Judge's operation for their more lucrative trade. Craik is caught up in this whirlpool, which is roiled further by the fact that the CIA is looking for him. Under another identity he was a member of the Agency. We learn these details slowly, through a lot of Bay color. The pace builds from leisurely crabbing to a complicated whizbang of an ending. Some of the violencea rape, an ice-pick murderis a bit harrowing but readers will keep turning pages and end up cheering for the protagonist as he fights off all his foes. (July)