cover image Don’t Look for Me

Don’t Look for Me

Mason Cross. Pegasus Crime, $25.95 (352p) ISBN 978-1-68177-628-6

British author Cross’s uneven fourth thriller featuring former black ops manhunter Carter Blake (after 2016’s The Time to Kill) finds him leading a carefree existence on Louisiana’s Grand Isle. In Summerlin, Nev., novelist Sarah Blackwell reports a late-night break-in at the house of her neighbors, Dominic and Rebecca Smith. Sarah hasn’t seen the couple in weeks, and when the police do nothing, she goes next door, where she retrieves a notebook containing Blake’s email address below a note saying “break glass in case of emergency.” Sarah emails Blake, and soon the two team up to track down Rebecca, whom he knew as Carol Langford, his former lover who disappeared six years earlier. Meanwhile, a contract killer closes in on Dominic, who has gone his own way. Blake eventually uncovers connections between the couple and a jewel heist in which millions of dollars in diamonds were stolen. He and the hit man inevitably collide with bloody consequences. Cross keeps the tension high, but the characters are largely two-dimensional and emotionally unengaging, and the real thrills are few and far between. Agent: Luigi Bonomi, LBA (U.K.). (Jan.)