Deep Water

Publisher's weekly got it right - this is a fairly pedestrian contribution to a great series. There is no such thing as an entirely bad Cliff Hardy but this one feels a bit like it was phoned in to a deadline, or a word count. Nothing can keep Hardy down but he's had so many setbacks his recoveries are becoming Lazarus-like. When Corris doesn't quite know how to wind up a plot line he can always throw in a shooting with, yes, our faithful Cliff, as the victim. Again? And his new sidekicks (Hardy works better alone) - his daughter and her PI boyfriend don't bring much colour or intrigue worth pursuing. Oh well, I'll keep coming back - Open File was great, so I'm sure there is still steam in our much winded and wounded hero.