Wicked Break

Jeff Shelby

Peter Pluto wants Noah Braddock to find his missing younger brother. Linc is a student at San Diego State living off campus. Their parents are dead - their father was a white racist who was murdered. According to Peter, Linc is a loner but studious and intent on earning his degree.

When Noah starts investigating, he finds a different picture of Linc Pluto. He seems to have ties with both the local white supremacist groups and the black gangs. His dresser drawers don't have underwear in them - they have illegal guns. Noah speaks to the girls in the apartment next door. He speaks with the building manager. While he's there, a car pulls up, a black man shoots one of the girls, then races off.

He goes to talk to Peter again. Instead, the man is dead and two white supremacists are there who attack Noah. When he goes home that evening, he is jumped by a couple black gang members. What was Linc doing? How did Noah find himself in the middle of a race war?

Wicked Break is the second mystery featuring Noah Braddock and his friends. It's an easy read, but I felt the story line was a bit over the top. By the end everything was brought together and concluded, but it just was more than I could easily believe. I'll watch for Jeff Shelby's next novel despite that. I like the characters and the interactions that is building between them. Let's see, Shelby tackled organized crime in the first book and the gangs in the second. What's next?

Killer Swell
Wicked Break
Liquid Smoke