Lance Travis, Sheila’s husband, is a drunk, a drug-user, a wife-abuser, and a generally all-around unpleasant guy with some well-connected and some highly questionable contacts. Sober, he can be a good-buddy salesman, but when drunk he can be mean and dangerous. As both their neighbor and a guest in their house, Ray has several opportunities to witness Lance’s ugly treatment of his wife.

Meanwhile, Frank Kaiser, Ray’s friend and former partner, confirms suspicions that his wife of fifteen years is having an affair. Ray has to acknowledge that the marriage is ending.

Ray is heralded as a local hero when a ride-along TV reporter gets the live story when Ray, ignoring standard procedure, intervenes in a hostage situation and saves a little girl. Ray hopes that the resulting affair with the reporter, Leanne Corvino, will divert his attention from Sheila and save him from betraying his rules. The spark just isn’t there between them, however, and the physical relationship ends while the friendship continues.

A desperate call for help from Sheila will start the downward spiral that will force a confrontation between his love for this woman and his principles and that will ultimately threaten his career and his life.

Readers who are looking for a taut police procedural mystery will be disappointed in Line of Sight. Rather than a whodunit, Line is a what’s-she-going-to-do and when’s-she-going-to-do-it. The book is stronger on character development than on plot and pacing; a lot of time is devoted to gazing at the stars (Ray’s hobby is astronomy) and waiting around for something to happen.

Many mysteries feature a noble hero battling the forces of evil with right triumphing in the end. Ray Dolan is a hero in only the literary protagonist sense of the word-the compromises and concessions he makes are frequently blameworthy rather than heroic. The dearth of many appealing, admirable characters makes Line of Sight a dark, cynical tale.

It’s easy to imagine this book translated into a film noir with lots of forbidding atmosphere and ominous shadows. Some scenes-such as the one where Ray watches Sheila cavorting in a lawn sprinkler-seem specifically created for a possible screenplay. Furthermore, the somewhat anemic plot won’t require much paring to fit the standard two-hour movie running time.

The book’s first chapter is most successful in introducing the narrator and establishing his character-a hard-working cop who is alive to the complexities of the job. The succeeding chapters dealing with the gradual deterioration of his principles and his various relationships may not appeal to all readers.

--Lesley Dunlap