Tiring of this and rapidly becoming disenchanted Adam steals his boss’ little ledger book. The book in graphic detail lists the influential people who have profited from the government policy of seizing property used in the commission of a crime. The major problem is that the agency has started planting drugs to increase its revenue from the items seized.

Immediately suspecting Adam, the agency decides to create a bargaining tool that will get the book back. They threaten Claudia, who is Adam’s current love interest, and her mother who is his father’s love interest. When they don’t respond to the threats, the agency goes further, planting growing marijuana plants in the mother’s greenhouse and, in the resulting melee, shooting and badly injuring Claudia. She dies, not once but twice, sees the proverbial blinding white light and returns to life to become Adam’s guardian angel.

Adam’s father goes to war...gratuitously killing and injuring. Finally, he cuts a deal with the Government. Adam agrees not make public the contents of the ledger; the charges against Claudia and her mother are dropped; and Adam and Claudia disappear for a year on one of the agency’s confiscated yachts. Claudia perceives herself as a spirit with a body, and relies on talks with a friendly pelican to keep them safe.

The novel really starts one-fourth of the way through the book with just a short time left in the year. While visiting one of the Atlantic Islands, Claudia and Adam are in a restaurant when an attempted murder goes down. Adam’s old agency is tangentially involved in the shooting and the great misunderstandings start.

Adam perceives the agency as a threat; and his father believes the agency has reneged on the deal and that Adam and Claudia are somehow involved. The domino effect is almost mindless. One erroneous assumption initiates a response, which then escalates to greater violence, which in turn triggers a response etc., ad infinitum.

The fact that violence will follow each reaction becomes predictable, taking any tension out of the plot. The love interest continues, but Adam doesn’t understand Claudia’s new-found powers any better than the reader, so disbelief must be suspended in this area as well.

Since the story is lean on suspense, it must be a thriller, but that should require something that excites. Sadly, Whistler’s Angel mirrors some of today’s movies that rely on chase scenes and bizarre acts of violence alone.

Maxim is a good writer, but this is not his best work. The female characters are better developed than the male principals, and the dialogue ranges from very good to repetitious. The result: an average book only.

--Thea Davis