An abandoned car turns up, and the rental agreement indicates that the renter was Russian. Forensics matches the fingerprints in the car to the deceased. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police hint that the victim was involved with the Russian Mafia, then retract that suggestion.

The CIA and FBI appear on the scene, ostensibly to help in identifying the body. Joe is then invited to the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, to discuss the case. In spy talk he is told to close his file. When he refuses to do so, the repercussions are swift, placing in jeopardy both his career and his personal relationships. Faced with the realization that the justice system is no longer on his side, Joe goes underground to solve the mysteries.

This is detecting at its most basic and comprehensive level, where one clue becomes the basis for the next step or leap of logic. This type of plot construction takes a great deal of narrative to support the plot structure. In The Disposable Man, the narrative, although informative, is occasionally ponderous and not always related to the story.

So much of the book is spent setting up facts from which one can draw logical inferences, that the character development suffers. Of course, if you have read the other Joe Gunther books, you might already know the characters well enough. But for a newcomer to the series, The Disposable Man – while a great exercise in logic – is without emotional involvement. The result is a book that succeeds on one level, but falls short on another.

--Thea Davis