Endless Honeymoon by Don Webb
(St. Martin’s Minotaur, $23.95, NV) ISBN 0-312-26582-4
***
Willis and Virginia Spencer have decided it is up to them to make sure people get what they deserve, with a hope of changing the victims' evil ways. Using software known as "The Program," the two identify people in need of a little behavior modification and play mean-spirited, but harmless, pranks on the chosen victims in the hopes that he or she will be a changed person.

Unbeknownst to them, someone else is using "The Program" - only this person kills his victims. One fourth of July, the Spencers set up one of their pranks, only to find their victim has been murdered. The two escape, fearing the murderer may still be close by, leaving several clues as to their identities in the rush. An opportunistic soul (assumedly the real murderer) forwards these clues to a series of FBI agents, presenting them as leads to the real murderer. At the same time the FBI is trying to locate the Spencers and link them to years of unsolved murders, the Spencers are trying to find out who is elbowing in on their good idea, an idea that appears to bring them a great deal of perverse pleasure.

Endless Honeymoon is a very unusual mystery, almost surreal at times. Don Webb has a knack for inserting the most unexpected thing at the least expected time. No one is above being considered nutty, from the Spencers to the victims to the FBI agents to Virginia's ex-husband, a brilliant man now in an asylum. All of this keeps the reader off balance, expecting only the unexpected.

While the pace of the novel is brisk, readers may find themselves slowing down, trying to assimilate everything that is going on. It may take several chapters for readers to get used to this style of book, but even skeptics should persevere, as they may be pleasantly surprised with this very different type of mystery.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry


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