Hardcover: 384 pages - Publisher: William Morrow (March 3, 2009) - Language: English - ISBN-10: 0061143448 - ISBN-13: 978-0061143441
Don’t Look Twice
by Andrew Gross
‘Ty Hauck’ series Book #2
In this dramatic new novel following the bestselling The Dark Tide, a drive-by shooting rocks the posh suburb of Greenwich, Connecticut, and an innocent bystander is dead.
Detective Ty Hauck punges into what seems like a vicious case of retribution and follows the trail to a sinister gambling scheme at an upstate casino. Until Annie Fletcher, a young restauranteur in the midst of rebuilding her life, witnesses something she shouldn’t have – and immediately runs to him with what she knows. Suddenly, Hauck is pulled into a rising storm far greater than it first appeared – a storm wide enough to encompass corruption inside Greenwich’s circle of wealthy and powerful citizens. And punishing enough to consume Hauck’s own family, and tear brothers apart forever … if it doesn’t kill them first.
Don’t Look Twice is a gripping story of profiteering on an international scale and an emotionally resonant domestic thriller from one of the hottest new talents in suspense fiction.
Review: Fast-paced whodunnit and emotional, but plot twists rather predictable.
Ty and his daughter, Jessie, are at the gas station, stocking up on fuel and supplies before taking the boat out for its final voyage of the year. While standing in line, a red truck slams to a stop outside and bullets start flying. Ty got a look at the shooter, and a partial plate, but when he turns to see if everyone’s alright, Jessie is unconscious and covered in blood. Ty flashes back to when Norah, his other daughter, was killed years ago when the car backed down the driveway, running her over. Jessie is fine, but in shock, and the blood isn’t hers; the blood belongs to David Sanger, federal prosecutor who was standing in line behind them.
At first, the shooting seemed an act of gang revenge. But looks are deceiving, for as the investigation progresses, and the body count starts to rise, the case goes so much deeper than Ty could have possibly imagined, from the lowest of the low to people high-up in the political chain, including a U.S. senator. Ty discovers that his brother, Warren, is also involved. The questions is – how deep?
**The author writes his characters in such a way that, good or evil, they seem entirely real, entirely human. Ty is a smart detective, tenacious, determined.
I could feel the difference between Ty and Karen (from The Dark Tide.) There was a distance, and I could tell the love wasn’t there any more. Truthfully, I don’t think it was really there to begin with. And while that really is too bad, a new female character, Annie, a restauranteur, becomes involved when she witnesses a gang member disposing something in the dumpster behind her restaurant – the gun that had been used in the drive-by shooting. I could feel something between them, and I really can’t wait to see in the next book if Ty and Annie take it any further.
It was nice to be introduced to Warren, Ty’s older brother. You can tell that their relationship is a strained one; Ty had witness something involving Warren a long time ago, and it put a distance between them. Just when it looks like they’re going to become close again, a twist in the plot will leave the reader feeling just as hollow and angry as Ty does.
I have to admit, I found the plot twists rather predictable. It’s like I could tell where this was going, how deep the case really went and how high up the “food chain” it really was. And by the time you hit the end of the story, you’re left as unsatisfied as Ty – because if he actually went all the way, there was still no proving what he knew. Without proof, it was like Ty had to drop it, knowing that he wouldn’t/couldn’t win. And that was sad. For me, a mystery needs a solved case and a happy ending. A friend is murdered in an explosion in Ty’s home – an explosion meant for him, leaving Ty feeling guilty and worn out. And just when he needs his boss the most, I find that Vern isn’t there for Ty like he should be. As the chief, you’d think he’d be just as bent as Ty to finding the truth. Personally, I think it was obvious Vern knew more than he was letting on, and the more it went on, the more I became disgusted with a character I liked in the first novel, The Dark Tide.
I think I liked this book more for the emotional value than the mystery, if I may be honest with you. The emotions during and after the shooting, when he reconnects with his brother and ultimately losing him, the guilt he feels for the explosion meant for him, losing Karen all while knowing there was no longer a relationship to save, the offer of a new job… the emotions roll off the page as you’re reading this novel, and it makes it hard to put down.
Rating: 
