The Fifth Level

Private detective Dan Roman journeys far from his beloved Texas when he investigates the three bungled murder attempts on his neighbor, Warren Stillwell, a man harboring a tragic secret

Texas PI Dan Roman, last seen in September Song , is only human--tough as whipcord but weak when it comes to tequila, cigarettes, poker and his young "very nearly voluptuous" ex-wife Susie, who is now ready to take him back. But before they can remarry, Susie is threatened by two thugs as a warning to Dan not to come to the aid of neighbor Warren Stillwell. A brilliant, strangely childish cancer researcher at a Dallas lab, Stillwell has asked Dan to find out who is trying to kill him. Pitted against a clever, merciless mystery man, Dan dodges bullets and (unsuccessfully) the advances of Warren's neurotic sister as Mathis develops his fast-paced, violent story. From Army medical records the detective learns that Warren suffered an accident toward the end of the Vietnam war that put him in a coma for two years. More evidence points to a secret medical experiment gone wildly wrong and leads Dan to a tense confrontation between Warren and a vengeful fellow soldier/victim. A most satisfying scene of carnage ensues.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Two cases for moody Texas p.i. Dan Roman (September Song, etc.): protecting his neighbor Warren Stillwell, a big, childlike genius, from getting killed by a pair of ruthless but curiously inept assassins; and tracking down Sherry Bascomb, the missing daughter of another neighbor, patrician old Lionel Whitecomb. Dan protests that he's better at finding missing persons than at running a bodyguard service; in the end, though, he'll fail all around--but not before enjoying some sweet sex with Warren's sister Anne Lawrence; hearing some flat-out incredible revelations about Warren's government service; discovering a clever but predictable connection between his two cases; and staging another installment of his will-we-or-won't-we mating dance with his ex-wife Susie. Mathis builds up the mystery skillfully before unveiling a secret--and a bloody climax--that should've been left on the cutting- room floor. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.