Takeover

BOLO. . .BOLO. . .That's police parlance for "Be On the Look Out" and it's especially relevant to "Takeover," an excellent debut novel by Lisa Black, forensic specialist with the Cape Coral Police Department. Her job involves analyzing and comparing fingerprints, crime scene photography, processing evidence for latent prints and blood spatter patterns. Previously she was with the Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Coroner's Office where she analyzed gunshot residue and other forms of trace evidence such as blood, DNA, hairs, fibers, paint, and glass. She brings her expertise to her writing with the result that Takeover has an undeniable air of authenticity.

The protagonist is Theresa MacLean, a forensic scientist with the Cleveland, OH police department. The novel opens when MacLean and her fiancé Paul Cleary, a homicide detective, are called to a murder scene where the body of a man has been found in his front yard. When the man is identified as a bank examiner with the Federal Reserve Bank in Cleveland, Cleary heads for the bank. MacLean is still examining evidence when she receives word that the bank has been taken over by robbers and that Cleary is one of the hostages.

Black It's a dire situation and Cleary's survival depends on the robbers not finding out he's a cop. Chris Cavanaugh, Cleveland's best hostage negotiator- he hasn't lost a hostage yet- is called in, but MacLean has her doubts about the handsome negotiator. Could his self assurance be blind ego, she wonders. Could he be so lulled by his past success that he's lost his edge? MacLean's not willing to take that chance, especially not after Paul's injured. Finagling the situation and manipulating the robbers, she manages to trade places with Paul and then, as a hostage herself, must depend on her wits to save herself.

The book is a good solid read. It moves fast, the characters are likable and well drawn. And even better, the plot has so many believable twists and turns that the ending is a genuine surprise. As a first-time novelist, Black doesn't create a sense of place and her settings and character descriptions are rather colorless, but given her talent and her forensic knowledge, she'll master that in no time. We'll be hearing more from and about this novelist.