Last Redemption

Rick Cahill is finally living something like a normal life when his doctor delivers news he has been dreading: CTE, the progressive brain disease that ends careers and eventually minds. Determined to keep the diagnosis from those he loves, he accepts a surveillance job involving a friend's son — simple work that explodes into greed, murder, and a missing person case that connects corporate crime to the furthest edges of the pharmaceutical world. The eighth Rick Cahill novel adds a terminal countdown to the series' already high stakes.

Michael Rose narrates with the controlled urgency of someone depicting a character racing against his own body. His handling of the scenes where Cahill's symptoms intrude on the action is notably precise — neither dramatizing the disease nor pretending it isn't present. Barry Award winner, this is one of the stronger entries in a series that rewards sustained attention.