Very Bad Men is the second in Harry Dolan's Ann Arbor series featuring crime magazine editor, David Loogan. For Loogan, finding a mystery story left at his office door is nothing unusual. But when the anonymous manuscript starts with the confession of a recent murder and identifies the next victim, Loogan and his police detective girlfriend vault into action.
The story never stops from there. A 17-year-old bank robbery is the link between the murder victims, a retiring U.S. Senator, the bright young woman running for his seat, an ambitious tabloid reporter, and a dozen or so other suspects, suckers, and side-shows.
Dolan's first Loogan novel, Bad Things Happen (reviewed here), was another rip-roarer that had more of a literary theme, with authors and editors murdering each other. It was great, but this one is even better. Bad Things got a little ramshackle and some of the plot threads frayed. Bad Men is more polished and hangs together right to the end.
Dolan is an exceptional storyteller whose writing is so good it is invisible. Reading the book feels like living the story along with the characters. Hopefully this is the second of what will be a very long series.
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