This was a quick read, with the usual dose of humor surrounding a serious subject of modern drug development and distribution. It isn't really a police procedural; the police are more the followers than the pursuers. I suspect that you, as did I, will guess who is behind the murders long before it is revealed to Mike Lomax.

Although it isn't necessary to read the series in order, I think that you can appreciate this installment more if you have read some of the previous four books. I hope this isn't the last of the series.

Comic mysteries are a difficult form of literature to carry off successfully, and Karp is very good at it. These are the flip side of Westlake's Dortmunder series or Hallinan's Junior Bender series, which feature good-natured criminals. ( )

It's been a long six years since the last Lomax and Biggs mystery, and I have to admit to doing a little happy dance when I discovered the existence of Terminal. Although it's understandable that Marshall Karp would want to partner with James Patterson in the highly successful NYPD Red series, he's created two police detectives that I just can't get enough of.

Karp always seems to come up with an ingenious mystery. In Terminal, we know the identity of the killers and why they've signed up as hit men, but we still need to know who's behind it all and why this person wants it done. Karp skillfully joins the personal to the professional in such a way that readers feel invested in the story; they're not just armchair sleuths trying to solve the crime before the heroes do. Mike Lomax not only has Sophie in his life at this time, the terminally ill killers remind him painfully of his wife who lost her own battle with cancer. He's also worried about the extra blood work his doctor has insisted upon. All this makes him a bit crankier than longtime fans have ever seen him. Did it bother me? Not in the slightest. These things would make most humans a bit irritable.

Karp sprinkles his character fairy dust not only on Lomax and Biggs, but on those terminally ill killers as well. I felt real empathy for them-- and I also wondered what I would do if faced with identical circumstances.

When you read one of Marshall Karp's Lomax and Biggs mysteries, you're going to get a puzzler of a crime, a fast pace, laugh-out-loud humor, and some wonderfully drawn characters that stick in your mind long after you've finished reading the books. Terminal is an excellent addition to the series, but I do have one request of the author:

Please don't make me wait another six years before your next Lomax and Biggs book! ( )

I am so happy that Marshall Karp has written a new Lomax & Biggs book, Rabbit Factory is one of my favorite books of all time. Now getting to the story, Lomax & Biggs get dragged into a seeming conspiracy during Lomax’s colonoscopy, which should give you a hint on the humor of the books. Marshall brings back all the favorite characters from the past books and comes up with a very satisfying ending. It has been far too long since we have had a tour with our old friends but it was well worth the wait.

Free review copy. ( )