Poison Town

December 2, 2013
The follow-up to the first (Fear Has a Name) in Mapes’ Crittendon Files series is filled with incongruous twists and turns, peppered with tepid suspense and stereotypical dialogue. Jack Crittendon, reporter, husband, father of two, is recovering from the aftermath of his wife’s kidnapping and struggling with his faith when a chance encounter with old friends leads him to the story of a lifetime—a local manufacturer is poisoning not only its workers, but the people who live in the surrounding Ohio city. With the help of his co-worker Derrick and the support of his family, he must bring those behind the environmental misdeeds to justice before time runs out. By using multiple narrative viewpoints, Mapes provides critical insight into secondary characters, allowing for the story to proceed at a steady pace. But character interactions are stilted, and a contrived ending rounds out a lackluster novel. Agency: Natasha Kern Literary Agency.

May 26, 2014
The sequel to Mapes’s 2013 faith-based mystery, Fame Has A Name, finds journalist Jack Crittendon, fellow newsman Derrick Whittaker, and garage owner Travis Randall struggling to gather proof that Demler-Vargus, a giant fiberglass manufacturing plant in Ohio, is spewing hazardous pollutants that are killing some locals and making others, including Travis’s dad, Galen, gravely ill. Worse, anyone who challenges the corporation winds up missing or dead. Mapes’s plot is complemented by narrator Gregory’s ability to carve out the characters with unique voices. Travis’s speech is slow and thoughtful, in contrast to the whining and complaints of his emotional brother L.J. Derrick, who initiates the investigation of Demler-Vargus. The combination manages to excite even though it’s a given that God cares for the good and punishes the evil. A David C. Cook paperback.