Book Log 2008 #17: Instruments of Darkness by Robert Wilson

While I can't make the claim the publisher does that this book echoes Raymond Chandler (note to self: read some Raymond Chandler), I did very much enjoy this book, Wilson's first novel.

It's the start of a four book series featuring Bruce Medway, a professional middleman working in West Africa whose more usual work - brokering trade deals of varying legitimacy - intersects with his less usual work - finding people - with the sort of results you might expect from working with such dubious characters.

It's a lot less introspective than Wilson's later works - especially the Falcon series, where the crime is often second fiddle - though there's room for that to open up over the next three books. It was a solid beach read if you need something more than the standard vacuous thriller.