Past Tense by Bob Levy

"Retired Memphis Chief of Police Joe O'Riley just can't seem to live his days in peace."

"Past Tense then surges into present day where the loss has been tempered though not forgotten, the missing person's case unsolved . . ."

"We are swept up in the action . . ."

Retired Memphis Chief of Police Joe O'Riley just can't seem to live his days in peace. After solving a serial-killer case in Bob Levy's first

novel, Broken Hearts (which received notice in Publishers Weekly's "Behind the Bestsellers"), the ex-chief once again finds himself drawn into a murder investigation—one from his own past. This case involves a missing girl and Adam Baldwin, a United States Senator at the pinnacle of his career, now the front-runner for his party's nomination for President, and a former classmate of Joe's.

Beginning decades earlier with personal loss, the greed of ambition, and the girl's disappearance, Past Tense then surges into

present day where the loss has been tempered though not forgotten, the missing person's case unsolved, and the ambitions unabated. Here what seemed a by-the-book mystery takes a fresh turn. With crisp pacing and vivid characters, Levy takes us on a suspenseful journey where the allegations can't be true. Detailed events of the crime begin showing up in the minds of a couple being treated with a revolutionary Alzheimer's drug that causes new cell growth (neuogenesis); events which occurred before they were born.

The reader's skepticism mirrors O'Riley's. But Levy effectively suspends any disbelief and draws us into this world where the political aspirations of the Senator, the persistent conscience of O'Riley, and the visions of the couple collide. We are swept up in the action, just as is the ex-chief when he thinks: "Retirement be damned. The thrill of the hunt. Rushing through his veins. Just like the old days."

Reviewer: Samantha Seely