Aim for the Heart [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Wendell McCall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2002

Guns and greed lead to grief ... Chris Klick, a guy who traces missing musicians to give himself a trace of the good life, has kicked back to relax over a bird-watching, fly-fishing Idaho summer. Klick's buddy Lyel, a former pro basketball player, could get by clipping coupons. But he's a sucker for a story, and Klick's a sucker for a woman in distress. Together they succumb to Candy McGreggor and agree to find her missing sister, Roberta.
Roberta, an employee at the Butte Peak County Courthouse, seems to have triggered a string of disasters that began with a recent plane wreck and a dead pilot. Has she she just been unlucky, or has she been a player in some deadly game? And, it must be asked, has she gone off voluntarily, is she outrunning her creditors, or has she been abducted? If so, what's the payoff going to be?
Aim for the Heart is the second Chris Klick detection, following Dead Aim (1988, reprinted by Poisoned Pen Press). Klick and Lyel move to undercover work at Oxford University in Concerto in Dead Flat (Poisoned Pen Press, 1999).

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This in-print equivalent of a buddy movie, a sequel to Dead Aim , begins with the crash of a small plane in Idaho and proceeds nonstop from there. Chris Klick, L.A. tracer of lost music royalties, is vacationing at the rustic, but posh, digs of his friend Jim Lyel, rich ex-NBA star. Both are well over six feet tall, tough, smart, sensitive--it is 1990--and by the end of the book they've fought a fire, drag-raced, dodged killers, rescued a beauty in distress, then saved her father, thwarted land-grabbers and gone fishing. Klick agrees to look for a missing local girl, Bert, and almost simultaneously begins to trace the murky ownership of a San Francisco building for beautiful Alicia Gelbhardt and her rich father. Klick's two "cases" come together when Alicia, whom he's bedded, abruptly calls off the title search and he uncovers evidence of Bert's death that suggests that Alicia's father might be involved. In a series of climaxes Klick fends off vicious killers before he and Lyel uncover a real estate scam. Not very deep but fast.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"The entrance of yet a third damsel--luscious, lithe Alicia--shows Klick and Lyel how to follow the money.... "Amateur Chris Klick...right on target"
--Cincinnati Inquirer"

"A beautifully handled debut novel that blaances all the best p.i. elements with a lyrical sense of the country...Sardonic, wry, and remarkable in both plotting and pacing." --Kirkus Review of first two Chris Klick mysteries

"The windup is a thrilling chase worthy of extended film footage."  -- Washington Post Book World of first two Chris Klick mysteries

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Center Point Large Print (January 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585471429
• ISBN-13: 978-1585471423
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,736,527 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not quite there . . ., May 25, 2001

By 

kellytwo "kellytwo" (cleveland hts, ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aim for the Heart (Chris Klick Mysteries) (Paperback)

It should come as no surprise that the second book published by an author is frequently not up to the same high quality of the first one. After all, that first one (probably) was not written to a deadline, but was, rather, fueled by the inner passion of the author. It's not at all uncommon to finish writing that first book, heave a tremendous sigh of relief, and vow to never touch another typewriter, or computer, as the case may be. Thankfully, in most cases, that latter sentiment doesn't last long, (although in some instances, it doesn't last long enough!) and in a day or so, the author is inspired enough to begin the second book. Even with luck, however, if there is a contract staring him or her in the face, time can interfere with the creative process.

I don't know if that happened with this book, but it has certainly happened to many others. I LOVED McCalls's first book Dead Aim, and vowed to read all his others. It appears there are only three, so far, with just a year or two between the first two, but several years between the latter two.

Not that this book is in any way insufficient, mind you; it just isn't quite sufficient enough. Chris and Lyel are still in Idaho, still loving--and enjoying--the countryside, while indulging in the occasional bit of work, as necessary. For Chris, this is tracing lost musicians to whom royalty payments are due. Lyel's work is mostly clipping coupons. And not the cents-off-at-the-grocery-store-variety, either.

After a fatal crash at the local airport (and the two buddies are volunteer firefighters, providing us with vivid descriptions of such an activity) Chris is asked to help a local woman find her missing sister. And thus begins the chase. That's the really good part, with the loving look at souped-up 50s and 60s hot-rods (if you're old enough to remember when this was being done, you'll really cherish this part of the book!) and a bit of spy-type activity in California as Chris looks for the owner of a building who doesn't want to be found.

Published in 1990, the book is still up to the minute, with environmental concerns mixed with politics, and, underneath it all, the steadily beating heart of an appealing, yet lonely man. Now, to find that third book, and hope for a fourth. And a fifth. Maybe even a sixth?