Customer Reviews

The Seventh Enemy (A Brady Coyne Mystery)

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Brady Coyne helps an old friend, outdoorsman Wally Kinnick, with his testimony before a state subcommittee. The issue is assault weapons and whether they should be sold to private parties. Kinnick is a strong anti-gun control advocate, and an offshoot of the NRA called SAFE has paid his expenses.

After an all-night session of reading the bill, Kinnick comes to the conclusion that the bill is reasonable, and he testifies in favor of its passage to the dismay of his sponsors, SAFE. When Wally and Brady take off to do their favorite thing, fishing in the wilds of Massachusetts, Wally is shot with an assault rifle.

Have NRA types disgruntled with his testimony shot him? Is it a hunting accident? Could it be his lady friend's about-to-be ex-husband? Brady has more than a passing interest because he, as well as Wally, has been put on SAFE's "enemy list."

The author presents a balanced view of this explosive issue, which is much to his credit. However, the story lacks momentum. It is one of these where vital facts are kept secret because of "confidentiality," which I find annoying. The choices are too narrow for who the attacker might be. So the reader is a few steps ahead of Brady all the way. As always, the author does an excellent job of describing the local scenes. Brady is a very likeable guy, but his laid back persona slows the story down badly. "The Seventh Enemy" is a quick read, pleasant, but one you forget by the next day.

Tappley starts this one out with an odd somewhat gutless acknowledgement/ apology that the issue of gun control is far more complicated than it seems. No need to apologize in advance that your story is bound to offend some.

That is followed by forward that is ascribed the Coyne (Main Character/ Boston Attorney.) It tells of a law being passed banning the sale of 17 specific automatic weapons, and Coyne's belief that events that he was involved in two years prior may have had an influence on the law. What purpose does this have in telling the story? It suggest that the story is important and that because of the coming events laws were changed. Nothing dramatic, no real tease, or hook.

Neither of these openings draw me in, rather they set me up to be looking for a polemic on gun control. And maybe because that is what my subconscious was looking for, that is what it picked up. I think it would have better to not had those lead ins.

As one reviewer here states the momentum is not here in this book. The real momentum of the book, I think, is caused simply by short chapters. There are, for me, other minor problems. But in the end, if you are a Brady Coyne fan (as I am), there is a lot to like. Not every story can be a wow. On his own (as in separate from any given story) the character Brady Coyne is an interesting, self reflecting kind of guy, and his observation, his lifestyle and the complications of his life- keeps me seeking for more of his titles.