Too Close To Home: An Allison Baca Mystery

By Curtis Smith

The first in a series, “Too Close to Home” introduces San Francisco’s own Allison Baca, to the vast number of readers who wish to simply enjoy a “good exciting read”. With “America’s City” as the backdrop, this fresh and formidable ex-cop presses through events steeped with intelligent dialogue and artful suspense driven by dangerous individuals who live entirely by their own rules.
Accompanying Allison in this fast paced thriller is Lt. Phillip McCarthy, her former boss and mentor who inadvertently sets the events in motion and who now finds his long suppressed feelings for Allison surfacing along with the ever increasing danger. Also accompanying her is her father, Ross Smith, who is forced to reach far within himself to help save the life of his only daughter.

Read what Kirkus Indie Reviews has to say:

A retired cop must unravel a gritty mystery before assassins hired to kill her finish the job.
Allison Baca’s abrupt retirement from the San Francisco police was newsworthy enough; the local media enjoyed dealing with the beautiful, talented spokesperson. But Allison soon makes the news for another reason—killing her attempted murderer in her living room. Recovering from her injuries at her parents’ home, Allison investigates the link between her attack and an earlier meeting with a pedophile developer, Paul Albert, who expressed interest in hiring her as a private investigator. Allison’s gruesome discovery, quickly followed by a second attempt on her life, draws her former boss—and the principal reason for her resignation—Lt. Phillip McCarthy deeper into the case, and into Allison’s life. In a decision that will raise warning flags in the mind of anyone who has ever seen a horror movie, McCarthy, Allison and her father Ross travel to the family’s remote mountain cabin (with limited cell coverage) for Allison’s protection. Unbeknownst to them, Allison’s third potential hitman is very familiar with the area and seems destined to meet with success. Told from multiple points of view, the novel is an engrossing, fast-paced page-turner. Smith even manages to imbue the hitmen with sympathetic qualities. Smith touches upon many seamier aspects of 21st century crime—pedophilia, human trafficking, meth addiction and Aryan gangs—Smith doesn't lose touch with of a traditional mystery/thriller. Portions of the plot may require some suspension of disbelief; it’s never clear how Allison and McCarthy transition so quickly from adversaries to potential lovers, for example. But Smith demonstrates such skill in building suspense, such as when Ross and McCarthy’s dithering on their approach to the cabin leaves Allison vulnerable, that readers will be captivated regardless. Thrilling addition to the field of mystery series featuring strong female protagonists; hopefully, Allison Baca’s future cases will be as enjoyable as this one.

Kirkus Indie, Kirkus Media LLC, 6411 Burleson Rd., Austin, TX 78744

• Language: English
• Publisher: Curtis Smith
• Release date: Sep 23, 2011
• ISBN: 9781466067103

Curtis Smith

Dr. Curtis Smith is the Director for the Idaho National Laboratory Nuclear Safety and Regulatory Research Division. His most recent appointment is in serving as the lead for the Risk Integration and Uncertainty Working Group for the NASA Interagency Nuclear Safety Review Panel (INSRP) on the Mars 2020 mission. Dr. Smith has been in the risk and reliability assessment field for more than 28 years. He has worked at INL as a risk analysis specialist and has served as a consultant for a diverse set of organizations including the Department of Energy (DOE), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and other government and private companies. Dr. Smith has published over 200 papers, books, and reports on risk and reliability theory and application. He has taught over 100 technical and university courses on a variety of reliability and safety topics. He holds a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Nuclear Society, and the Idaho Academy of Sciences.

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