Tom Fowler Archives — Mostly Mystery Reviews

John Tyler, former Green Beret, attracts trouble like a magnet, no matter how hard he tries to stay away. But he remains upbeat and undeterred, even keeled and able to deal with whatever comes his way. With his ex-wife in jail, his daughter, Lexi, living with him, and a super girlfriend, Sara Morrison, in Forced Induction, by Tom Fowler, Tyler’s life seems to be on a smooth path. At least for the time being. Then guns go missing from Fort Bragg and Sara, a Pentagon executive gets involved. Tyler gets involved too, through a strange accident at his Special Operations Car Repair shop. Patrick Baker crashes his recent model Subaru in the parking lot next to Tyler’s shop. Why?

Along with the dynamic, descriptive scenes of the interactions between Tyler and various militias that are ready, willing and able to buy stolen Army rifles (thanks to Tyler’s brother-in-law) are charming scenes between Tyler and Lexi. The tension sizzles between Tyler and his ex-wife in the women’s correctional center as Tyler explains his killing of her brother.

Forced Induction is the fifth in Tom Fowler’s great series featuring John Tyler. Sufficient backstory is presented for Forced Induction to be read out of sequence. But I will read the previous installments to know the whole story.

See last week’s review of The Reluctant Detective (here), the first book in Tom Fowler’s CT Ferguson series. I’ll be reading and reviewing both of these series throughout this year, and probably beyond, as Tom Fowler is prolific.

I received a copy of Forced Induction in exchange for an honest review.

Forced Induction
by Tom Fowler
© 2023

Why would a guy with advanced degrees in computer science, and who had been a hacker in Hong Kong, want to be a private investigator after he got out of Chinese prison and came home? And how good would he be in his chosen profession? Such is the premise of The Reluctant Detective? And why would a guy in his late 20s or early 30s be dependent on his wealthy parents to subsidize his first case with a gift of $50,000 if he succeeded?

Coningsby Trent (CT) Ferguson is smart, but rather unmotivated as The Reluctant Detective by Tom Fowler begins its steady roll towards a denouement. But beginnings can be deceiving. CT exercises his smarts throughout the novel, even surprising his cousin, Rich Ferguson, a member of the Baltimore Police Department, with his deductions.

CT’s first case supposedly involves adultery. Alice Fisher believes her husband, Paul, is playing around. But CT soon realizes that Alice has a problem, not her husband. And it’s gambling, not adultery. Nonetheless, he sticks with the case.

Gangsters, both small time and overlords, as well as their “goons” threaten CT with harm if he steps on their toes or hurts their business. The goons are the ones who get hurt when they think CT is an easy target.

Good characterization, especially of CT. I’ll read the rest of the CT Ferguson series, including the novella prequel, Hong Kong Dangerous.

Stay tuned for a review of Tom Fowler’s second series featuring John Tyler.