Sign Wave (Aftershock/Dell) by Andrew Vachss

All fans of Vachss know that his books are less about the narrative and more about the messages and characters. This novel in the Dell/Aftershock series is no exception and I was eager to see the ex-mercenary return. Dell's history as a mercenary is very interesting as are his views on the world. His methods are very inventive and hardboiled.

Dell can be even more ruthless than Burke used to be, even though he has a wife. In fact, that relationship is the one who gets him involved with the bad guys most of the time. Here his wife, Dolly, gets a veiled threat that sends Dell after prominent local figure and his plans with the environment.

As always the prose style is very engaging and hardboiled, the story nice and dark. What I really enjoyed was the return of some characters from the second novel, like Mary Lou.