FRANK THORPE is a recently turfed-out special-ops expert whose plans for a much-needed vacation are interupted when he spots a suit-and-tie backhand a ten-year-old Hispanic peddlar at LAX. Thorpe decides to play Robin Hood, and gives the businessman what he calls a little "wake-up," by using his still-sharp spy skills to track him down and set the asshole up as the patsy in an art forgery scam.

Seems a little extreme, and what was that about the best-laid plans of mice and men? Thorpe's good deed soon spirals way, way out of control, and soon Thorpe is tangling with social climbers, drug dealers and assorted thugs, including a childlike bio-engineered killer from Romania who just wants to buy a roller coaster.

It all sounds a little goofy, but it has been getting decent reviews, and it was nominated for a Shamus.

UNDER OATH