The Vigilantes (Badge of Honor Series #10) »

Fellow bestselling author Tom Clancy is right on target when he describes W.E.B. Griffin -- world renowned for his military and police novels filled with vivid detail and dead-on accuracy -- as "a storyteller in the grand tradition, probably the best man around for describing the military community."

The dramatic new novel in Griffin's New York Times- bestselling chronicle of the Philadelphia police force.

There's a sudden spike in murders in Philadelphia, but no one seems to mind much because the victims all seem to be lowlifes. The more Homicide Sergeant Matthew Payne investigates, however, the more he gets a bad feeling-one that only gets worse when vigilante groups spring up claiming credit for some of the hits, even though Payne knows it can't be true. As the targets get bigger and events start moving out of control, Payne realizes that if he and his colleagues can't figure out who's behind this very soon, the violence could overtake them all.

Filled with authentic color and detail, this is a riveting novel of the men and women who put their lives on the line-storytelling at its absolute best.

Publishers Weekly

Griffin's plodding 10th police thriller in his Badge of Honor series (after The Traffickers), co-authored with son Butterworth, adds little that's either new or exciting to a shopworn plot. Despite debilitating chemotherapy for prostate cancer, Will Curtis decides to take justice into his own hands and kill John "JC" Nguyen, the slimy drug dealer who slipped his 24-year-old daughter, Wendy, a "roofy," then raped her. While he's at it, Will also whacks shyster lawyer Daniel Gartner, who got JC acquitted on a technicality at JC's trial. Will's good at his work, so he decides to kill every other sexual criminal he can locate running loose on the streets of Philadelphia. Sgt. Matt Payne tries to figure out who's behind this murder spree while pursuing his ongoing love affair with Dr. Amanda Law, the damsel in distress he rescued in The Traffickers. Unfunny interior dialogue and other suspense-impeding devices slow the predictable action to the point that only series fans will find much to enjoy. (Aug.)