How many ways can the past come back to haunt you? Hard- nosed Dallas detective Lee Henry Oswald is about to find out.

A bourbon-chugging Baptist Preacher hires a private detective in Dallas, Texas to recover a stolen file before a psychopathic hit man whose intent is the same. With the police after him (Lee HENRY Oswald) for a murder he didn’t commit, and his every move shadowed by that strange mobster, Hank Oswald is thankful to get an extortion case in order to get out of Dallas for a few days.

State Senator Vernon Black, the tree-hugging black sheep of an oil-rich East Texas family, has a big problem. Somebody wants him to change his vote on an important environmental bill. If he refuses, Black’s longtime friend and his entire family will be killed, one by one, starting with his oldest goddaughter, the headstrong Tess McPherson.

After a bloody encounter with the mobster at Tess’s apartment, Hank finally realizes the fatal connection between the two cases: a dead man, Billy Barranger, Hank’s one-time best friend, first-born son of an East Texas crime boss. As the stakes escalate, each treacherous step toward the missing file forces Hank to confront the haunting memory of a split-second choice that ultimately cost Billy his life.

Now it appears the dead man’s family has teamed up with the new player in town, and everyone has Hank in their cross-hairs. As time winds down to a startling climax, Hank races across the mean streets in the troubled part of Dallas to find the missing file and the secret it holds.

This is the second book by Harry Hunsicker devoted to his crime-fighting private investigator, Hank Oswald. Although this representation portrays a seedy part of Dallas and mentions some of the actual streets, I found it distressing that he didn’t mention at lease one pleasant aspect of Dallas. The creative arts, plentiful lakes and brilliant landscapes with breathtaking sunsets, received no notice; I too, am a 4th-generation Dallasite. This is a fast-paced, action loaded crime story written very well and sure to be welcomed by readers who prefer this genre.