Book 7 of 2010 – Dark Tiger is most likely the last Stoney Calhoun novel by William G. Tapply. Tapply passed away in July of 2009 after a battle with leukemia. Tapply is best known for his Brady Coyne series which spanned twenty-six years and twenty-five books. Dark Tiger is the third book in the Stoney Calhoun series. Stonewall Jackson Calhoun is currently afishing guide in Maine and runs a bait shop with his lover Kate Balaban.
Stoney has a past that he doesn’t quite remember, a result of being struck by lightening years ago. Through glimpses of muscle memory and other memory flashes Stoney knows he was a trained agent of some sort. Now though he runs his bait shop and occasionally serves as a deputy sheriff when the need arises. Keeping an eye on Stoney is “The Man in the Suit” who knows about Stoney’s past but he’s not telling and every so often pops into Stoney’s life checking on Stoney’s memory.
As this novel opens, Stoney is told that he and Kate will soon loose their lease on the bait shop and Kate is told her husband Walter, who suffering from MS and lives in a rehabilitation center will soon be kicked out! Stoney soon figures this is the work of “The Man in the Suit” ,which turns out to be correct. “The Man in the Suit” and his boss tell Stoney they will make everything in his life OK, if he takes an assignment to go to Loon Lake Lodge in the wilds of northern Maine and solve the murder of one of their agents. The agent was found dead along with a sixteen year old girl in what was made to look like a murder suicide. Only problem is Stoney can’t tell anyone where he is going or why, which does not endear him to Kate! But off he goes. I didn’t think this was a great read, but it was a comfortable one! I enjoy the characters and the story line was ok!
I liked the series and it ended before we learned the complete story about Stoney’s past and if Stoney and Kate will have a life without the guilt they both feel about their relationship in light of Kate’s husband’s illness. Stoney, Brady Coyne and William G Tapply you will be missed!