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Pacific Burn continued

Brodie isn't going to win any awards for effectiveness.  He flies to Japan to protect the younger brother of the artist found dead in Napa.  He meets the boy, the boy refuses his help, escapes his shadow, and is promptly murdered.  Surprising for a main sleuth to be so inept.

I'm still liking this.  Interesting bit of Japanese lore about the Steam Walkers, Japanese mountain people who can lure the enemies to fatal places near the volcanoes.  Odorless gases that kill; holes that open up beneath the feet, etc.  One of these steam walkers seems to be the villain, though there's some unconvincing talk of the murderer being the enemy of the SF mayor.

Weakest scenes so far have been Brodie's fights--one with a government man in the airport and the other with a knife-wielding Japanese assassin in an SF hospital.  Both went on too long.

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