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David Lindsey is one of the modern masters of crime fiction. His 1983 novel, A Cold Mind, is often cited as one of the half dozen best suspense novels ever written; Mercy, published in 1990, completely redefined the psychological thriller and became a huge national bestseller; his most recent novel, Body of Truth, was critically acclaimed as one of those rare thrillers that is as morally complex and intelligent as it is suspenseful. Now, with An Absence of Light, he has again expanded the boundaries of crime fiction, leading us from the top-secret world of police department Intelligence Divisions into the frighteningly sophisticated and violent dark heart of international drug and arms dealers.
All major urban police departments have Intelligence Divisions - investigative squads that are highly sensitive because they collect secrets about men and women who have not yet committed any crime. An Absence of Light opens with the discovery of the body of Arthur Tisler, an investigator in Houston's Intelligence Division, who is found in his parked car with a bullet in his head. Everyone from the homicide cops to the chief of police hopes it's suicide; if it is, the case can be quickly and quietly closed. If, on the other hand, Tisler's death is in any way related to his secret investigations, it could bring down the entire police department.
Marcus Graver, who heads Houston's Intelligence Division, realizes he cannot adequately pursue Tisler's death "inside," so he gets help from Arnette, a freelancer who has spent most of her career in the Far East for the CIA. When Arnette's surveillance team leads her to Panos Kalatis - a former legendary deep-cover agent for the Mossad who is now one of the richest and most vicious criminals in the world - she realizes Graver is way out of his league. In fact, Arnette knows, if the enemy is Kalatis, the entire Houston Police Department is out of its league.
In An Absence of Light David Lindsey takes us into the terrifying new world of global high-tech crime, a brutal shadow world where men of limitless power and wealth operate almost as nations, trading billions of dollars' worth of drugs and weapons in an arena without borders, without laws, and devoid of any kind of morality.
