A Shot Away

The third title in Pierre Ouellette's crime thriller trilogy (after Bakersfield and Haight St.), A Shot Away takes up the story of James Stone, a former Bakersfield homicide cop turned record producer, as he struggles to discover and sign new talent as the so-called Summer of Love finally comes to a catastrophic close in the Bay Area. The lure of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll has faded, upstaged by long-festering paranoia and simmering anger at blatant injustice. The winter of 1970 marks the start of a new era full of criminal and political mayhem brought on by agents like the Hells Angels and the radical Weather Underground. In the midst of it all, a deranged Vietnam vet named Carson embarks on a bombing spree that draws Stone back to his former calling. The San Francisco police tap him to pursue the bomber, who seems hell-bent on creating nothing less than total anarchy. Stone soon discovers a trail of intrigue and corruption that stretches all the way from the local FBI office over the water to Fidel Castro's Cuba. And the closer Stone gets to his prey, the more perilous his pursuit becomes as Carson burrows ever deeper into the escalating violence of the radical underground.