Liam Mulligan is a long-time newspaper reporter whose job has been negatively affected by corporate consolidation and budget cuts, but he's hanging on despite a micro-managing boss who never lets him do any actual reporting anywhere. But Mulligan's personal life leads him to plenty of stories to investigate anyway. This time around he's looking into the possible legalization of sports gambling in Rhode Island. It just so happens that Mulligan is friends with the governor who has proposed this plan to help the state's budget shortfalls. Many people have an interest in sports gambling and at least a few wind up dead in A Scourge of Vipers.
With Mulligan as the lead, A Scourge of Vipers is smart and entertaining. Bruce DeSilva nails the current state of many news outlets which lends the novel a real authenticity. The engaging plot is filled with plenty of scandal and intrigue, but also provides comic relief (Mulligan is fantastically snarky) and bits of romance making it a delightful read. Although A Scourge of Vipers is the fourth book in the Mulligan series, it works well as a standalone.
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Forge Books.
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