This ninth "Badge of Honor" title, following Final Justice (2003), marks Griffin's (www.webgriffin.com) fifth collaboration with his son, with whom he previously coauthored titles in the "Honor Bound" and "Men at War" series. Here, Police Sgt. Matthew Payne partners with a Texas Ranger to hunt down a murderer preying on illegal Central Americans in Philadelphia. Refreshingly, this entry recharges the series, infusing raw energy into familiar characters and introducing dynamic new ones. Audie Award winner Scott Brick's (see Behind the Mike, LJ 10/15/09) narration is superb; he is especially adept at the Hispanic accents and female voices. Highly recommended. [The Putnam hc, published in August, was a New York Times best seller.-Ed.]-Scott R. DiMarco, Mansfield Univ. of Pennsylvania Lib. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Dope smuggling, prostitution and murder preoccupy Sgt. Matt Payne of the Philadelphia PD in the uneven ninth Badge of Honor novel from bestseller Griffin and son Butterworth (after Final Justice). Payne, known as the Wyatt Earp of the Main Line because of his involvement in so many shootings, receives a call from an old pal, Chad Nesbitt, who tells him that a mutual friend, Skipper Olde, is somehow involved in a catastrophic fire. Matt doesn't care about Skipper, but Skipper's girlfriend, whom Matt had a crush on in high school, has been badly burned. Meanwhile, 21-year-old Juan Paulo Delgado, "El Gato," is going about his usual business of pimping, beating and beheading undocumented Mexican women. Sophomoric, jokey dialogue and intrusive author lectures will lead many readers to tire of the whole business long before the evildoer receives his just and expected reward. Author tour. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

There are certain things readers expect from a Griffin novel: rugged characters, a story that moves at a brisk clip, and plenty of action. Here Griffin and his recently acquired cowriter (Griffin's son) deliver the goods in a new entry in the popular Badge of Honor series about the officers of the Philadelphia police force. In this installment, homicide detective Matthew Payne is dismayed by the escalating number of murders in the city. Pursuing his theory that several recent homicides are related (he's pretty much alone in this belief), Payne joins forces with a Texas lawman to track down the people responsible. The question is, as always, Can the heroes survive long enough to get the job done? Although quite different from the author's military novels, the Badge of Honor series does share some important thematic elements, especially the notion that those who protect the country's citizens are not superheroes but ordinary people who find their own ways to deal with extraordinary situations. Reminiscent of Stephen Hunter's Bob Lee Swagger series but without the style and the moral ambiguity.--Pitt, David Copyright 2009 Booklist