Guns Across the River by Sam Wiebe

*(22. - 1311.) Guns Across the River by Sam Wiebe - At 1:00 am Dave Wakeland is winding down after a poker game in his float home at Granville Island. He won a vintage vinyl recording of Pacific Ocean Blue by Dennis Wilson. Dave likes Dennis better than Brian. He listens to the record with his partner, Jeff Chen. In the quiet after the song they hear “the kid hit the water”.

Someone has fallen almost 30 metres from the Granville Street Bridge. Seeing a head bob up Dave jumps into the water and Jeff frees a kayak from an adjacent float home. They rescue a teenage girl and get her to hospital. She says “the stars of ….” before falling unconsious.

Dave is very conscious he is pushing 40.

After near bankruptcy Dave and Jeff have resurrected their security firm Wakeland & Chen by focusing on risk assessment. They are certified in 8 countries.

Sergeant McPhail, about 50 with “frizzy ginger-grey hair …. in a loose ponytail” comes to the float home to interview Dave. He assesses her as ex-military and determines she is not a police officer. She tells him to stop investigating what happened to the girl. It is exactly the wrong thing to tell Dave.

Eden Laing has come into Dave’s life. She is a successful businesswoman a few years older than Dave. She is passionate and bright and alright with Dave’s quirks. She suffers a broken nose when a big guy comes calling for Dave and she does not open the door.

Dave has been longing to be a P.I. again rather than a security consultant. Jeff will indulge him if he can solve the mystery of the girl in 3 days before they leave for Peru on a contract.

Dave is called out to the Fraser Valley by a hard Ukrainian woman, Romy Romanko, whose older son, Vassily known as Vas, had injured Eden by forcing open the door on the float home. He apologizes as directed by Mom. She whips him as punishment.

Romy says she will pay money if Dave can find Mark Havoc. She says he “owes me”.

It is a hard case as the girl says little and the Ukrainian connection is puzzling.

Ultimately the girl tells Dave her name is Nicola. 

While Dave and Jeff are in Peru the girl escapes from the hospital. She is 14. She had heard a man claiming to be her father was coming to the hospital. Dave is back to doing what he does best, finding missing people.

His search takes him to the resort town of Harrison Springs in the Valley:

“.... if residents didn’t work in hospitality, they worked in the prisons in Kent and Agassiz. Either way, Harrison went through a lot of clean linen.”

There seem to be an unending number of gangs in Vancouver and area. Dave encounters an East Indian gang in the Valley.

Ghost guns are involved. In an earlier book in the series, Sunset and Jericho. Dave pursued a handgun stolen from a Vancouver transit cop. The stakes are far higher in Guns Across the River. The guns have a huge value and equally huge lethal potential.

Dave and Eden discuss their future. Dave’s scarred and lumpy body is discouraging. She does not want to see him get hurt anymore. Could he give up the P.I. business? Each speaks of love. Then Dave’s phone rings.

Nicola was a unique character. For good reason there are not a lot of teenagers in noir crime fiction. Her presence is compelling in Guns Across the River.

Dave’s personal life is more complex in Guns Across the River than any of the previous books. It was fascinating to see him trying to adjust as he doggedly pursues leads.

At times the Wakeland books have the inevitability of a Greek tragedy unfolding. I was shaken by the ending.

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Wiebe, Sam - (2015) - Last of the Independents and The Unhanged Arthur Award; (2016) - Invisible Dead and Sam Wiebe on His Sleuths; (2018) - Cut You Down and Sam Wiebe on Dave Wakeland; (2021) - Hell and Gone and A Vulnerable Tough Guy; (2023) - Sunset and Jericho; (2024) - Ocean Drive; (2026) - The Last Exile