CUT YOU DOWN: SAM WIEBE

Lies, traps, betrayals and creative scams are part of this novel by author Sam Wiebe. Dave Wakeland gets roped into finding Tabitha Sorenson who seems to be somewhere off planet but where? Called by a college professor named Dana Essex from the moment you meet her you wonder what her game might be and why contact Dave to find this missing girl? Tabitha was hired to be the events coordinator of the college but her greed and want for more made her do more than keep track of the funds. She is bright and definitely someone Essex found alluring and a match for her even though she played both sides of the fence. Money is at the heart of this novel and the murders as we learn more about Tabitha’s unique form of bookkeeping and money laundering. Unstable and gone where might she be when millions of dollars in college funds are at stake? The setting is Vancouver and the police force in this town is no different than many others and unfortunately some at the top are more than dangerous and corrupt. Dave’s job was find Tabitha but within this search he comes in contact with not only dangerous cops but business owners that are linked to one cop and loan sharks and others that fall prey to these people when huge debts are owed. The characters that you will meet are deadly, dangerous and as Essex warns Dave at one point in this novel no one to cross especially her. Delving into the books of the school and learning more he tries to enlist the help of ex-girlfriend Sonia who is a cop on the force. Learning that Tabitha did indeed steal the money and was hiding it from Essex drives Essex into more than a frenzy and now she is bent on revenge. When Sonia asks him to follow Charlie Chambers he learns just what corrupt means and comes in contact with restaurant owner at face value Anthony Qiu. But, Dave and his partner Jeff Chen stake out this man’s house and when things get out of control Jeff gets married, goes on his honeymoon but not before rescuing Dave from some dangerous thugs.

With Essex on his tale and wanting more than just a client/PI relationship he finds Tabitha, learns where she might be hiding out and then things take on an ugly turn when she is found dead. Tabitha’s family seems to be distant from her and her death does not bring too many tears but her friends, the police and Dave want the killer found but what about Essex? Does she want the killer found and why does she disappear only to keep calling Dave and threatening him when the truth behind her disappearance comes to light he has to watch his back? While following Chambers he learns more about his underhanded dealings and is not surprised when Chambers attacks him and wants to leave him for dead. Dalton and Cody Hayes are Chamber’s henchmen and messengers but they might get away with strong arming him once but the next time will make readers stand up and applaud for Dave as Cody learns a lesson he will never forget when kidnapping Dave, taking him to Dalton and you have to read and witness the rest. When Dana goes missing her haunting calls are what keeps Dave in the loop but what are her reasons for the threats and who else is involved? Essex is hiding secrets, there are dangerous people that are working with her and she will stop at nothing to get the money that Tabitha stole from her and does not care who she takes down along with her.

Going to Tabitha’s apartment he finds Gaspar Boucher who explained that she owed rent and he auctioned off her things to get back part of the money but she still owes more. Chris Chambers and Sonia Drego went out on the town and he was following them.

A man named Miles is in the crosshairs and Chambers has a way of making his presence more than known and dealing with Miles the threats came and the end result would not be pretty. Told in the first person by Dave himself we hear his motives, moods, motivations and his determination to bring down a killer that he knows is deadly but will he be able to in the long run outrun the rest?
With his half-sister, Kay working with him he begins to withdraw from his company so he can focus on what needs to be done as the killer threatens his family, Sonia and friends. Dave learns that Tabitha took a flight along with Sabar S. Gill, sitting next to each other flying to San Jose. Dealing with Chambers or Qiu ended but with nothing in the works Dave went back to dealing with Tabitha and what might have happened and who killed her. Detective Triplett away from her partner was easier to speak with and revealing that Miles Irigary was involved. Anthony Qiu employed two thugs and both working for a police officer. How and will justice be served and when saying mentioning the name of Chambers to Triplett her reaction was evident but it back to Tabitha. Learning that his Chris’s crew from Sonia killed Miles nothing seemed to be able to be done he was like Teflon John. Then they sent Dave his own message and talking to someone named Larry he learned even more.

Dave believes in violence at times and when dealing with someone named Tranh he took the kind of action that was taken against him. The Hayes brothers, Qiu, Essex, his client with a disabled child, Tabitha, Miles, Sonia and Chambers all providing different looks at the same thing abuse, corruption, violence, disloyalties, hate, revenge and retribution. But, when things get heavy for Chambers and his lies and brutalities come to light what he does surprises readers realizing he might not come out unscathed. Hiring Blatchford to find Tabitha and dealing with Robert Gordon Henshaw who killed two people, shot them, did not deter Dave at all. Blatchford found information on Tabitha leading to a man named Lee Henry Crowhurst and letters written but did he kill her. When trying to recall his hired PI little does he know he was the next victim of violence and in the hospital. Choices are made, directions traveled and the end result is that no one wins. Someone stabbed Tabitha and someone ordered the hit but why? Essex was found and promised to meet up with Dave but the end result is not what anyone expected. Dana warns him to stay away, leave and be safe but will he listen? Hoping to enter the apartment of Lee Crowhurst his sister Arlene has the authority but what will they learn? Then another victim falls prey to the same people after Dave and things get more violent. The ending is tense as author Sam Wiebe brings all of the players into one room but the situation is far from friendly and when Dave seems to be the next victim and Sonia is not away of the danger the end result places them in the crosshairs of a dangerous killer. Who lives and who dies and is the next one for the killer to say I CUT YOU DOWN! Dave is a great character and the banter and discord between him and Sonia creates some great scenes with both at times getting the edge of over the other. Let’s watch for his next novel and see what Sam Wiebe has in store for our P.I. and Sonia.

Fran Lewis: Just reviews/MJ magazine