From Publishers Weekly
In Arthur Ellis-finalist Frank Smith's (Fatal Flaw) gripping Acts of Vengeance, DCI Neil Paget barely survives an assailant who tries to cut his throat. DS John Tregalles and the rest of the Broadminster precinct crew have their work cut out for them searching Paget's past, both professional and personal, for clues to the attacker's motive.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
In the opening scene of the latest Detective Paget novel, the unthinkable happens--Detective Chief Inspector Paget's throat is slashed in the parking lot immediately behind the police station. Two investigations ensue. The first, as Paget hangs on to life in the hospital, is conducted by members of the Broadminster, Shropshire, police force, centering on the mentally unstable ex-husband of a woman constable. The second investigation starts with Paget's own tortured flashbacks to the accidental death of his wife and his growing sense that her death in an explosion and his own attack are somehow related. More throat slashings follow and the now-recovered Paget seeks the thread that holds all the murders together. What makes this far more than a traditional stalker mystery is the way Smith weaves Paget's tortured memories and his fear of being thought insane into the investigation, making the inspector's battle with his own psyche a source of suspense. Cunningly plotted. Connie Fletcher
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Book Description
On a stormy night in Broadminster, DCI Neil Paget walks a young constable to her car in a dark parking lot. As she roars past on her way home, Paget is attacked from behind, his throat viciously slit from ear to ear. But for the grace of God he survives and is rushed to the hospital where he remains in critical condition, unconscious and perhaps ready to draw his last breath at any minute.

Meanwhile, the precinct is in an uproar. Who could have attacked their trusty DCI, so brutally and brazenly, directly behind the stationhouse? As DS Tregalles and the rest of Paget's colleagues delicately comb through both his professional and personal lives, startling facts begin to materialize, and the truth they are searching for becomes seemingly more distant with every passing moment.

Frank Smith ratchets up the stakes and the suspense in Acts of Vengeance, his fourth novel in the award-nominated Neil Paget police procedural series fans have come to love.

Genre: Mystery