OLD MAN WITH A GUN: MAX ALLAN COLLINS' QUARRY'S RETURN

Quarry is met in his home by a mysterious man after a Christmas visit with Susan. He pretends to be a reporter who has tied her true crime books tied to the fiction he has written based on his own true crimes. He needs to get more information from the guy, but before he gets a chance, the man comes at him with a knife and gun. A shot from behind Quarry plants the guy dead into Quarry's Christmas tree.

The shooter turns out to be Lu Peterson, the sexy assassin from earlier books and believed dead. On a previous job, she learned Quarry was in trouble and it was tied to Sussan. When they learn Susan didn't make it to her home, Lu offers to back him up out of friendship and curiosity. Their investigation takes them to Port City Iowa, where Quarry met Susan's mother on a job and Susan was investigating a string of murders for her book. The search for answers and Susan pits them against rival contract killers, shady lawmen, and a madman with a cheerleader fetish.

Collins plays up his anti-hero's age more than he did in Quarry's Blood. While he has kept himself in shape, he doesn't have the strength and agility in his days as a professional. He has to be more deliberate. The book builds tension with Quarry having to lean into his methodical nature he needs to rely on more.

Lu is the one who really makes this book work, though. Collins has a blast pairing Quarry with a partner younger, colder, and possibly more capable than him. She also brings an air of suspense, since we can never truly trust her agenda. A sex scene between the two creates an entertaining swap of gender traits.

Quarry's Return proves the hard boiled hero still has a few more bullets left in his guin. HIs relationship with Sarah is bringinging out another side to him and another way to view his life. If Lu comes back, it will be a life with a lot of death in it.