The robbery of the Seattle Wells Fargo went bad. Two security guards were killed. One of the robbers took off her hood while security cameras looked on. Most puzzling, the robbers ignored the big bucks in the big vault and went after lock boxes. For tangled reasons, a routine pursuit isn't advised. Undercover is called for, and the cops have the very best, Danny Barrett, the FBI agent Corbett introduced in The Sweet Goodbye (2022). There's a psychopathic killer in the mix, plus a crime family, plus a bent cop or two. Getting everybody in place requires more exposition than one might want, but even here Corbett's prose is vivid, almost tactile; in a rushed speech, the syllables are "smashing into each other like boxcars in a train wreck." Sample the curious reasoning that runs throughout the book, that gunning down scum doesn't bother a killer as much as "if I let them do what they wanted and didn't kill them." Is that a cop or a psycho killer talking? They do sound alike sometimes.

Corbett shines with the gritty second installment in his Danny Barrett series (after The Sweet Goodbye), which chronicles the freelance fixer's attempt to infiltrate a legendary Pacific Northwest crime family. The Danbys have inhabited the Puget Sound's Cape Rage island for generations, committing violent crimes up and down the West Coast since Prohibition. Their recent activities, including multiple homicides and dozens of armed robberies, have spurred the FBI to assemble a task force dedicated to bringing them down. After the Danbys break into a Wells Fargo branch in San Francisco, killing two security guards in the process, the Bureau's Seattle office enlists Barrett to gain the trust of key family members and gather evidence against them. Seems straightforward enough, but Barrett's not the only one targeting the Danbys. After the Wells Fargo heist, one of the robbers--Henry Carter, husband of Tess Danby--was shot and left for dead by his co-conspirators. He survived, however, and his plan for revenge could put him on a bloody collision course with Barrett. Corbett enhances his nail-biting plot with vivid depictions of the moody rural Washington State setting and convincing characterizations of cops and criminals alike. John Galligan fans will be delighted. Agent: Gail Hochman, Brandt & Hochman. (Mar.)

In Corbett's second "Danny Barrett" thriller (following The Sweet Goodbye), the action never stops. It is violent, but not mindless, and Corbett paints compelling characters through the fast pace. He's a former Detroit beat cop whose testimony against his cop brother made him a pariah in his own district. He took on a new name and now he works for other agencies helping close major cases and the cases no one else wants. This time it's a bank robbery committed by the Danbys, a vicious family who live on an unreachable island off the coast of Washington called Cape Rey. The FBI sends Danny undercover to work his way into the Danby crew. There's a complication: Finn Danby shot his brother-in-law Henry Carter, scion of a crime family of bank robbers, in the back after a robbery, leaving him for dead. But Carter didn't die. He's on a blood-drenched cross-country trek to return to Danby Island to wreak vengeance on the Danbys, including his wife. VERDICT Satisfying for crime aficionados of all stripes, especially those with a liking for nonstop action.--David Keymer