Tempting Evil (Ballantine, 420 pages, $6.99) is an old-fashioned potboiler in all the right ways, chock full of tried and true hallmarks of the genre. Barely 50 pages into the book, seasoned hand Allison Brennan has already given us a pair of murderous escaped convicts, the innocent woman they’re after, and a troop of Boy Scouts stranded in the wilderness — all against the backdrop of an approaching killer blizzard.

Romance writer Joanne Sutton has moved back to her family-owned back country Montana lodge to find the will to live and write again in the wake of a tragedy that has stripped both from her. Little does she know that her books have caught the fancy of a convicted killer whose escape plans are rooted in a desire to meet his idol face-to-face, no matter how many fallen bodies it’ll take to get him there.

Brennan’s latest deftly told and swiftly paced tale keeps the pages flowing through the various cross cuts while developing true pathos for its characters. Rich, atmospheric and wholly satisfying.

Iris Johansen stirs a similar, though a bit more post-modern pot in Quicksand (St. Martin’s, 340 pages, $26.95). Forensic sculptor Eve Duncan is uniquely gifted in reconstructing the faces of unidentified murder victims to help find their killers, as well as help them rest in the next life.

The latter is especially important to Eve, given that she lost her own daughter Bonnie to one of those predators who comes back into her life with a vengeance. Henry Kistle lures both Eve and love interest police lieutenant Joe Quinn to a desperate confrontation in a remote swamp, leaving a long trail of bodies behind.

To this relatively pat set-up, Johansen adds the wrinkle of having Eve getting assistance from the ghost of her late daughter. In lesser hands, that would be no more than a gimmicky device. But with Johansen’s seasoned touch it helps fashion an altogether riveting tale that traps us in a grasp secure as that of quicksand itself. After an endless string of bestsellers, she continues raising her own bar higher and never ceases to satisfy.

The press materials on his latest book suggest author Chris Knopf much deserves a breakout bestseller. I don’t know if Head Wounds (Permanent Press, 310 pages, $28) will do that, but the latest mystery to feature loner everyman Sam Acquillo certainly has plenty of the requisite hallmarks.

Drinking too much and living in little more than a shack in Southampton, N.Y., Sam’s got enough problems already before he becomes the prime suspect in the murder of local unsavory builder Robbie Milhouser. Sam’s only chance to save his name, of course, is to track down the real murderer, with or without the help of his current girlfriend Amanda Battiston, who’s hiding her own secrets.

Four-star press quotes aside, Acquillo is no Travis Magee and Knopf is no John D. McDonald: each character and author is his own man with his own unique voice. And Head Wounds is a truly well-written and well-crafted tale that reminds me a bit of where Lee Child was eight or so books ago before the world discovered his brilliance.

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