He’s still trying to atone for sins of the past, trying to make amends. It’s that Alcoholic Anonymous thing that keeps him grounded, only he can’t make amends to the people he needs to, because they are dead. He killed them. So he makes do with strangers, and in this case, it’s the boyfriend of a missing hooker – that was last seen at a party where she went in John’s cab. When the police don't take it seriously at first, John decides to step in with all of his skill set.
Unfortunately, the beginning of the book is abit slow moving and tedious to read. As the story unfolds, we get to understand the reason why John decides to get involved with his passenger, a girl called Madison Clarke, whom he sent to a frat party at a wealthy client’s house. While waiting for her outside the house for her return trip to the city, something unusual happens to Madison who comes screaming for help. John tries to get to her but she runs to the next house and then the one after that to ask for help before disappearing into the bushes at the side of the gardens and then vanishing into the fog. And that was the last he saw her.
The book actually consists of two alternating stories - one on John looking for Madison and another on the story of presidential candidate, Governor Joseph Jack Robinson and his friend as well as his chief-of-staff, Arlene Crawford. It appears that Arlene is having difficulties coping with Joseph's womanising ways in the middle of the presidential campaign. Arlene’s advice to his friend is ignored and he feels that Joseph is a walking time bomb waiting to explode.
The best parts in a John Milton novel are always those parts when John starts to turn into a cold machine, meticulously dishing out justice and revenge for those who can’t fight for themselves. He’s like the great equaliser for the helpless.
While the ending is fitting – the start of the novel and the middle need beefing up. As a thriller, one finds that part of the story is deflated and draggy.