Once a Spy

Once a Spy by Keith Thomson, 326 pages

When  a social worker calls Charlie Clark to tell him that his semi-estranged father, Drummond, a retired appliance salesman, is showing signs of dementia, he heads back home to see him. If Charlie can convince the old man to give him power of attorney for his affairs then Charlie might be able to get the loan sharks of his own back while he sorts out Drummond's affairs. Charlie has a bit of a problem with the ponies.
While Charlie's prepared to help his father out while trying to figure a way out of his own mess, he's not prepared for his father's assault on a man claiming to be an attorney, his dad's hitherto unknown ability with all sorts of weapons, nor is he ready to find out what really happened to his mother, whom he had been told had died years ago.  Since the title kind of gives the main plot point away none of these come as a great surprise to the reader.
It's fast-paced fun, but the book does go over the top, with Charlie's gambling problem quickly fading away and the characters' relationships healing miraculously as they blow stuff up. Overall, it's pretty good, and the newly released Twice a Spy has gotten good reviews.

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