IF YOU TAKE heart medicine, you'll want to consult with a doctor before reading this pulse-quickening thriller from David Levien. After securing fans with City of the Sun and Where the Dead Lay, Levien breaks out the brass knuckles with "Thirteen Million Dollar Pop," a book that packs more punch than a dozen Muhammad Alis.

In this, the third book in Levien's series, former Indianapolis detective Frank Behr is thrust into a murderous game of pin the tail on the politician. After signing on for an executive-protection gig to save money for his growing family, the unorthodox bruiser finds himself on the receiving end of gunfire, all while protecting one Bernard "Bernie Kool" Kolodnik, a political big-wig. While getting shot at is par for the course, Behr can't shake the fact that there's more to the attack than what's surmised. Why are the cops brushing it under the rug? Why is Bernie Kool attracting bullets like flies to raw meat? Behr fights his way toward answers, knowing full well that one wrong guess means its toe-tag time.

With his machete-sharp wit, Levien paints a vivid picture of what happens when power lands in the hands of the wrong people. Not surprisingly, his characters are alive with energy, and his rapid-fire plot is hunkered in realism. All in all, Pop is a thunderous book that shines a light on dirty politics and the repercussions of getting caught in the crossfire. Bullet for bullet, this is one explosive read.

Nicholas Addison Thomas is a freelance writer in Fredericksburg.