THE UNSEEN by Lee Driver is the third entry in the Chase Dagger mystery series. Dagger is a man of mystery, his past has not yet been revealed, but Dagger's loyalty to his small circle of friends is completely unquestionable. The friend in trouble in THE UNSEEN is Sergeant Padre Martinez. Padre's reputation as a cop is on the line as a criminal he helped put in prison has been released and is back to his old tricks. The criminal is Mitch Arnosky who is a total sleaze. Ms. Driver's very vivid description of Mitch made my skin crawl, especially when she wrote about his eyes. Sara Morningsky, Dagger's shape-shifting, Native American partner is very much a part of this story as well. Sara had been gone for two months following her harrowing experience in FULL MOON-BLOODY MOON, and Dagger is none too happy with Sara for disappearing without letting him know where she was going or how long she'd be gone. Sara has grown up a great deal during those two months absence, and plays a prominent role in Mitch's eventual arrest.

Mitch has stumbled on to government research into an outfit that enables a person to be unseen to the naked eye. Mitch is willing to kill to get the outfit and does. He also uses the outfit to steal and to plant phony evidence incriminating Padre, making him look like a dirty cop. Dagger's other friends, Skizzy, a somewhat paranoid genius, and Simon, the mail carrier who also helps Dagger with investigating Mitch's deceased partner are back as well. We also get to see Sheila Monroe, Dagger's former fiancée, who is still angry and out for revenge against Dagger and Sara, who she blames for causing Dagger to leave her at the altar. Einstein the macaw is back and he plays a very prominent role in Sara and Dagger figuring out just how and with what Mitch is getting away with his crimes. I love Einstein, and especially his words when Sheila comes to Dagger and Sara's home. I laughed out loud, waking my husband who just looked at me as if to say "oh, you're just reading a good book again".

I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed this book. I literally devoured it in a day and a half and was loath to put the book down to sleep even when I was nodding off and kept reading the same page over and over! Ms. Driver's research into her topics and her characters is obvious, her attention to detail is exquisite. During much of the action, I felt as if I knew these characters, that they are friends and I had to know what was going to happen to them and how it would all play out. I hope Ms. Driver writes quickly, as I can't wait for another book in this series.