Purgatory Chasm / Steve Ulfelder / 292 pages / R. T. Reviewer's Choice Award

Conway Sax is a recovered alcoholic.  He is also an ex-con, having served a stint for manslaughter.  He belongs to a most unusual club, The Barnburners, a group of recovered alcoholics who have meetings after the meetings where they look after each other.  When Tander Phigg asks Conway to help him recover his vintage Mercedes from shop that has had it much too long, Conway agrees to help and is drawn into a net of murder, drug-running, race car driving, secrets, and developing and unraveling relationships.  This is a great, suspenseful read which evokes sympathy, respect and empathy for it characters.