"I have a tumor in my head. I call it Bob . . ." With two ex-wives, a fifteen-year-old daughter who hates him, and a soon-to-be-fatal brain tumor nicknamed Bob, retired police detective Mike Garrity doesn't have a lot to live for. He's resigned himself to spending his last months alone, until an old colleague offers him a chance to go out with a bang, leave his daughter with an inheritance, and maybe even earn her respect. Twenty-two year old TJ Sommerset is a member of the hit boy band Boyz Klub, a millionaire, and missing-in-action, putting at risk a world tour and millions in endorsements. He's also the idol of Mike's teenage daughter, Jennifer. So when Boyz Klub's frantic manager hires Mike to locate his golden goose, Mike's all too happy to make one last attempt to impress Jennifer. However, it isn't long before Mike discovers that there are other people looking for TJ as well. And once a headless corpse shows up, it's clear that they're not just after him for his autograph. Fast-paced and acidly funny, Head Games sends up the best (and the worst) of Orlando's entertainment industry, marking Thomas B. Cavanagh as a name to watch in the world of Florida crime fiction. Adult/High School—Mike Garrity has two ex-wives, a teenage daughter who isn't fond of him, and a brain tumor named Bob that is probably going to kill him. So when a colleague asks him to use his cop skills to find a missing member of the band Boyz Klub, he figures he has nothing to lose. At 42, he'd retired from the police force and was preparing to let the tumor take him down. But what seemed like a simple missing-person case soon involves illegal gambling, the mob, severed body parts, and forbidden love, as well as Mike's daughter, who is a big fan of Boyz Klub. Cavanagh's writing owes a debt to Carl Hiaasen, except that he moves the setting to Orlando, home of Disney and boy-band central, but with an underbelly that tourists generally don't see. Though it purports to be hard-boiled, this story is actually rather wholesome, with little real violence or sex, but rather suspense that is clean and shiny, like an Orlando theme park. The young characters, from Jennifer to the missing T.J., are well drawn, and both give teens someone to root for. Though the tribulations of a middle-aged man won't be as compelling to them as to adults, the central mystery will be, and its twists and turns will propel readers to its last page.— Jamie Watson, Harford County Public Library, MD Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. When the lead member of a popular boy band goes missing, former Orlando, Florida, police detective Mike Garrity comes out of retirement to pursue the case. Alas, Garrity isn't the man he used to be--he is beleaguered by two divorces, a rocky relationship with his teenage daughter, and the recent diagnosis of a brain tumor, which he nonchalantly calls "Bob." Garrity copes with thoughts of his approaching demise as the band's manager pressures him to track down the dreamy singer before the group's upcoming world tour. A hefty reward offers plenty of incentive; it will help Garrity pave a promising future for his daughter. (Taking the case has already landed him in better stead; she is one of the band's biggest fans.) Carl Hiaasen and Donald Westlake readers will enjoy Cavanagh's debut, which crackles with cranky commentary on one man's cranial state of affairs: "Bob is kind of a prima donna," says Garrity of his tumor. "Always has to be the center of attention . . . short-circuiting my synapses, forcing himself into my consciousness even when I try to keep him out." Allison Block Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved "An Orlando, Florida, thriller that reads like a high-speed theme park ride. Cavanagh's writing is tough and lean, with dark humor so sharp it'll make you bleed." ---Brian Freeman, author of Stripped and Immoral "Carl Hiaasen fans will be thrilled to know there's a new kid on the block. If you liked Basket Case, you'll flip over Thomas B. Cavanagh's sardonically and outrageously funny lead character, who will rope you in on page one and take you on a wild ride. Truly, the best book I've read in a long time. Cavanagh has a new and devoted fan in me." ---Charlotte Hughes, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Full Tilt and Full House " Head Games is a sharp and convincing new take on the private-eye novel, underscored with the sobering tang of mortality." ---Wallace Stroby, author of The Heartbreak Lounge and The Barbed-Wire Kiss "Thomas B. Cavanagh is a great new talent in crime fiction. His voice is tough and tender, sad and funny, a writer equally adept at creating fast-paced action, believable dialogue, and a story with more twists than the latest dance routine of your favorite boy band. The make-believe city of Orlando deserves a crime writer with guts, imagination, and a sense of humor; Cavanagh has all three