CLEANSING THE SINS is the story of a known killer at the end of his life making one last effort to protect family, friends, and strangers from the scum of the earth. Kyle Reed (we'll just go with that name for now) has been sought by the FBI for decades. Nine million dollars has been spent over several decades trying to find a man with 211 known kills. Reed, now an old man diagnosed with congestive heart failure, is looking for a Bernie Madoff-type corporate thief to try to get justice for friends who lost everything in a corporate scam. Reed travels the states hot on the trail of the thief and using the News to guide him to others without whom the world would be a better place. Reed uses all the tricks he's learned over the years (including disguises, multiple aliases, and money hidden in various countries) to evade the FBI and police as he travels a path that leads to justice.

In Reed, author Sandy Prindle has created a complex and compelling character. His experience and code of ethics is hard to understand until it all comes together at the end. The action is quick and attention grabbing as Reed continually confronts the evil that pervades society. Mr. Prindle's strength is conveying the action through dialogue, using both conversations and news reports to move things forward. At times, however, the dialogue is a little stilted, sounding more like people write than how they talk. Because of the reliance on dialogue, I found myself wishing that I had a better sense of what Reed was thinking and his motivations. Mr. Prindle uses the exposition to describe events, but there is a lack of reaction to, and interpretation of, events that left me wanting more. Reed, an old and ill killer, is not a typical hero but, nonetheless, I found him intriguing.