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Brady Coyne #13
The Seventh Enemy
Taking sides on gun control, Brady ends up in the line of fire
Over drinks one night at his Boston waterfront apartment, goodhearted lawyer Brady Coyne finds himself disagreeing with an old friend about a divisive subject: gun control. Wally Kinnick is no gun nut. But, an environmental activist and hunting expert, he believes so strongly in the right to bear arms that he has come to Boston to testify against an assault weapons ban. When he changes his position at the last minute, he finds himself with a bullet in the gut.
Wally is public enemy number one on a recently released list of opponents to the second amendment; Brady is number seven. To keep himself from becoming another trophy on the wall, Brady must find the men who targeted his friend—before the right to bear arms deprives him of his right to live.
Over drinks one night at his Boston waterfront apartment, goodhearted lawyer Brady Coyne finds himself disagreeing with an old friend about a divisive subject: gun control. Wally Kinnick is no gun nut. But, an environmental activist and hunting expert, he believes so strongly in the right to bear arms that he has come to Boston to testify against an assault weapons ban. When he changes his position at the last minute, he finds himself with a bullet in the gut.
Wally is public enemy number one on a recently released list of opponents to the second amendment; Brady is number seven. To keep himself from becoming another trophy on the wall, Brady must find the men who targeted his friend—before the right to bear arms deprives him of his right to live.
234 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1995
32 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
William G. Tapply
79 books89 followersWilliam G. Tapply (1940–2009) was an American author best known for writing legal thrillers. A lifelong New Englander, he graduated from Amherst and Harvard before going on to teach social studies at Lexington High School. He published his first novel, Death at Charity’s Point, in 1984. A story of death and betrayal among Boston Brahmins, it introduced crusading lawyer Brady Coyne, a fishing enthusiast whom Tapply would follow through twenty-five more novels, including Follow the Sharks, The Vulgar Boatman, and the posthumously published Outwitting Trolls.
Besides writing regular columns for Field and Stream, Gray’s Sporting Journal, and American Angler, Tapply wrote numerous books on fishing, hunting, and life in the outdoors. He was also the author of The Elements of Mystery Fiction, a writer’s guide. He died in 2009, at his home in Hancock, New Hampshire.
Besides writing regular columns for Field and Stream, Gray’s Sporting Journal, and American Angler, Tapply wrote numerous books on fishing, hunting, and life in the outdoors. He was also the author of The Elements of Mystery Fiction, a writer’s guide. He died in 2009, at his home in Hancock, New Hampshire.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
November 20, 2017
This is something of an odd entry in the Brady Coyne series, which the author, William G. Tapply, uses to explore the issue of gun control. Brady is having a solitary drink in his condo one evening when he gets a call from an old buddy named Wally Kinnick. Wally has come to Boston to testify at a hearing about a proposed state ban on assault weapons, but the guy who was supposed to meet him hasn't shown. Wally wants to know if Brady can pick him up and give him a couch to sleep on for the night. Naturally, Coyne agrees.
Kinnick is the host of a very popular TV show on the outdoors--hunting, fishing, environmental issues, and so forth. As a man well known for supporting the Second Amendment, he's been invited to speak to the committee considering the bill by a group called Second Amendment Forever, or SAFE. Apparently having nothing better to do, like going into his office and doing some work of his own, Brady accompanies Kinnick to the hearing. But there, Kinnick shocks everyone, particularly the member of SAFE who have jammed the hearing room, by testifying in favor of the bill, rather than against it.
Kinnick argues that a semi-automatic assault rifle is not an appropriate gun for a hunter, and following the hearing, Coyne and Kinnick have an unpleasant confrontation in a coffee shop with some of the aggrieved SAFE members. The group publishes a regular newsletter with an "Enemies" list in it and Wally Kinnick soon finds himself at #1 on the list. Apparently for the sin of hanging out with a traitor to the cause. Brady Coyne winds up at number 7 on the list.
Shortly thereafter, somebody shoots Kinnick out in the woods, and the game is on. Of course it could have been a simple hunting accident, but then again, maybe it wasn't, and perhaps everyone on the list is now a target. Brady pursues the matter out of loyalty to his friend and out of an instinct for self-preservation. But if the shooter begins taking the "enemies" out of order, Brady may not have much time in which to figure out what's going on here.
This is an okay read, but it's certainly not one of the better books in the series. Tapply spends a lot of time weighing the merits of the debate over gun control, or at least as that debate existed in 1995, when the book was published. Obviously the debate over guns has moved well beyond that point and as a result, some of the arguments presented in the book seem almost quaint. Completists will want to read this book, but more casual readers who simply want to dip into this series might look for another title.
Kinnick is the host of a very popular TV show on the outdoors--hunting, fishing, environmental issues, and so forth. As a man well known for supporting the Second Amendment, he's been invited to speak to the committee considering the bill by a group called Second Amendment Forever, or SAFE. Apparently having nothing better to do, like going into his office and doing some work of his own, Brady accompanies Kinnick to the hearing. But there, Kinnick shocks everyone, particularly the member of SAFE who have jammed the hearing room, by testifying in favor of the bill, rather than against it.
Kinnick argues that a semi-automatic assault rifle is not an appropriate gun for a hunter, and following the hearing, Coyne and Kinnick have an unpleasant confrontation in a coffee shop with some of the aggrieved SAFE members. The group publishes a regular newsletter with an "Enemies" list in it and Wally Kinnick soon finds himself at #1 on the list. Apparently for the sin of hanging out with a traitor to the cause. Brady Coyne winds up at number 7 on the list.
Shortly thereafter, somebody shoots Kinnick out in the woods, and the game is on. Of course it could have been a simple hunting accident, but then again, maybe it wasn't, and perhaps everyone on the list is now a target. Brady pursues the matter out of loyalty to his friend and out of an instinct for self-preservation. But if the shooter begins taking the "enemies" out of order, Brady may not have much time in which to figure out what's going on here.
This is an okay read, but it's certainly not one of the better books in the series. Tapply spends a lot of time weighing the merits of the debate over gun control, or at least as that debate existed in 1995, when the book was published. Obviously the debate over guns has moved well beyond that point and as a result, some of the arguments presented in the book seem almost quaint. Completists will want to read this book, but more casual readers who simply want to dip into this series might look for another title.
January 3, 2025
"I peered up at the rack of guns behind him. “How’s the market for assault guns these days?” I said. “A little slow. I’ve sold maybe three or four this spring.” “If a man wanted to get himself, say, an Uzi…” He shrugged. “No problem. I haven’t got one in stock, but I could order it for you. I get ’em on trade-in now and then, too.” “As easy as that?” He smiled. “So far, that’s all there is to it. You want to buy a gun, if I’ve got what you’re after here, you give me money, show me your FID card, and I give you the gun.” “That’s it?” “Yup. That’s it.” “Any gun?” “Any gun you want. If I ain’t got it in stock, I can order it for you. Whatever you want.” “Even a military weapon?” “You bet. Except for full automatic, of course.” “There’s no waiting period or anything?” “Thank God, not yet. Matter of time,"
This is Tapply’s take on Second Amendment issues. Coyne’s got a friend, Walt Kinnick, who is coming to Boston to testify with respect to some state legislation on gun control. The friend is a well-known outdoorsman with a big following with whom Coyne has been buddies since before college. The friend is being brought in by an NRA-type group called S.A.F.E. (Second Amendment For Ever) They are angry and disappointed when he testifies in favor of some gun control and their leader puts him on their newsletter’s “enemies list.” The friend is listed as the #1 enemy and Coyne makes the Top Ten at #7. Then Kinnick gets shot.
There are other matters swirling around including an investigating reporter, Alex Shaw, with whom Coyne begins a relationship.
"“Listen,” he said. “I publish a newsletter every two weeks. A regular feature is our enemies’ list. There’s always a number-one enemy. Before Walt Kinnick, none of our enemies had ever been shot at. Not one. Ever. And believe me, we’ve had some pretty big enemies.” He leaned forward on his desk and stared hard at Alex. “Look. Our members come from all walks of life. We’ve got policemen, salesmen, mechanics, schoolteachers, housewives. Lawyers and newspaper reporters, too. You name it. Some of them are highly educated. Some are dropouts. Some are smart, and some, probably, aren’t so smart. But they all share our belief in the Second Amendment. And they all know that assassinating our enemies with guns is the worst possible thing for our cause. It’s absolutely unthinkable that any SAFE member would do this.”"
This is a more crusading book than most of the series (that I have read), in others, the emphasis is more on the mystery but this one is full of tension.
3.5
This is Tapply’s take on Second Amendment issues. Coyne’s got a friend, Walt Kinnick, who is coming to Boston to testify with respect to some state legislation on gun control. The friend is a well-known outdoorsman with a big following with whom Coyne has been buddies since before college. The friend is being brought in by an NRA-type group called S.A.F.E. (Second Amendment For Ever) They are angry and disappointed when he testifies in favor of some gun control and their leader puts him on their newsletter’s “enemies list.” The friend is listed as the #1 enemy and Coyne makes the Top Ten at #7. Then Kinnick gets shot.
There are other matters swirling around including an investigating reporter, Alex Shaw, with whom Coyne begins a relationship.
"“Listen,” he said. “I publish a newsletter every two weeks. A regular feature is our enemies’ list. There’s always a number-one enemy. Before Walt Kinnick, none of our enemies had ever been shot at. Not one. Ever. And believe me, we’ve had some pretty big enemies.” He leaned forward on his desk and stared hard at Alex. “Look. Our members come from all walks of life. We’ve got policemen, salesmen, mechanics, schoolteachers, housewives. Lawyers and newspaper reporters, too. You name it. Some of them are highly educated. Some are dropouts. Some are smart, and some, probably, aren’t so smart. But they all share our belief in the Second Amendment. And they all know that assassinating our enemies with guns is the worst possible thing for our cause. It’s absolutely unthinkable that any SAFE member would do this.”"
This is a more crusading book than most of the series (that I have read), in others, the emphasis is more on the mystery but this one is full of tension.
3.5
December 4, 2017
Just like eating potato chips! This book has an unexpected moment when a man in the hospital is described as having his bed cranked up under his knees and head so that he resembles a letter N. I had to shift the bed head quickly, in my imagination, from the left wall to the right wall.
April 28, 2021
Another good mystery story featuring Boston lawyer Brady Coyne, as an attempt on the life of his friend Wally Kinnick is made following his public support of an anti-assault weapon bill in Massachusetts
June 6, 2021
Having been wowed into a five-star verdict for Tapply’s uber-engaging just prior novel, “Snake Eater”, “Seventh Enemy,” this 13th of 28 so far Brady Coyne tale was almost the letdown expected. It wasn’t that the tale per se was that bad, but it was to some extent a not-well-concealed essay about gun control, and the need to once again prohibit citizens from owning AK47-type weapons.
Brady hooks up with a long-time friend, Walt Kinnick, who is host of a popular TV show about guns and hunting. When the man comes to Boston to testify in support of a bill to outlaw owning semi-automatic rifles, he engenders the hate of a spinoff group of the NRA called SAFE, that immediately lists the celebrity as an enemy, along with his tagalong buddy, our protagonist Brady. When Brady visits Kinnick at a remote cabin in the woods, and his friend is almost immediately nearly killed by a rifle shot, Brady of course goes into action to pursue the matter, partially motivated by self-defense. Eventually all is resolved despite several instances of further danger.
Having now read in order half the set, we certainly consider this entry an outlier, with Tapply not so subtly taking advantage of his readership to promote his opinion on this gun issue. While we certainly don’t disagree with his position, well-stated in 1995 and still relevant, it didn’t really fit well with the overall tenor of this series and its likable star lawyer. Fans will still probably enjoy the story to some degree, but we suspect casual readers are better served sampling other of these fine novels.
Brady hooks up with a long-time friend, Walt Kinnick, who is host of a popular TV show about guns and hunting. When the man comes to Boston to testify in support of a bill to outlaw owning semi-automatic rifles, he engenders the hate of a spinoff group of the NRA called SAFE, that immediately lists the celebrity as an enemy, along with his tagalong buddy, our protagonist Brady. When Brady visits Kinnick at a remote cabin in the woods, and his friend is almost immediately nearly killed by a rifle shot, Brady of course goes into action to pursue the matter, partially motivated by self-defense. Eventually all is resolved despite several instances of further danger.
Having now read in order half the set, we certainly consider this entry an outlier, with Tapply not so subtly taking advantage of his readership to promote his opinion on this gun issue. While we certainly don’t disagree with his position, well-stated in 1995 and still relevant, it didn’t really fit well with the overall tenor of this series and its likable star lawyer. Fans will still probably enjoy the story to some degree, but we suspect casual readers are better served sampling other of these fine novels.
November 20, 2020
(3). Always great to take a step back into the personal lawyer/P.I. World of Brady Coyne. Such a comfortable cocoon. Fly fishing, sometimes golf, high class clients, always a moderate femme fatal of some sort, an interesting crime to solve. If you want discretion, Brady is your guy. He gets into situations that always have an interesting twist or turn along the way, and usually, a pretty big one at the end. This book is no exception, an easy read where the pages almost turn themselves. I have about six more in this series and I will be sorry when they are gone. Always big fun. Good stuff.
October 17, 2017
As always, good stuff
March 23, 2018
Tapply used his Brady Coyne character here to help sell his personal "anti-assault rifle" agenda. It's not so much a novel as a propaganda piece with which you may or may not agree.
June 4, 2020
What a ending. really ?
May 19, 2024
He mentions coffee a lot.
May 13, 2013
The Seventh Enemy is an interesting novel about the theatrical aspects of politics struggling to escape from a lackluster mystery story. The politics are those of gun control, and Brady Coyne is drawn into the debate when his childhood friend Walter Kinnick, scheduled to testify against a gun-control law pending in the Massachusetts legislature, unexpectedly endorses it instead. He and (by association) Brady land on the “enemies list” of an NRA-like organization, and bullets begin flying in their direction.
Local law-enforcement officers, implausibly, do little to investigate, and Brady is soon on the trail of the shooter. Suspects abound, but most of them have such spectacularly obvious motives that experienced mystery readers will instantly discount them, leaving the “least likely suspect” more obvious than Tapply probably intended. Brady’s investigation of the mystery thus feels a bit perfunctory, and the crowning revelation – which doesn’t solve it, so much as render it moot – equally so. The latest installment in Brady’s busy romantic life also has a by-the-numbers quality, though he’s more fun to read about at the beginning of a relationship (as here) than at the end.
What lifts The Seventh Enemy above all that is Tapply’s sharp, cynical portrait of the gun-control debate as an elaborate political dance in which legislators, lobbyists, and reporters all know – and, to their mutual benefit, facilitate – one another’s moves. The great gulf, he suggests, is not that dividing those who support gun control from those who oppose it, but that dividing the “true believers” on both sides from the pros who choreograph the dance and use it to further their own careers in the public eye. Tapply, interestingly, spares neither Walt Kinnick nor Brady from that critique, giving his hero pause to think about his handling of the case and the reader a novel more complex than it might first appear.
Local law-enforcement officers, implausibly, do little to investigate, and Brady is soon on the trail of the shooter. Suspects abound, but most of them have such spectacularly obvious motives that experienced mystery readers will instantly discount them, leaving the “least likely suspect” more obvious than Tapply probably intended. Brady’s investigation of the mystery thus feels a bit perfunctory, and the crowning revelation – which doesn’t solve it, so much as render it moot – equally so. The latest installment in Brady’s busy romantic life also has a by-the-numbers quality, though he’s more fun to read about at the beginning of a relationship (as here) than at the end.
What lifts The Seventh Enemy above all that is Tapply’s sharp, cynical portrait of the gun-control debate as an elaborate political dance in which legislators, lobbyists, and reporters all know – and, to their mutual benefit, facilitate – one another’s moves. The great gulf, he suggests, is not that dividing those who support gun control from those who oppose it, but that dividing the “true believers” on both sides from the pros who choreograph the dance and use it to further their own careers in the public eye. Tapply, interestingly, spares neither Walt Kinnick nor Brady from that critique, giving his hero pause to think about his handling of the case and the reader a novel more complex than it might first appear.
February 6, 2016
#13 in the Boston attorney Brady Coyne series.
Boston attorney Brady Coyne series - Boston lawyer Brady Coyne offers to put up his old friend, TV-show environmentalist and sportsman Walt Kinnick, for the night, little suspecting he'll be drawn into a fast-paced mystery surrounding an emotional disagreement over gun control. Kinnick, an avid hunter, has come to town at the behest of Gene McNiff, leader of Second Amendment For Ever (SAFE), to testify against assault-weapon control. McNiff declares Kinnick ``dead meat'' when he unexpectedly supports the bill. Kinnick moves on to his remote Massachusetts cabin, where he receives a telephone death threat, after which he's shot and seriously injured during a stroll in the woods, an event that the local sheriff dismisses as a hunting accident. Coyne learns that his friend has earned first place on SAFE's published enemy list-on which he himself is named seventh.
Boston attorney Brady Coyne series - Boston lawyer Brady Coyne offers to put up his old friend, TV-show environmentalist and sportsman Walt Kinnick, for the night, little suspecting he'll be drawn into a fast-paced mystery surrounding an emotional disagreement over gun control. Kinnick, an avid hunter, has come to town at the behest of Gene McNiff, leader of Second Amendment For Ever (SAFE), to testify against assault-weapon control. McNiff declares Kinnick ``dead meat'' when he unexpectedly supports the bill. Kinnick moves on to his remote Massachusetts cabin, where he receives a telephone death threat, after which he's shot and seriously injured during a stroll in the woods, an event that the local sheriff dismisses as a hunting accident. Coyne learns that his friend has earned first place on SAFE's published enemy list-on which he himself is named seventh.
August 16, 2009
Very Good; Continuing character: Brady Coyne; the lawyer helps an old friend and TV outdoorsman host after the friend testifies for a gun control bill against the wishes of various factions
March 14, 2011
Tapply's usual good work.
October 3, 2011
I've read a lot of Tapply's Brady Coyne series and never tire of them. This one was especially good as it had a dark, humorist twist that involved the main character in the mystery.....
March 11, 2015
Interesting mystery but not as much actin as in other ones in this series. I have read more exciting ones before this one.
June 9, 2015
A Brady Coyne mystery.
A waste of time, and exactly what I wanted for a sniffling Saturday. Short, simple, stupid, just the way I felt!
But not that good.
A waste of time, and exactly what I wanted for a sniffling Saturday. Short, simple, stupid, just the way I felt!
But not that good.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews