John W. Howell’s new novel, My GRL, is a pleasantly different kind of thriller.  The hero, John D. Cannon, lacks a few of the standard hero qualities that you might expect in a thriller novel.  He doesn’t seek out danger.  In fact, at one point, danger has  to literally run him off the road and onto the beach to get his attention.  Cannon is somewhat naive as well, especially when it comes to women.  He takes them at face value, trusting them in spite of all the red flags they wave in his face.  [Ahem, Mr. Cannon, when a woman tells you she had great fun infiltrating another company while pretending to be someone else, in effect, SPYING, you might want to put your trust in her on hold for a bit.]  Cannon is also one of the most polite, respectful, and well-adjusted heroes I’ve ever met, and he’s a lawyer to boot!  He also has a wry sense of humor which carried through the novel quite well.  (Some of my favorite lines:  “I get dressed and wait for the wheelchair which is the requisite mode of transport out of a hospital. (If you are still alive that is, if not, then it is a gurney.”; “I think he believes I have a good memory and no brains.”) (more…)