From Publishers Weekly The death of innocence lends a bittersweet tone to Simon's third crime novel (after 2005's Body Scissors) to feature Dan Reles， a world-weary， middle-aged Austin， Tex.， homicide detective who sees himself as a "six-foot， New York-born， ex-boxer Jew with a Mafia grunt father" and a loser with women. In April 1995， Reles has been on the force for almost 20 years and wants to be promoted. When he's called to the suspicious "suicide" scene of a former TV child star， 18-year-old Faith Copeland， he knows solving this high-profile crime might get him the recognition he needs. Meanwhile， homicide sergeant Catarina "Cate" Mora searches for Rolando "Rolo" Ortiz， a cute 13-year-old runaway whose mother has been wrongfully imprisoned. Both cops are horrified when Rolo's body turns up in the Texas lieutenant governor's bed， but making the connection between the two tragedies yields even more disturbing， if far-fetched， revelations about an extreme religious sect and political corruption. (Aug.) Copyright © Reed Business Information， a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist The third Dan Reles novel (following Body Scissors， 2005) might be the best yet. As Simon's exploration of Austin， Texas' dark ages reaches the George W. Bush era， his theme is an unholy marriage of religion and politics. Reles， mourning his relationship with true-love Rachel Velez， has been exiled to the family-violence division when a well-placed friend gets him assigned to the case of a murdered former child star， giving him a chance to work his way back onto homicide. But the case leads--via sordid back alleys--to the state's most pious power broker. Meanwhile， a would-be whistle-blower manages to pit Reles， once again， against the entire department. Simon still reads like James Ellroy if Ellroy were still writing about cops--hell， if Ellroy were still writing--except instead of putting us in the shoes of angry insiders， Simon puts us in the shoes of an angry outsider (Reles is a Jew among crackers) who desperately needs allies. Tightly plotted， pithily phrased， and memorably cast， Little Faith sizzles with anger at hypocrisy as usual. Keir GraffCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved See all Editorial Reviews