Red Lightning (A Larry Cole Mystery)

When scientist Jonathan Gault is fired from his high-paying job at a military research facility, he is desperate to find new sponsors for his bizarre experiments. Gault's new racket is a deadly home security business for the ultra-rich: booby-trapping their property with high-voltage electricity and snake venom injection devices. Kate Ford, investigative journalist, is tipped off about Gault's shady business. She sets out to uncover his scheme, but soon finds that she may be in over her head, as Gault won't hesitate to use any means necessary to rid himself of the snoop on his trail. Larry Cole, Chief of Detectives for the CPD, is led to Gault by his investigation into the recent strange deaths of criminals in booby traps. Cole and Ford team up to try and stop the renegade scientist, who has now built a solar-powered vehicle equipped with a flamethrower and a laser beam, which he has nicknamed Red Lightning. Gault's ingenuity, coupled with his fondness for high-powered explosives and deadly snakes, may well make him the most powerful foe Cole has ever faced.