This weekend I was at the local Stop & Shop supermarket and I picked up a copy of David Morrell’s “The Shimmer,” a techno-thriller published in 2009. It’s built around a complex plot involving mysterious lights in the prairie near the fictional west Texas town of Rostov; a secret government satellite-dish installation near same; an abandoned military airfield also in the neighborhood; and strange music that gets into your head and heightens your senses but may also drive you batty. The hero is a cop named Dan Page whose long-suffering wife Tori gets it into her head to run away from home and sit and stare at the mysterious lights.

All of this adds up to a fast-paced journey for those who revel in reading about secret government activities that get out of control and become dangerous to honest God-fearing folk. Nowadays, this market includes a huge number of Tea Party types and others who see the government as inherently monolithic and opaque, and likely to screw up risky projects, especially those involving electromagnetic radiation. The book’s biggest asset is Morrell’s crisp writing, which takes few detours and provides both broad strokes and fine details. He’s a master at his craft; the creator of the Rambo series, he’s been publishing novels since 1972. Clearly, practice makes perfect.