Publishers Weekly
Edgar-finalist Hime's overly complicated sequel to his well-received The Night of the Dance (2003) pits ex-Texas Ranger Jeremiah Spur and black Deputy Sheriff Clyde Thomas against competing drug cartels in racially charged Brenham, Tex. In separate plots that fill more than 70 mini-chapters, Thomas investigates a drug-related double murder while Spur searches for Edwin "Dusty" Nelson, an accountant who may have absconded with $10 million from Benjamin Farkas, a Hungarian refugee and local real estate tycoon haunted by flashbacks of the Soviet invasion of his homeland nearly 50 years earlier. Vengeance, greed and fear drive characters through myriad scene changes from rural Texas to Mexico City to Vienna, and "scared money" becomes a metaphor for those on the lam, pursued for the wealth that cocaine and heroin peddling can bring in the dreary ethnic neighborhoods of the Southwest. After numerous police meetings, the pieces finally begin to fit together as Spur and Thomas join forces to work on what prove to be overlapping cases. This searing tale ends on a hopeful note, but not before lots of blood has been spilled on two continents. Agent, Philip Spitzer. Regional author tour. (Oct. 29) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Former Texas Ranger Jeremiah Spur and sheriff's deputy Clyde Thomas return in this follow-up to Hime's Edgar Award-nominated debut The Night of the Dance. Hime lives in Houston. Regional author tour. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
A corpse-laden reunion for Deputy Clyde Thomas and retired Texas Ranger Jeremiah Spur (The Night of the Dance, 2003). In this corner, the Washington County Sheriff's Department has the bullet-ridden bodies of drug-dealer Lamont Stubbs and his girlfriend; in that corner, shady Dallas billionaire Benjamin Farkas wants to retrieve his missing treasurer Dusty Nelson and $10 million from his treasury. Both cases are strewn with complications. Everybody who knows anything about Lamont's execution seems too deeply implicated in the Brenham drug scene to level with Clyde. Off in Dallas, Farkas insists that Jeremiah, his chosen bounty hunter, operate without speaking directly with him and without the help of any police officials. Officials from the CIA and DEA are soon swarming over both cases, of course, and Jeremiah's liaison, Farkas Chief Financial Officer Leslie Whitten, makes every attempt to swarm over him. But the biggest complication, the inevitable connection between the two cases, is only the trigger for a new round of surprises, betrayals, and homicides. Every step forward seems to land both investigators in even deeper trouble, till one's named in a $25 million lawsuit and the other's confronting his long-estranged father in a hopeless attempt to rescue the other from the clutches of a Mexican drug cartel. "A thing can only be what it is," maintains stalwart Jeremiah-the most deceptive motto imaginable for this oversized, shape-shifting slice of action/mystery/suspense. Agent: Philip Spitzer/Philip G. Spitzer Literary Agency, Inc.
From the Publisher
"Hime sets 'em up and knocks 'em down with élan in this edgy thriller — sophisticated enough to sprawl from the cafes of Vienna to the alleys of Brenham without skipping a beat." —Texas Monthly
"Hime's book has it all — action, plot twists...a sense of place and language that will sing in your ears for days." —New Orleans Times-Picayune
"Hime's dialogue is the best reason to read him - he's got Texas talk of various flavors dancing on the page...[his] terrific writing and great ear for the language keeps you reading about his wonderful characters." —Rocky Mountain News
"A corpse-laden reunion for Deputy Clyde Thomas and retired Texas Ranger Jeremiah Spur...a new round of surprises, betrayals, and homicides." —Kirkus Reviews
"With settings in such widely flung places as small town Texas, upscale sections of Dallas, Mexico City, Budapest, Vienna, and Paris, the book is close to being an armchair traveler's delight." —Crime Spree Magazine
OCT/NOV 07 - AudioFile
Ed Sala captures the various regional and foreign accents in this complicated international mystery. Sala finds unique voices for the large cast of characters involved in numerous coincidences. The plot switches between investigations by former Texas Ranger and current CIA operative Jeremiah Spur and African-American Deputy Sheriff Clyde Thomas, plus the flashbacks of Hungarian refugee Benjamin Farkas. Listeners are taken to Dallas, Mexico, Budapest, Paris, and Vienna as the three story lines converge. Sala's flat narration style revs up when the action gets deadly, and his smooth reading of Hime's terrific dialogue is a treat. S.C.A. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine
