Synopses & Reviews
New York Times bestseller T. Jefferson Parker, crime fiction's most critically acclaimed and award-winning writer continues "the most ground-breaking crime series in decades." (St. Louis Post- Dispatch) with another gripping tale of the Mexican border.
Erin McKenna, a beautiful songwriter married to a crooked Los Angeles County sheriff 's deputy, is kidnapped by Benjamin Armenta, the ruthless leader of the powerful Gulf Cartel. But his demands turn out to be as unusual as the crumbling castle in which Erin is kept. She is ordered to compose a unique narcocoriddo, a modern-day folk ballad of the kind that have recorded the exploits of the drug dealers, gunrunners, and outlaws who have highlighted Mexican history for generations. Under threat of death, Armenta orders Erin to tell his life story-in music-and write "the greatest narcocorrido of all time." Allowed to wander the dark hallways of the castle retreat with only a guitar and a mysterious old priest to keep her company, Erin must produce the most beautiful song that these men have ever heard.
As the mesmerizing music and lyrics of Erin's song cascade from the jungle hideout, they serve as a siren song to the two men who love Erin: her outlaw husband, Bradley Smith, and the lawman Charlie Hood- two men who together have the power to rescue her. Here, amid the ancient beauty and haunted landscape of the Yucatecan lowlands, the long-simmering rivalry between these men will be brought closer to its explosive finale.
T. Jefferson Parker, who is widely hailed as his generation's most accomplished and talented crime novelist, delivers a crime thriller that dramatically redefines the landscape of the cartel wars as an epic clash of good and evil.
Review
**A Three-Time Winner of the Edgar Award**
"Parker glides from novel to novel, usually taking us in unexpected new directions. If you're interested in the best of today's crime fiction, he's someone you should read."
-The Washington Post
"Parker displays his knack for creating captivating characters and his unabashed passion for California lore. Only two other authors-Dick Francis and James Lee Burke-have won the Edgar for best novel twice. Don't be surprised if Parker is on his way to a third."
-Booklist (starred review)
"Parker could well be the best crime writer working out of Southern California."
-Chicago Tribune
"As always with a Parker novel, the characters are superbly drawn, the California landscape is evocatively portrayed and the exceptional prose swings from lyrical to hard-boiled."
-Associated Press
"No writer can match Parker when it comes to character and mood, and in The Renegades he has fashioned a masterpiece of postmodern noir. Here is a brilliant craftsman and storyteller at the height of his powers."
-Providence Journal
"If there's a better mystery writer around...well, there isn't."
-San Diego Union Tribune
"Parker's characters are compelling and well drawn, and his plot propels them through busy sequences filled with surprising turns."
-Wall Street Journal
"LA Outlaws introduces one of the most enticing heroines in recent American crime fiction. . . . All of Parker's skills are on display here: vivid writing, strong characters, clockwork plotting, agonizing suspense and, finally, an ending that manages to be just right. LA Outlaws is popular entertainment at its most delicious."
-Washington Post Book World
"The devil is very much present in this troubled landscape, and he's the ultimate shape-shifter, as Parker has so adeptly proven with his Charlie Hood titles. Parker's dark and gritty series takes readers beyond the drug war headlines, personalizing the toll it's taken on our souls. Series fans will devour this sequel to Iron River."
-Library Journal
"In the fourth of his ambitious Border series (Iron River, 2010, etc.), Parker pits veteran agent Charlie Hood against errant good guys, vicious bad guys and maybe something in the paranormal guise. An excess of subplots softens the middle a bit, but this is a rich book, packed with action, violence, love, lust, flashes of wit, moments of poignancy and the occasional sharp geopolitical insight. Despite 17 novels ranging from first-rate to extraordinary, Parker has somehow managed not to become a household name, which means enough of you aren't trying."
-Kirkus
Review
"A masterpiece of postmodern noir. Here is a brilliant craftsman and storyteller at the height of his powers."
-Providence Journal on The Renegades
"Parker's concise prose, at once low-key and lyrical, plays almost like cowboy poetry."
-Los Angeles Times
"Parker glides from novel to novel, usually taking us in unexpected new directions. If you're interested in the best of today's crime fiction, he's someone you should read."
-The Washington Post
Review
“Parker demonstrates remarkable command of his material, from the gruesome realities of the Mexican drug trade to a surprising;ly human portray of the monstrous Armenta….a crime thriller notable for its fine, insightful prose.” —
Publishers Weekly, starred review, on
The JaguarReview
“Parker convincingly portrays Mexico, torn apart by the wars between the cartels and the government, and between the cartels themselves.” —
Suspense Magazine on
The JaguarReview
“An epic tale…The Charlie Hood novels are nothing less than addictive.” —
Tucson Citizen on
The JaguarReview
“A weighty and entertaining exploration of vice and virtue, staged in a complex plot that leaves the reader eager to find out what will develop for Charlie Hood and his cohorts in the next border series novel.” —
North County Times on
The JaguarReview
“Parker could well be the best crime writer working out of Southern California.”—
Chicago Tribune on T. Jefferson Parker
Review
“Parker ranks as one of the top contemporary suspense writers.” —
Publishers Weekly on T. Jefferson Parker
Review
“If there’s a better mystery writer around…well, there isn’t.” "Superbly wrought...Intensely readable." —
San Diego Union Tribune on T. Jefferson Parker
Review
Praise for T. Jefferson Parker:
"Parker could well be the best crime writer working out of Southern Caifornia."
-Chicago Tribune
"Parker ranks as one of the top contemporary suspense writers."
-Publishers Weekly
"Parker convincingly portrays Mexico, torn apart by the wars between the cartels and the government, and between the cartels themselves."
-Suspense Magazine on The Jaguar
"Three-time Edgar winner Parker has created a memorable character in Charlie Hood, who remains a beacon of restrained hope in a world of despair and dark deeds."
-Tucson Citizen on The Border Lords
"An epic tale...The Charlie Hood novels are nothing less than addictive."
-Tucson Citizen on The Jaguar
"Since the days of Raymond Chandler, California has produced some of our finest crime novelists, and today the likes of Michael Connelly, Don Winslow, and Joseph Wambaugh continue the tradition. With Iron River, Parker demonstrates again the he belongs in their company."
-Associated Press
Review
“T. Jefferson Parker has burgled the crumbling palace of Edgar Allan Poe for inspiration in
The Famous and the Dead.”—
The Wall Street Journal
“Parker, the winner of three Edgar awards for crime fiction, again delivers a tale that is not only well plotted and suspenseful, but subtle, surprising and endearingly perverse.”—The Washington Post
“Parker has always chaffed at the boundaries of the crime fiction genre, creating wildly inventive characters and surprising storylines. His risk-taking alone makes all of his work, including the Charlie Hood series, well worth reading.”—The Associated Press
“Parkers sparse, melodic prose is as simple as it is haunting. His writing is a wonder to behold…a riveting read.”—Providence Journal
Review
"Ambitious, daring...brilliant."--
The Associated Press
"T. Jefferson Parker has burgled the crumbling palace of Edgar Allan Poe for inspiration."--The Wall Street Journal
“Parker, the winner of three Edgar awards for crime fiction, again delivers a tale that is not only well-plotted and suspenseful, but subtle, surprising and endearingly perverse.” - Washington Post
"T. Jefferson Parker has carved out a niche for himself as the Hemingway of thriller writers...His writing is a wonder to behold." - Providence Sunday Journal
Review
Praise for T. Jefferson Parker:
"If you're interested in the best of today's crime fiction, [Parker's] someone you should read."--The Washington Post
"Parker could well be the best crime writer working out of Southern Caifornia."--Chicago Tribune
"The Charlie Hood novels are nothing less than addictive."--Tucson Citizen
"The most groundbreaking crime series in decades."--St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"This is gripping literary entertainment with a point."--Los Angeles Times
"Some of the finest writing you'll ever read."--Chicago Sun-Times
"No writer can match Parker when it comes to characters and mood. [Parker] is a brilliant craftsman and storyteller."--The Providence Sunday Journal
Synopsis
Along the U.S./Mexico border, a man named Finnegan wakes up in the border-town of Buenavista after a hit and run-eerily aware of events he should know nothing about, $90,000 richer, and with Charlie Hood's name and address in his wallet.
Meanwhile when tracking the flow of illegal guns into Mexico, Hood's team accidentally kills the son of Benjamin Armenta, head of the Gulf Cartel and one of the most violent men in the world. Now, Hood must work to grasp the enigmatic forces fighting for control of Buenavista- forces that circle back to Finnegan, and to Armenta's unstoppable plan for brutal vengeance.
Synopsis
From the New York Times bestselling author of L.A. Outlaws Deputy Sheriff Charlie Hood cruises the dusty backroads of the new American West. But when his partner is shot dead and Hood is drafted to find the killer, the investigation takes him to places he never wanted to go-where there's no clear line between good and evil.
Synopsis
Three-time Edgar Award-winner T. Jefferson Parker, contemporary crime fiction's most critically acclaimed writer, delivers his dark masterpiece. Year after year, T. Jefferson Parker delivers powerful novels of depth and intelligence that make it clear that Dutton is not just publishing one of the best crime writers of his generation, but perhaps one of the greatest crime writers ever. The novels in the Charlie Hood cycle are the most accomplished in Parker's long career, and The Border Lords is the pinnacle of what has become the most groundbreaking crime series in decades.
In this riveting new novel, Parker demonstrates once again why The Washington Post said he writes "the best of today's crime fiction," and why he has won the Edgar Award three times.
ATF agent Sean Ozburn is deep undercover supporting the sicarios of the Baja Cartel when he suddenly goes completely dark, his only communications being the haunting digital videos he sends to his desperately worried wife, Seliah. Charlie Hood must determine if Oz is simply chasing demons deeper undercover than anyone has ever gone, or whether his friend has suffered a permanent break with his mission and his moral compass.
A crime novel of unprecedented scope and unrivaled storytelling ambition by one of our most treasured talents, The Border Lords revisits the fevered landscape of America's southern border- and confronts the unexplored depths of humanity's dark soul.
Watch a Video
Synopsis
Allison is an L.A. celebrity, a folk hero, and a modern-day Jesse James who loves a good armed robbery. She has a compulsion to steal, a knack for publicity, and the conscience to give it all to charity. In fact, one of her biggest fans is a cop. And no ones ever been hurtuntil last night. Now she and the rookie deputy are on the run for their lives.
Synopsis
On a dusty highway just north of the United States/Mexico border a man named Mike Finnegan is struck by a fast-moving vehicle and flung into the desert. Miraculously, he survives and winds up in a hospital in the tiny border town of Buenavista, seemingly in full possession of his faculties-including the eerie ability to understand events happening well outside the view from his hospital bed.
Charlie Hood joins a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms task force patrolling the "iron river," where illegal guns flow from U.S. dealers to the Mexican drug business. Hood is part of a stakeout team when a federal officer's bullet kills an innocent boy.
The boy happens to be the son of Benjamin Armenta, head of the Gulf Cartel and one of the most violent men in the world. Armenta's thirst for vengeance even in routine business matters is well-known. His hired killers are credited with many of the murders and beheadings of the fifteen thousand people who have died in the cartel wars along the border in recent years. Hood and ATF brace themselves for brute vengeance.
As this unthinkable violence leaks from Mexico into the United States, and as Finnegan's predictive powers become even stranger and stronger, Charlie Hood works to understand the mysterious forces fighting for control of this tiny border town, forces that may have the power to slow the iron river-and to save the ATF men he has come to think of as his brothers.
Synopsis
Charlie Hood searches for an undercover agent who has disappeared, only to resurface in a haunting series of bizarre and inexplicable video tapes. The trail leads Charlie into the fevered landscape of America's southern border and the unexplored depths of humanity's dark soul.
Synopsis
The explosive conclusion to T. Jefferson Parker’s New York Times bestselling Charlie Hood series Los Angeles County sheriff ’s deputy Charlie Hood is attached to the ATF, working undercover on the iron river that flows across the U.S.-Mexican border. The diamond fillings he wears in his left canine glimmer, distracting the men who sell the illegal firearms that enable the unspeakable violence on both sides of the map. Spotting the sparkle when “Charlie Diamonds” opens his mouth is often their first step toward life behind bars.
Meanwhile, Bradley Jones, sheriff ’s deputy and employee of the Baja Cartel, son of the love of Charlie’s life, the deceased L.A. outlaw Suzanne Jones, is expecting a son of his own. Suzanne was descended from famed Mexican desperado Joaquin Murrieta, whose embalmed head Bradley inherited from her and keeps nestled among piles of cash, proceeds from Bradley’s own life of crime.
Charlie knows all of Bradley’s secrets; the question is what he’ll do with the information. Until he decides, his obsession remains the inexplicable existence of Mike Finnegan, the diminutive devil who flits in and out of both men’s lives, knowing things he shouldn’t, seemingly immortal.
Three men: earnest law-enforcer, inveterate lawbreaker, and the man who pits them against each other—hurtle toward one another in the jaw-dropping conclusion to T. Jefferson Parker’s mesmerizing vision of the border. Their climactic showdown brings to a spectacular close a crime series that obliterated the boundaries of the genre.
Synopsis
Three-time Edgar Award-winner T. Jefferson Parker, contemporary crime fiction's most critically acclaimed writer, delivers his dark masterpiece. Year after year, T. Jefferson Parker delivers powerful novels of depth and intelligence that make it clear that Dutton is not just publishing one of the best crime writers of his generation, but perhaps one of the greatest crime writers ever. The novels in the Charlie Hood cycle are the most accomplished in Parker's long career, and The Border Lords is the pinnacle of what has become the most groundbreaking crime series in decades.
In this riveting new novel, Parker demonstrates once again why The Washington Post said he writes "the best of today's crime fiction," and why he has won the Edgar Award three times.
ATF agent Sean Ozburn is deep undercover supporting the sicarios of the Baja Cartel when he suddenly goes completely dark, his only communications being the haunting digital videos he sends to his desperately worried wife, Seliah. Charlie Hood must determine if Oz is simply chasing demons deeper undercover than anyone has ever gone, or whether his friend has suffered a permanent break with his mission and his moral compass.
A crime novel of unprecedented scope and unrivaled storytelling ambition by one of our most treasured talents, The Border Lords revisits the fevered landscape of America's southern border- and confronts the unexplored depths of humanity's dark soul.
Watch a Video
Synopsis
When the police tell a wealthy industrialist that her missing son has faked his own kidnapping, she hires Elvis Cole and Joe Pike-and Cole soon determines that it was no fake. The boy and his secret girlfriend have been taken, and are now lost in the gray and changing world of the professional border kidnappers who prey not only on innocent victims but also on one another-buying, selling, and stealing victims like commodities. Fortunately, the kidnappers don't yet know who the boy is, but when Cole goes undercover to try to buy the two hostages back, he himself is taken and disappears. Now it is up to Pike to retrace Cole's steps, burning through the hard and murderous world of human traffickers . . . before it is too late.
Synopsis
The explosive finale in T. Jefferson Parkers New York Times bestselling Charlie Hood series, which will bring together the destinies of three men caught between light and darkness.
Los Angeles County sheriff s deputy Charlie Hood is attached to the ATF, working undercover on the illegal arms trade that flows across the U.S.-Mexican border. The sparkle of the diamond fillings he wears in his left canine distracts his task force targets and is often the first step toward a long stay behind bars.
Meanwhile, Bradley Jones--sheriff s deputy, employee of the Baja Cartel, and son of the love of Charlies life, the deceased L.A. outlaw Suzanne Jones--is expecting a son of his own. Suzanne was descended from famed Mexican desperado Joaquin Murrieta, whose embalmed head Bradley inherited from her and keeps nestled among piles of cash, proceeds from Bradleys own life of crime.
Charlie knows Bradleys secrets, all of them; the question is what hell do with the information. But he still has to contend with the devilish Mike Finnegan, who flits in and out of the lives of his friends, knowing things he shouldnt, seemingly immortal, delighting in the havoc he wreaks.
All three men are about to meet. But all will not survive.....
About the Author
T. Jefferson Parker is the bestselling author of fifteen previous novels, including L.A. Outlaws and Storm Runners. Along with Dick Francis and James Lee Burke, he is one of only three two-time recipients of the Edgar Award for Best Novel. Parker lives with his family in Southern California.