4 out of 4 stars
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After the Russians pulled out of the war in Afghanistan, shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles known as Stingers were in the hands of the Afghan soldiers called as mujahideen. The U.S. bought back the missiles for more than six times the original price. However, around six hundred Stingers weren’t accounted for. These cause problems now with Stingers being shot at military aircraft and those carrying important politicians. Sheriff of Cameron County, Hardin Steel has been previously involved with handling drug smugglers and mafia lords. He has acquired quite a bit of money because of dealing with such people. With his friends Buck Bateman (Private Investigator) and Wes Stoddard, he must now capture Frederick Ochoa, the person the entire police force believes has bought the Stingers and is using them to send a message to the U.S.A. Steel glances at the portraits of the previous Sheriffs hanging on the wall of his office.
“Most were dead, a few were in prison and a couple (of them) were enjoying retirement, or so they’d have you believe.”
Would he face the same fate? Or would he manage to capture these powerful (both in terms of money and influence) criminals and live to tell the tale? Without any spoilers, I must tell you The Paloma Crossing by Randall Reneau is one action-packed story. There is sufficient backstory explaining Steel’s previous adventures and how he befriends ex-smugglers so that they help the police in finding the real lords of the racket. Along with all this, he tries to balance his love life with his girlfriend, Rory Roughton, who has been kidnapped once and might be on the radar with the mafia dons just by association with Hardin. In a true Texan style, their romance and the action is beautifully orchestrated.
This is a great book for people who like crime thrillers like me. It has a little amount of action but not too much and not too grotesque. It is true that a few murders might cause a bit of nausea but other than that, it is the usual sadness of the death of someone. The story is filled with drug smuggling, accumulation of illegal cash, murder, kidnapping, terrorists, pirates, execution and there is bound to be suspense at every turn. I believe young adults and older can read it. The romance aspect is kept to a minimum which was fine with me.
The character development is very good. It is a true page-turner in which you can never lose interest. The backstories gave the feeling that it was a sequel, but I don’t think it is one. I am confused as to why the particular title was chosen as I didn’t find it fitting to the story as much. I found no spelling or grammar mistakes except for a few sentences which seemed like fragments. Texan slang and a couple of Spanish sentences are used to give it a bit of flavor. The ‘bad guys’ pop in and out giving just the right amount of confusion and thrill. Without further ado, I award this book 4 out of 4 stars. Like I mentioned before, a few of the murders definitely shocked me, but I tried to stomach them because such things might truly be happening around the world. It is sad to know the lengths to which people go just for the sake of revenge. I hope such people are given adequate help and that there will be more good people in the world. I hope to see more fabulous works of the author.
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The Paloma Crossing
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