Whiplash River by Lou Berney
(from the back of the book)
Having left his life of crime behind, former getaway driver
Charles “Shake” Bouchon has finally realzed the dream of owning his own
restaurant in Belize. To do so, unfortunately, he’s had to go deep in debt to a
murderous local drug lord named Baby Jesus.
And then when Shake thwarts an attempted hit on an elderly customer
named Quinn, things go from bad to worse.
Next thing Shake knows, his restaurant’s gone up in flames
and he’s on the run from Baby Jesus, two freelance assassins, and a beautiful
but ferocious FBI agent. Out of options,
Shake has to turn for help to the mysterious Quinn. Suddenly Shake’s up to his neck in a
dangerous score that he’ll never pull off unless he can convince an even more
dangerous ex-girlfriend to join him.
I liked Whiplash River.
It was fast and funny. It was
part thriller, part action and part heist book.
The characters were quirky and interesting while still being
believable. Berney manages to take some
familiar elements; the slightly bumbling would be sidekick, the woman cop out
to prove something, the ex-con trying to go good, the heist that keeps spinning
further and further out of control and keep them from being derivative, cliché
and stale. It has a good pace and enough
action and surprises that there are no slow spots and it keeps your attention
right to the end. It all comes together
for a book that is enjoyable to read without much thinking involved. But I don’t know how much will stick with
me. A month from now I’ll remember I
liked the book and would read another by Berney but I don’t think I’ll be able
to tell you the plot. But it was fun
while it lasted.
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