The Border Lords

Having been introduced to author T. Jefferson Parker care of Robert Crais a few years back at a L.A. Times Festival of Books panel, I can honestly say it's been an enjoyable stretch. While friends have read and recommended his earlier works (notably The Fallen, Laguna Heat, and Silent Joe), I started it off with his L.A. Outlaws novel from 2008. It introduced the character of Charlie Hood (along with the personas of Joaquin and Alison Murrieta who continue to haunt all of these novels) and launched a series that has constituted my entire connection with the author. Though I have to admit my time with this string of novels hasn't been without its bumps -- see my review of The Renegades (the L.A. Outlaws follow-up) as a case in point.

Still, there are Southern California authors I will stay with no matter what because they write so well and craft their stories in and around the landscape that is their home (and mine) so adeptly. Parker is one of them. As well, he regularly delivers a consummate perspective (through a myriad of new and continuing characters) on the Drug War theatre happening on either side of the California-Mexico border through the four novels I've read. This author manages to give all the personalities he puts on the page a depth that poorer writers just turn into stereotypes and caricatures. Although, what I've finally come to recognize in the Hood novels is that Charlie is not so much the lead character, but is the platform that forms the basis of Parker's narrative. CH remains relatively interesting, but he can pale when compared to some of those TJP puts into orbit around him by way of southland crime.

That realization of mine began with last year's Iron River, the third book in the series. The history of southern California gun-making and gun-running, and its impact on both sides of the border, were manifest. Let alone the acts of devilry and butchery perpetrated among the drug cartels which Parker chronicled in that novel. Still, the SoCal native raised it up another notch with the fourth in the series published last month, The Border Lords. The synopsis of which has Sean Ozburn, a lone ATF agent 15 months into a deep undercover with the Baja Cartel, going rogue and devising his own strategy for doing good acts and 'fighting evil' that his own people would never condone, let alone authorize. It'll be left to Charlie Hood to ferret out the truth and what is behind the madness on both sides of the border. Jeff Parker has admitted that Border Lords is his implicit homage to his favorite work, Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. IMO, it is one of his best books in the series (one that is projected to be six novels in length) and the genre.

A bit of fair warning, however: the author, who's research and detail of crime and the bureaucracy of law enforcement in the southland is extraordinary, introduced what many have perceived as a bit of mysticism into the last two Charlie Hood novels. Some readers have found it oft-putting (if you bother to read some of Amazon's customer reviews). If that seems incongruent, you may want to steer clear. However, if you do, you'll miss some compelling storytelling by this author and the spellbinding amalgam he's managed to capture on the page. Tim Rutten in his L.A. Times book review may have described it best:

"The border, for both peoples, always has been a moral frontier and a boundary of the imagination as much as a political one, and in this latest novel Parker takes full advantage of the physical and mental landscape's ambiguities. Almost nothing or no one in this gripping narrative is exactly who or what they seem to be. The author, moreover, has a knowing hand and pushes — in a sophisticated but never merely ironic way — against familiar literary memories as varied as Cormac McCarthy's border-hopping cowboys, Carlos Castaneda's Native American shaman and Graham Greene's whiskey priest. In fact, the book's most chilling character — and it's a tight competition — is a twisted pirouette off Greene's memorable character and one of the most appalling clerics in contemporary literature, if he really is what he appears to be."

Brilliance Audio once again produced the audiobook of this novel, as they've done for many of Parker's novels, with their usual fine production values. As well, David Colaci performed the narration with his customary skill, and he's been involved with the entire line since L.A. Outlaws. If you've heard him before, I think you can tell this narrator has become quite comfortable with the Hood character through his readings. Still, Colaci really seems to get a kick out of the variety of individuals Parker brings on to his stage. Although, having to assemble a large and distinct stable of vocal characterizations would not be his strong suit, IMO. Still, he's an asset for the audiobook listener and delivers on what the author has in store for fans who savor what he brings to the table.

Recommended "Cops & Crooks in CA" Summary

This past weekend was the annual L.A. Times Festival of Books, hosted on the campus of U.C.L.A. This year, book blogger Jen made her way out west to attend, too. Meeting her for the first time made this an even more special event. And both of us got to attend the bash I always look forward to: the yearly book panel with our favorite author, Robert Crais. It's ever growing popularity made this year's panel such a hard ticket to come by.

I was in a Ticketmaster line the previous weekend the very hour the tickets first became available--and even though I was fifth in line, they were sold out by my turn. Criminy!!! And all week, I kept striking out online in my attempts to acquire them, too. I thought we'd have to try our luck in the stand-by line. Luckily, I remembered that this book celebration event always held back some tickets. They disperse them on a first come, first served basis on each of the two days of the festival (starting at 9 AM on Saturday). I was more than fortunate in that my wife let me off the hook from our kid's social schedule (that parents seemly always orbit around) that morning so I could get there early enough to get in the inevitable long line.

And, tickets we did get! Finally (for Jen, her sister, and I). Simply, the panel was the best one ever that I've attended. RC moderated it, as part of the Mystery book panels, in the aptly titled, "Cops & Crooks in California". It consisted of himself, Joseph Wambaugh, Don Winslow, and T. Jefferson Parker. Can't remember all of things that made Jen and I laugh so hard. But, don't wait for me to tell you all about it. Thoughtfully, writer Naomi Johnson linked me to a wonderfully written summary of it all by blogger Obsessions of a Pop Cultured Nerd. And like Naomi, I highly recommend this two-part post as a read:

“Cops & Crooks in California” Panel at L.A. Festival of Books with Crais, Winslow, Parker & Wambaugh

The Renegades

Last year when I attended the annual Robert Crais-hosted panel at the L.A. Times Festival of Books, the co-host for that session was T. Jefferson Parker. He was a new addition--RC has hosted festival panels in the past with known authors like Harlan Coben and Michael Connelly. And, those are always one of the most fun, engaging, and informative sessions at each one. Since I had heard of the author, but never read him, I decided to try his current release at that time, L.A. Outlaws, in audiobook (as is my M.O.). I found the book a more than enjoyable read and its characters, Sheriff Deputy Charlie Hood and the female outlaw Allison Murrieta, beguiling. So much so that I picked up the sequel, The Renegades, soon after its February 2009 release date. I don't comment on many books, and I only post those that draw me in some way or manner. Such is the case here.

Parker, like Crais, writes crime fiction about the people, cops and criminals that inhabit the SoCal region--though of what I hear, in his other works he stays closer to Orange County than L.A. proper. In fact during that particular panel, RC suggested to TJP that the protagonist Hood was worthy of a sequel and/or series. Just about everybody in the audience who'd read it agreed with that statement. The other interesting appeal of that novel is that it details the other law enforcement agency here in Los Angeles, one that's not so high profile like the L.A.P.D.--the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Those of us that live here will recognize some of the Sheriff Department's manner and history in both books. That's also one of the reasons the under-rated movie Tequila Sunrise is my annual treat: it is because of the character Lt. Nick Frescia and the Sheriffs [full disclosure: my sister-in-law is a L.A. Sheriff Deputy].

That brings us back to that sequel. TJP follows up on Hood in this work after all of the excitement in L.A. Outlaws, and its after-effects, in his usual easy going prose. This time, the author makes good use of the much different desert terrain of the Antelope Valley and the drug trade connection between the southland and the nearby Mexican border towns. The problem in this novel, however, is that the character of Allison Murrieta is only a haunting specter to what goes on in between these pages, and no longer dominates the proceedings like she did in the previous book. We're left with pretty much Hood alone, without the shine coming off one of the better anti-heroines in crime fiction (though, I give TJP credit here for such a creation). Without her though, he's just not as complex and compelling.

I wanted to enjoy this work as I did with L.A. Outlaws. Like Crais, Parker gets the southland landscape and its moods down on written word with great ability. And writing about the lesser known Sheriffs adds to that flair. But it just didn't click here like the previous book, to me at least. It's not a bad novel. I'm satisfied to have read it, but it didn't hit the expectation it set for itself with the first Hood novel. That became clear to me during the key surveillance and action sequence that takes the lead character across the border. The author builds it well, that is until a he manages to write such a contrived escape (almost deus ex machina-like). I won't spoil it for you, but if you read the book, I'm interested in other opinions about that one event. Lastly, the author leaves enough hanging at novel's end for an obvious book continuation--whether that makes the author, publisher, or reader happy is the open question.

Brilliance Audio published the audiobook with their usual fine production values. Narrator David Colacci returns for the sequel and performs well. Although, if you listened to the L.A. Outlaws audiobook, you get the more than satisfying experience of listening to David and his real-life narrator/wife, Susan Eriksen, co-read that novel.

Bottomline: L.A. Outlaws - good, The Renegades - not quite...