A sequel of sorts to T. Jefferson Parker’s L.A. OUTLAWS, which dealt with a Robin Hoo-like figure in today’s California, THE RENEGADES finds Charlie Hood a few years older and being teamed up with a new partner, Terry Laws, nicknamed Mr. Wonderful.
Laws seems like a perfect partner for Hood for the short time they are together; right before his eyes, Hood witnesses Laws get shot down, with all evidence pointing toward a gang slaying. Hood is called upon by Internal Affairs to investigate the shooting, since it seems Laws — despite his nickname — was hiding some serious secrets, which are slowly uncovered like a peeling onion.
As soon Hood starts digging, one name comes up: that of a reservist cop named Draper, who had close ties to Laws, especially since they were the first officers on the scene for a brutal killing where they captured the culprit who put up a massive fight. We witness Draper relating his time as a reservist to an unseen figure in a bar, where he tells the real truth of what has being going down all these years.
To go further gives away major spoilers to the story at hand, but it’s an engrossing tale of police procedure. Even not having read the previous novel, I was never lost, since Parker incorporates characters from OUTLAWS and their strained (to say the least) relations to Hood. The author knows his way around the police procedural, never letting it drag down. He hooks the readers in with such a believable character in Hood, a man who has seen plenty in his short life span, and wants to continue doing the good work. Parker knows the audience he is writing for; from the talent he shows, that audience only gets larger. —Bruce Grossman
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• L.A. OUTLAWS by T. Jefferson Parker
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