Double Barrel Bluff
A Novel
-
- 12,99 €
Publisher Description
Edgar Award-nominated and USA Today-bestselling crime writer Lou Berney returns to his critically acclaimed thriller series starring former mob wheelman Shake Bouchon, who finds himself reluctantly involved in a high-stakes hostage rescue, among the mighty temples and shadowy underground of Cambodia.
During his years as a wheelman for the Armenian mob in Las Vegas, Shake Bouchon didn’t think of himself as the settling-down type. But now he’s happily married to Gina, the love of his life—and former adversary—in Indiana, of all places.
The great thing about Bloomington, for two people with exceptionally checkered pasts, is that everyone is nice and no one knows them. Until the day a brutal Armenian thug who has always hated Shake shows up in his backyard. He demands that Shake help him find the missing mob boss, the pakhan—the dangerous and beautiful Alexandra “Lexy” Ilandryan, who also happens to be Shake’s ex-girlfriend.
Shake’s got a lot of history with Lexy, so he reluctantly agrees to travel to Siem Reap, Cambodia, where she was last seen. Once there, he finds himself in a predatory underworld of Cambodian gangsters, mob politics, and opportunistic expats, where the stakes aren’t clear and everyone is looking to gain. With only the help of a clairvoyant hippie and the Armenian thug, Shake becomes involved in a high-stakes negotiation for Lexy that might cost him his own life. But perhaps most threatening of all is Gina’s wrath when she arrives in Cambodia intent on saving Shake from himself—and from all the people trying to kill him.
With Lou Berney’s trademark wit, flawless plotting, vibrant locale, and memorable characters, Double Barrel Bluff is another unputdownable, globetrotting adventure.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Berney's outstanding third Shake Bouchon thriller (after Dark Ride) sees the former getaway car driver's retirement interrupted when an Armenian mobster pays him a visit. Dikran Ghazarian is the bodyguard for L.A. mob boss Alexandra Ilandryan, who's gone missing during her annual trip to Cambodia. Because of his close bond with Alexandra, Dikran sets aside his vow to kill Shake, her former lover, to ask for his help finding her. Shake's wife, Gina, is less than pleased to see her husband run off in search of his ex, but that doesn't stop him from uneasily joining forces with the dim-witted Dikran ("He had the cognitive skills of the fence post lying broken next to them"). Meanwhile, in Siem Reap, Cambodia, a disgraced professor and an ex-con are holding Alexandra hostage, believing her to be a rich American tourist, with no clue what retribution awaits them. Shake remains a lovable, wise-cracking hero, and Berney does him justice with a cast of memorable supporting characters and a gorgeously rendered Southeast Asian locale. This sterling neo-noir series continues to deliver.