Part of Dave Robicheaux, book 4
First published 2005
Dave Robicheaux watches two death row inmates board the transport van for what should be a straightforward trip to their executions. The assignment turns into a bloodbath. His partner dies and Dave takes brutal wounds that leave him fighting for his life. The DEA approaches him with a proposition while he recovers. They want him to infiltrate the criminal underworld of New Orleans, where Mafia operations blend with Cajun mysticism in the humid backstreets. Dave agrees, driven by his need for payback against those who killed his partner. He enters a dangerous game of deception in Tony Cardo's organization, where the Mafia don controls drug operations through violence and corruption. Dave must navigate between federal handlers who see him as expendable and criminals who will kill him if his cover breaks. The deeper he goes into Cardo's world, the more he confronts the darkness within himself that mirrors the evil he fights.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, action
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, revenge
Setting: New Orleans
Period: 20th-century
374 pages · Paperback · Orion
Content warnings: violence