Part of Lucas Davenport, book 13
First published 2003
Lucas Davenport once nearly died facing Clara Rinker, a deadly assassin from the South who speaks softly and kills efficiently. Rinker has retired to Mexico with her boyfriend, the son of a powerful drug lord. A sniper's bullet kills her lover and nearly takes her life too. The dead man's father swears revenge, but Rinker knows what he doesn't. The killer wanted her, not his son. Now she must vanish and hunt down whoever tried to eliminate her. The FBI and DEA pull Davenport into the chase. His fiancée stays home planning their wedding while he heads south into chaos. Rinker remains as dangerous and unpredictable as ever. Her former employers in the St. Louis mob want her dead. The Mexican drug lord seeks blood for his son. Federal agents sometimes fight each other as much as their targets. The case grows more lethal with each move. When the shooting starts, nobody caught between the warring sides will survive.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, action
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: cat-and-mouse, enemies-to-lovers
Setting: Mexico, St. Louis, South
Period: Contemporary
424 pages · Paperback · G.P. Putnam's Sons
Content warnings: violence