Iron River (Thorndike Press Large Print Basic Series) - Hardcover

Parker, T. Jefferson

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1410423794 ISBN 13: 9781410423795

Publisher: Thorndike Press, 2010

Synopsis

"On a dusty highway just north of the United States/Mexico border, a man named Mike Finnegan is struck by a fast-moving vehicle and flung into the desert. Miraculously, he survives and winds up in a hospital in the tiny border town of Buenavista, seemingly in full possession of his faculties including the eerie ability to understand events happening well outside the view from his hospital bed. Charlie Hood joins a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms task force patrolling the "iron river," where illegal guns flow from United States dealers to the Mexican drug business. Hood is part of a stakeout team when a federal officer's bullet kills an innocent boy. The boy happens to be the son of Benjamin Armenta, head of the Gulf Cartel and one of the most violent men in the world. Armenta's thirst for vengeance even in routine business matters is well known. His hired killers are credited with many of the murders and beheadings of the fifteen thousand people who have died in the cartel wars along the border in recent years. Hood and ATF brace themselves for brute vengeance. As this unthinkable violence leaks from Mexico into the United States, and as Finnegan's predictive powers become even stranger and stronger, Charlie Hood works to understand the mysterious forces fighting for control of this tiny border town, forces that may have the power to slow the iron river and to save the ATF men he has come to think of as his brothers"-- Book jacket.

About this title

Review

Robert Crais and T. Jefferson Parker: Author One-on-One

In this Amazon exclusive, we brought together blockbuster authors Robert Crais and T. Jefferson Parker and asked them to interview each other.

Robert Crais is the author of the best-selling Joe Pike and Elvis Cole novels and the 2006 recipient of the Ross Macdonald Literary Award. Crais lives in the Santa Monica mountains with his wife, three cats, and many thousands of books.

Read on to see Robert Crais's questions for T. Jefferson Parker, or turn the tables to see what Parker asked Crais.

Crais: Though you've revisited characters earlier in your career, you've mostly written standalone novels. But now with The Border Lords, this is, what, your fourth Charlie Hood novel in a row? This is great news because I love to read about Charlie, but I'm curious why you love to write him. What is it about Charlie Hood that brings you back to him again and again?

Parker: Glad you like him, Bob. Yeah, it’s Charlie’s fourth book and I’m going to do two more. I like Charlie because he’s a good reliable witness to events, and he always tries to do the right thing, and thus far in the series, he’s constantly over-matched. Which is different than being hapless. I love an underdog. You’d think the fact that Charlie is not only a Los Angeles Sheriff’s deputy and a member of a federal ATF task force would make him very much the overdog. But he's not. Charlie’s world in The Border Lords is Mexico, where the law is weak and wickedness prevails. He’s the little guy. But he’s smart, principled and brave, too.

Crais: We've been at this game a long time. Between us, that's a lot of crime novels, bro. You ever consider writing something completely different? I know you're an avid fisherman. Ever fantasize about writing the Jeff Parker version of The Old Man and the Sea?

Parker: I do think about writing something other than crime novels, then my nasty little imagination kicks in and I’m off on another crime! I got to write a “fishing mystery” that was published earlier this year, so that was a nice compromise. But even that turned criminal. I remember a birthday party I went to when I was seven years old. They had a whole bunch of costumes you could choose from – you could be a cowboy or an Indian or a Martian or whatever. Just dress up and wreak havoc with the other little savages. So what did little Jeffy pick? I picked a devil costume. Man, what does that say?

Crais: Pbooks or Ebooks? Do you care?

Parker: I hate e-books and electronic reading gadgets and wish they’d all go away. But of course they won’t. I also think books are going to be around a lot longer than some people think/want. They’ll be secretly trafficked by unrepentant book lovers, a full-on black market. Want the new Bob Crais in hardcover? A thousand bucks, man. Sold!

Crais: You and I have both had a film adapted from our novels, me with Hostage, and you with Laguna Heat. I tend to avoid Hollywood's overtures, but a lot of our writer friends like Mike Connelly, Dennis Lehane, and Harlan Coben have allowed their work to be developed with pretty good results. What's your take on Hollywood? Any chance we'll see Charlie Hood at the movies?

Parker: Charlie’s under an option right now with Lionsgate, on behalf of Carl Franklin, whose work I love. My whole experience with Laguna Heat was positive, and I’d like to see another TJP movie. But I feel protective of Charlie Hood, also. I wouldn’t let him go to just anybody. In fact I’ve demanded to star as Charlie if the movie gets made, which my agent says is a possible deal-killer. No, seriously, I’d love to see a good movie.

Crais: Tell the truth, Jeff--what's your favorite snack food when you're writing?

Parker: Used to be cigarettes! But now it’s anything containing peanut butter. Those little orange Keebler crackers with the peanut-butter between ‘em? Oh, man. Start me up. On to the next chapter!

(Photo of Robert Crais © exleyfotoinc)
(Photo of T. Jefferson Parker © Rebecca Lawson)

About the Author

T. Jefferson Parker is the bestselling author of fourteen previous novels, including Storm Runners and The Fallen. Alongside Dick Francis and James Lee Burke, Parker is one of only three writers to be awarded the Edgar Award for Best Novel more than once. Parker lives with his family in Southern California.

About this edition

• Publisher: Thorndike Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1410423794
• ISBN 13: 9781410423795
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 574