Overview

A racist killer uses the resources of his Aryan gang to falsify an innocence claim, intending to use fraudulent evidence to gain his release from prison. Only the original trial team, cowboy detective E.J. Kane and his former prosecutor ex-wife Rebecca Johnson, refuse to surrender to injustice. An unrelated suicide holds the key to unraveling a massive conundrum of DNA evidence. Meanwhile, their daughter faces the stark consequences of drug addiction and continued victimization from sex trafficking. E.J. will have to battle a corrupt sheriff, an army of white supremacist, the legendary Big Thicket National Preserve, and a startling revelation about his past dishonor. The fast-paced modern world of changing social norms forces E.J. Kane to question the traditional codes of his heritage. He must embrace truth and reject false values to draw the hard lines necessary to forge the future.

Full Product Details

9798218377724

Table of Contents

Reviews

"KIRKUS REVIEWS DRAW A HARD LINE BY MICHEAL E. JIMERSON ‧ RELEASE DATE: JUNE 11, 2024 A well-paced thriller that engagingly tangles its hero's personal and professional lives. Murder, meth, and matrimonial discord bedevil a former Texas Ranger in Jimerson's second series mystery, following White Gold (2022). Fifty-something E.J. Kane, a former Texas Ranger and now head of security for Devekon Energy, has an arthritic knee, a stressful job, and a damaged family life. The death of his son, Konner, a Marine who died while deployed ""half a world away,"" marked the beginning of the unraveling of E.J.'s ""quilt of a perfect family."" He and his wife, powerful trial lawyer Rebecca Johnson, divorced after the tragedy. E.J. also rescued their daughter, Sharla, a meth addict, after she was abducted and raped by sex traffickers; she now struggles with whether to get an abortion. Because of his difficult family situation, E.J. identifies with the Blakes, whose daughter, Melinda, was murdered a year ago. Crooked Sheriff Benjamin ""B.B."" Berryhill can't be bothered with the Blakes' unsolved case, but B.B.'s son, a police detective, vows to help, as does E.J. Meanwhile, E.J. is consumed by the fact that Aryan Triangle member and murderer G.H. Burton has been released from prison; his conviction-hard fought by Rebecca-was overturned. This character-driven novel is just as much a tale of family troubles as it is a mystery. A familiar story of meth addiction affectingly spills across the pages, as does the pain of a divorce that one side doesn't want, in addition to problems of aging. Set in a Texas where ""the bland, khaki shades of drought punished the landscape,"" Jimerson's second cowboy-inflected detective thriller finds Ranger-turned-independent-sleuth E.J. Kane facing off with a terrifying former adversary seeking an exit from prison: white supremacist gang leader and murderer, G..H. Burton, who is attempting to gin up evidence of his innocence-and punish those who convicted him. Kane must work with his ex wife, the hard nosed lawyer Rebecca Johnson, and law enforcement officials skeptical of their disgraced former colleague, to prove that Burton is guilty not only of the crimes with which he was charged but others ongoing right into the present. Burton seems to have inside help, possibly including a DA and a powerful politico. Jimerson's protagonist is a multi-faceted, decorated hero with a complicated past and his own personal and professional demons as he works to outsmart a cunning enemy. Dealing with the trauma of his son's death and his daughter's drug addiction, Kane is movingly divided between his professional obligations and the impossible hope of righting the wrongs in his personal life. Jimerson seamlessly incorporates gritty violence, bursts of action, and an unsettling feeling of not being sure who to trust with compelling glimpses of Kane's home life and personal relationships. ""Grown men building their lives on the simplistic moral codes of Don Quixote-style heroes,"" Kane muses, at one point, contemplating the popularity of a Walker, Texas Hero. Jimerson, in contrast, digs deeper into the hard choices and human costs of heroism without slowing the pace or skimping on explosive twists. The prose is crisp, sometimes biting, with sharp dialogue, strong local color, and a vivid feel for scrub, mud, trucks, and cottonmouths. But it's Kane's wit, intellect, and no-nonsense attitude that make him a cowboy detective readers will root for until the satisfying ending, that, for all the bullets and corruption, pulses with a hopeful spirit. Takeaway: Fast-paced, character-rich thriller of Texas justice."

Author Information

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available