Charlie Hood is content with his position, patrolling the back roads of the American West in his cruiser. But when his new partner, Terry Laws, is shot dead, he shifts his game in high gear and sets out to find the cop killer. Clues lead to an obvious suspect, but something is wrong with the scene.

Charlie digs into Laws' background and finds things that don't quite fit, making him wonder if this was a hit and not a random cop killing. Unfortunately, it becomes clear that he can't trust everyone he works with and this conspiracy may reach across the border into Mexico.

Parker is one of my favorite authors. He writes smart, challenging plots and then sculpts the characters to back them up. THE RENEGADES follows through on the promise of his previous books. If you're not reading T. Jefferson Parker, you should be.