WHIPLASH RIVER by Lou Berney is fast, fun, and fantastic
with truly enjoyable characters and a bit of slapstick
action that keeps readers anticipating what could possibly
come next.
Former wheelman, Charles 'Shake' Bouchon is having a very
bad week. He's late on his monthly payment to drug lord
Baby Jesus, the restaurant he went into debt for is shot up
in an attempted assassination on one of his elderly
customers and when someone blows the restaurant up, he has
no way to pay back the money he owes. To top it off, he has
at least three different people trying to kill him.
Shake needs to get out of Belize and fast, but with no
money, assassins, the FBI, and a drug lord on his tail he's
running out of options. His only hope is to trust Quinn,
the man Shake saved in his restaurant who seems to be in
more trouble than Shake himself.
WHIPLASH RIVER is superbly written. It's the type of story
where you honestly quit noticing the words on the page as
the images they evoke are playing through your mind. I'm
not kidding when I say that reading about the food in this
book really made me hungry. Mr. Berney has a gift for
drawing the reader into his world with clever, elegant
descriptions that bring the story to life. Fast-paced, fun,
and brimming with action, the story flows smoothly, ever
faster, and still manages a surprise or two.
The characters themselves are amazingly complex and
likable. Endearing, fierce, imperfectly human they jump off
the page and I often found myself rooting for the secondary
characters. I can't wait to see what Lou Berney has in
store for this cast as I hope he continues exploring the
world with Shake as they grow, change, and hopefully still
find themselves in unbelievably unlucky events.
Part of the connection that develops between readers and
the characters is due in part to the idea that everyone
deserves a second chance. Most of the characters have done
things they regret; jail time, cons, bad relationships. The
characters struggle to change their life, change the
outcome they see themselves heading to. Sometimes this is
good, sometimes not. They don't fall into saint of sinner
category. They're people who cross the legal line at times
but they're still good people.
WHIPLASH RIVER offers everything; wonderful writing,
complex characters, exotic locations, and a good, fun
story. Definitely worth reading.
Having left his life of crime behind, former getaway driver
Charles "Shake" Bouchon has finally realized the dream of
owning his own restaurant in Belize. Unfortunately, to do so
he's had to go deep in debt to a murderous local drug lord
named Baby Jesus. And when Shake thwarts an attempted hit on
an elderly customer named Quinn, things go from bad to worse.
Next thing Shake knows, his restaurant's gone up in flames
and he's on the run from Baby Jesus, two freelance
assassins, and a beautiful but ferocious FBI agent. Out of
options, Shake has to turn to the mysterious Quinn for help.
Suddenly Shake's up to his neck in a dangerous score that
he'll never pull off unless he can convince an even more
dangerous ex-girlfriend to join him.
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