The Rescue by T. Jefferson Parker
Speaking of great writing, T. Jefferson Parker’s typically wondrous prose is on vivid display in The Rescue (Forge, 352 pages, $28.99). I’ve been reading Parker for, oh, over thirty years now, ever since he debuted with Laguna Heat, and he’s never disappointed me once.
He returns here to the kind of drug-laced world of crime that have fueled several of his more recent titles, only this time Parker adds an effective, though familiar, twist in the form of a drug sniffing dog that journalist Bettina Blazak rescues from a putrid Mexican animal shelter. The problem is Felix has enemies out there of the two-legged kind who are after him, which means now they’re after Bettina, too. What’s an intrepid reporter to do when her de facto partner can’t explain who these people are or why they want him prematurely put down?
Parker’s versatility as a storyteller has long been one of his most shining attributes and The Rescue is like none of his other near thirty titles, except for the fact it’s a terrific crime-thriller. His prose remains a wonder to behold, as he carves out his place as the cooler, hipper version of James Lee Burke.