THE CAJUN PIÑATA

King weaves a tangled web of aspiration and avarice in this crime novel.

After an 18-wheeler strikes a utility pole in Louisiana, dispersing five kilos of hidden cocaine into the air, FBI agents Pete Cortez and Teri Barnhart find themselves enmeshed in the investigation of a lifetime. As they pursue the case in the quietly charming East Texas town of Madisonville, they come face to face with unlikely crime kingpins Ralph LeBlanc and Randi Tormohlen—two siblings who effectively sit atop a mountain of laundered money and drugs, fueling the regional economy through ill-gotten gains. Their criminal enterprise is empowered by a dangerous relationship with a Mexican drug cartel. But although this international influence plays a role in their power, King makes clear that all-American avarice is central to their success. Among their accomplices in crime are the president and athletic director of the local college, whose students die from using the very substance whose sale fuels their scholarship programs; and another FBI agent who enables the very criminals he’s sworn to apprehend. But just when the trail grows cold for Cortez and Barnhart, the walls around the LeBlanc/Tormohlen empire begin to crumble as people turn against one another for personal gain. Over the course of King’s novel, not all the bad guys are brought to justice, but the author effectively makes clear that the criminal kingdom is a castle built on sand that’s fated to fall. It’s a must-read for fans of true crime as well as crime fiction, as King offers a cast of characters that’s thoroughly believable. Although the work has scenes of violence, the author deftly avoids graphic descriptions of it, presenting a work that’s gritty but not gratuitous. The result is a novel that’s very appealing, with a perfect blend of suspense and realism to keep readers engaged.

An exciting crime drama with well-developed characters.