|
|
 |
|
On sale March 24, 2009 (Bantam $22)
|
|
 |
"Another winner from a master of the comic mystery."Connecticut Post
|
|
 |
"A clever, colorful thriller."Publishers Weekly
(starred review)
|
|
 |
"Smartly plotted and often funny...delivers an action-packed plot."
Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel
|
|
 |
"A hilarious, touching and entertaining twist on the legal thriller."
Chicago Sun-Times
|
|
Illegal Coming Soon!
Jimmy (Royal) Payne, a down-on-his-luck lawyer, battles cops, coyotes, and a corrupt and powerful rancher, as he tracks a beautiful Mexican woman who disappeared on a midnight border crossing.
A tale of broken borders and broken hearts, Illegal is a thriller with a breakneck pace. Disgraced lawyer Jimmy Payne usually doesn’t go out of his way for anybody. But something about a twelve-year-old boy with a missing mother moves him. Soon, Payne is on the road, swept up in the dangerous world of illegal immigration, human trafficking, and sexual slavery.
Haunted by a tragedy in his past and wanted by the cops for his latest malfeasance, Jimmy Payne needs to skip town. That’s when he crosses paths with twelve-year-old Tino Perez, newly arrived from Mexico with no money and no papers. The gutsy kid first robs Payne, then pleads for his help. Marisol, the boy’s mother, is missing, after crossing the border with a vicious coyote.
Following a chain of greed, corruption, and betrayal, Payne traces Marisol’s steps from Mexicali to California’s Hellhole Canyon. Before long, the cynical lawyer and the savvy kid are bonding…and battling predators on both sides of the border. It’s the two of them against an army of cops, coyotes, vigilantes, and sex slavers. Most dangerous of all is Simeon Rutledge, a wealthy rancher and the biggest employer of farm workers in California.
Just why is Rutledge willing to bribe Payne—or kill him—to keep Marisol under wraps? Will Payne’s quest redeem his mistakes and resurrect his dead marriage—or get him buried in a shallow grave? Either way, he’ll find out there’s no escaping his past.
From the shadows of migrant stash houses to the fertile fields of the San Joaquin Valley, Illegal delivers a searing mix of live-wire prose, shattering violence, and rich characterization, all set against a backdrop of larger social issues.
Read an Excerpt
Pre-Order Illegal
Praise for Paul Levine’s Thrillers
“Mystery writing at its very, very best.” —Larry King, USA Today
“Genuinely clever.” —New York Times Book Review
“Cracking good action-mystery…Fast paced.” —Detroit Free Press
“A big brash blend of sex, violence and the Supreme Court.” —Miami Herald
“First-rate…smooth as a writ for libel.” —Boston Globe
“Breathlessly exciting.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer
About The Author
PAUL LEVINE is a former trial and appellate attorney, and the award-winning author of legal thrillers. Solomon vs. Lord was nominated for the Macavity award and the James Thurber prize. The Deep Blue Alibi was nominated for an Edgar, and Kill All the Lawyers was a finalist for the International Thriller Writers award. He won the John D. MacDonald award for his critically acclaimed Jake Lassiter series. He also wrote more than twenty episodes of the CBS military drama, “JAG.” Levine lives in Los Angeles, where he is working on his next Jimmy Payne thriller.
|
|
