The Renegades: A Charlie Hood Novel

From his outstanding debut with "Laguna Heat", Parker's been one of my favorite authors. In my opinion as an LA County resident he has an uncanny ability to capture the moods, nuances and settings of Southern California that's matched by very few; Michael Connelly, James Elroy, Chandler, perhaps one or two others.

"LA Outlaws" was a terrific book, with vivid and captivating characters just oozing noir excitement.

Unfortunately, this follow-up featuring Charlie Hood from the previous book doesn't quite make the grade. The previous book was completely dominated by Allison Murrietta - a descendant of the famed outlaw Juoaquin Murrietta - who died at the end of that work. This book centers on her paramour LA Deputy Sheriff Charlie Hood, who is not nearly as interesting a character; bland and pretty two-dimensional. None of the other characters are as interesting, either. By comparison, this is a pretty blah offering.

Pretty standard fare regarding drug running and money laundering; little tension or excitement; few action scenes; scant psychological suspense.

I will give it props for exploiting the SoCal landscape, though a very promising setting in the Llano del Rio ruins in the Antelope Valley had a lot more potential than I think was really explored.

But again, the main problem here is that I simply don't think the character of Charlie Hood is very interesting or complex. Certainly not enough to center a continuing series on.

Three stars. Mildly entertaining, but far from being his best work. Ultimately pedestrian.

Charlie Hood, the investigator-hero of Parker's previous novel, [[ASIN:0451226119 L.A. Outlaws]], returns to police work after a devastating personal tragedy. Alison Murietta, with whom he had been passionately in love, is dead, and her 17-year-old son Bradley Jones is running with a gang and threatening to murder his mother's killer. Hood, guilt-ridden over his inability to prevent Alison's death, has escaped downtown Los Angeles to Antelope Valley, the high desert country north of LA--the "new frontier." Scheduled to testify against a former L.A. superior whom he reported as a crooked cop, he is particularly sensitive to the fact that while the law makes clear distinctions between right and wrong, people are not saints, and must sometimes see many shades of gray when they make their decisions to act.

Hood is paired with Terry Laws, known as "Mr. Wonderful" for his community service, a man who may be the perfect mentor for the 29-year-old Hood, but on their first night on patrol, Terry Laws is gunned down in what appears to be a deliberate execution. As Hood investigates Terry's background and the circumstances of his death, he begins to wonder if Mr. Wonderful was really as wonderful as he seemed.

Alternating with this story is a second story, narrated by Coleman Draper, a reserve officer who used to work with Terry Laws. Draper is telling a teenager about events from two years ago when two drug couriers on their way to Mexico with a large drug payment were gunned down, and Draper and Laws were injured in a bloody fight with the accused assassin. The two plot lines gradually converge for the reader as Coleman Draper's narrative unfolds and fills in the blanks. Charlie Hood, not privy to this narrative, however, must obtain his information the hard way, investigating and acting under the most dangerous conditions.

Author T. Jefferson Parker develops a vivid picture of the wild and lawless desert atmosphere, which parallels in many ways the moral climate around Los Angeles--a place where gangs terrorize, drug cartels seduce the unwary with easy promises, police evidence gets manufactured, and a kill-or-be-killed mentality makes life a constant challenge both for law enforcement and for the morally bankrupt. Since some of the police themselves may be involved in illegal activity, the dangers to honest society and to honest fellow officers are doubled. The novel, masculine and gritty in its style, emphasizes action rather than character development and leads to a grand finale worthy of a High Noon showdown. Parker's emphasis on morality and conscience, however, keep it from being just another wild shoot-`em-up. n Mary Whipple

[[ASIN:0060854243 Storm Runners (Harper Fiction)]]
[[ASIN:0786889691 Blue Hour, The]]
[[ASIN:0060562390 The Fallen]]

Charlie Hood is back after his adventures in "L. A. Outlaws."
After the shooting and internal affairs investigation of the "L.A. Outlaw" novel, Charlie asks for a more quiet division. He is assigned to the Antelope Valley Division.

While he and Terry Laws are on a call, Terry is murdered. Hood wonders if the killer's gun jammed or did they want to leave him alive as a witness.

Internal Affairs reassigns him to their unit so he can lead the investigation into his partner's killing. It doesn't take long for Charlie to see that Laws was a crooked cop, from his bogus charity to the weekly deposits of $7,200 into his account.

Laws and Coleman Draper arrested Shay Eichrodt, supposidly because he just killed two cartel couriers. There was $340,000 in the trunk which they brought to the leader of the cartel and began their weekly payoffs by moving money and other items across the boarder.

This novel was not up to the excellence of "L. A. Outlaws." In my opinion, the author felt his readers would be familiar with Charlie Hood as the protagonist so there wasn't much character development. In addition there were times when it was confusing to follow when the writing changed from third person to first person in a short time.
In addition, Coleman Draper was an unusual antagonist. At times he seemed honorable and sincere and at others he didn't hesitate to either take a life or order someone killed. Perhaps the author is telling us that although a character may be evil, they could posess some good characteristics.

The author is one of only three people who have won the Edgar Award for best novel more than once. The other two are James Lee Burke and Dick Francis. Nice company.

T. Jefferson Parker has been writing for nearly two decades, and I've enjoyed every single one of his novels, though some perhaps more than others. I happen to believe that Silent Joe is still his best novel to date, but L.A. Outlaws and The Renegades definitely tie for second place.

The Renegades is Mr. Parker's newest hardcover novel and brings back Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Charlie Hood, who first appeared in L.A. Outlaws. Still recovering from his tragic love affair with outlaw, Alison Murietta, and the arrest of a crooked cop, Hood has been reassigned to Antelope Valley, where he patrols the lonely roads by himself at night. He doesn't mind. Hood likes being alone and driving for long periods of time. Everything, however, changes on the night he's partnered with Deputy Terry Laws and they have to investigate the report of drug use and loud music at a housing project with a couple of employees from the Housing Authority. It turns out to be a set up to get Deputy Laws out there so that he can be murdered. While he's sitting in the patrol car, the assailant appears from of nowhere and kills him with a machine gun. Charlie Hood barely manages to survive the onslaught and makes him downright angry that he couldn't prevent the killing of another police officer.

Because Hood is determined to find the killer of his partner, Internal Affairs taps him to help with the investigation. They want him to find out why Laws was executed and if there's anything in the dead officer's past to warrant his death. It doesn't take Hood long to find out that Terry Laws was living well beyond his means on a deputy's salary. In fact, he was bringing home an extra seven thousand dollars a week This fact leads Hood to take a closer look at Laws' former partner, a reservist named Coleman Draper, who's handsome, intelligent, polite, and also one the most evil men Hood has ever encountered. Draper, who may have murdered his parents and siblings in a house fire years before, has a unique way of manipulating those around him in order to get what he wants. He talked Terry into murdering two drug couriers so that they could take their spots and make some real money.

Hood is going to have his hands full once Draper realizes that he's under suspicion and then seeks to kill the one person who might be able to bring him down. It's going to be a cat-and-mouse game with the loser paying the ultimate price--death!

T. Jefferson Parker, like authors Michael Connelly and Robert Crais, knows the Los Angeles County area like the back of his hand and brings it alive with his magical prose, enabling the reader to feel as if he's actually there in sunny Southern California, dodging bullets. Parker also creates rather interesting characters, especially with regards to the villains, who always seem to breath and live like people in the real world. They're always human with chinks in their personalities that make them fun to read about. Even the secondary characters are well drawn out and never boring. This is what makes Mr. Parker's novels such a treat to read. He takes you into L.A. or Orange County, and you get to ride with the police for a few days to find out what life is really like in the underbelly of society. And, the heroes are people with everyday problems just like you and I, so they never step into the realm of not being believable.

All of this makes The Renegades an enjoyable read and Charlie Hood is a character you'd like to see more of, especially with one of Parker's earlier creations like Joe Trona, who appeared in Silent Joe.

"The Renegades" is a sequel to T. Jefferson Parker's "L.A. Outlaws" and continues the saga of Charlie Hood. In "The Renegades", Parker continues his signature stylings that have made him a must read author in the suspense thriller genre. Believe me, if you are not a fan already, Parker deserves your attention. His work is so naturally fluid that the reader never stops to think about plot, characterization, or pacing until the novel is over... the reader just flows with the story until suddenly realizing it is over.

"The Renegades" has a more convoluted plot than some of Parker's work and it is told through two separate POV's in alternating chapters; yet, this device just helps fill in the back story as the plot unfolds. Charlie Hood lost something internally when Allison Murietta, his great love, died in "L.A.Outlaws." He has transferred from L.A. to the windswept and increasingly dangerous deserts in the Antelope Valley region. He chooses to be alone as he drives constantly reviewing his past and wondering of his future. He does maintain contact with Allison's son, Bradley Jones, who hangs with a dangerous crowd, has great potential, and is destined to either enter law enforcement or spend a life confronting it.

A random pairing places Hood on a patrol with Terry Laws, known as "Mr. Wonderful" for his community service and well nurtured image. In a blast of unexpected gunfire, Laws is seemingly "executed" while Hood is allowed to live, perhaps as a witness. Hood is quickly inducted into Internal Affairs, a position from which he can legally hunt the killer. He begins by investigating Laws and soon discovers that Laws and his reservist partner, Coleman Draper, may not be all that they project.

In quick fashion, "The Renegades" becomes a modern morality tale positioned in the new west and featuring drug running cartels, money laundering schemes, and brutality that will sober the most jaundiced reader. There are double crosses, triple crosses, and, of course, dirty cops to be revealed. The pacing is excellent for the most part and, as usual, Parker is outstanding in his characterizations. There is some added suspense as to where Bradley Jones will land as far as his commitment to the law and his future. I unequivocally recommend "The Renegades" to any fan of thrillers and suggest the new reader might start first with "L.A. Outlaws."

Once again, T. Jefferson Parker has written a well researched novel. I've read this author before and have nearly always been more than satisfied. A page turner, he's able to sustain suspense like few in any genre. The characters are real, deep and complex. I think this is his first featuring the lead character, Charlie Hood, LASD, LA Sheriff's Dept. Would have made Charlie a bit older, only because his experience and expertise in this book seemed to demand an older, more seasoned Deputy. However, as being one of only 3 novelists to win more than one Edgar for a novel - well, that speaks for itself. Great scenes, good cast of characters hopefully he keeps, and action that's simply non-stop. A must read! I'll be looking forward to more of Charlie Hood in the future.

On a whole not poorly written but not as interesting as the book that came before it. The problem is that Deputy Hood isn't an interesting character, Allison Murrieta was the star of the first novel. And neither the Villain Terry Laws (not that dangerous comparing to both the villains of the first novel) nor the anti-hero (Allison's son) are interesting enough to drive the narrative forward and the story seems to be just a sequel written to satisfy the fans of the first one, riding its success. If Parker wants another sequel of this, please focus to develop the person who is now going to take the mantle of Murrieta, properly grow him, and please, less of Deputy Hood.

Charlie Hood is an enigmatic member of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department (LASD) who has transferred from Los Angeles to Antelope Valley which is north of L.A... Hood figured heading out to the barren desert would help him emotionally adapt and recover from the inner and outer turmoil that his life had been reduced to... both on... and off... the job. In Hood's not too distant past... not only did the woman he love die... but Hood had "talked to Internal Affairs (IA) about a superior he mistook for an honest man, and who was soon to stand trial for eight felonies. Hood would be called as a witness by the prosecution, which he dreaded." So in addition to nursing a broken heart... he also had to disregard the perceived scorn of other Sheriff's... who as a long standing principal disowned anyone who cooperated with IA against one of their own.

For many reasons Hood was a unique individual. He liked just driving in his car... in fact... he liked it so much... that in addition to driving all day in a patrol car... he kept his home in L.A. even after transferring to Antelope Valley... so he could enjoy the hour plus ride back and forth to work each day. The additional fact that he was a military veteran... and a man of few words... for any Robert Crais fans out there... Hood's vibes are eerily similar to Joe Pike. Hood's new partner is Terry Laws... known to almost everyone as "Mr. Wonderful". He's a champion weight lifter... runs a charitable organization... collects toys for underprivileged kids... and is murdered with a spray of bullets from a machine gun while on duty with Hood. Hood for some reason is spared. Hood vows revenge... and as fate would have it... he is assigned to the hated IA with the task of finding his partners killer. From that point on it is non-stop action as Hood quickly and continually... discovers that "Mr. Wonderful"... was anything but wonderful. As Hood researches Laws complete file... things start smelling funny. One of Laws arrests was Shay Eichrodt, "age thirty-four, six-feet-eight, three-hundred pounds. A felon, Aryan Brother, later determined to be very high on crystal meth and alcohol." Shay was beaten to a pulp by Laws and his former partner LASD reservist Coleman Draper. The report also stated that Shay had been pulled over and "conveniently" arrested for the murder of two drug-money-mules Vasquez and Lopes earlier that evening. Hood finds that from that night forward Laws was depositing over $7,000.00 per week... every week... into the bank. This amount of money was certainly not from his Sheriff's salary. From there the author describes weekly money deliveries to Mexico in excess of $300-400,000.00 per week to the scary head of a drug cartel. The investigative work and surveillance detailed throughout these pages keep the story moving at a brisk pace. Hood eloquently summarizes his personal situation: "SIX MONTHS AGO HE HAD HELPED TO BUST A FELLOW DEPUTY, AND FAILED TO HELP A RECKLESS WOMAN STAY ALIVE. HE HAD VOLUNTARILY LEFT L.A. FOR ANTELOPE VALLEY, WHERE HE HAD HOPED FOR QUIETER DAYS AND TIME TO REFLECT. BUT NOW HE WAS IA AND DEEP INTO A COLD CASE INVOLVING MURDERED DRUG COURIERS, SUSPECT DEPUTIES, MYSTERIOUS PILES OF MONEY AND A MACHINE-GUNNED PARTNER. HOOD FELT LIKE A WRECKING BALL."

The only problem with the overall flow occurs periodically as the author switches narrators with no warning or introduction... and the reader is left scratching their head for awhile. Other than that... the author clearly has as much fun with words as a child has with opening presents on Christmas morning. Here are a few tidbits: "THE DAY WAS COOL AND THE BREEZE CAME AND WENT LIKE A DOUBT."... "THE YELLOW CRIME SCENE TAPE HAD TORN LOOSE FROM THE PEPPERTREE AND NOW IT FLAPPED IN THE WIND LIKE IT WAS TRYING TO ESCAPE."... "THEIR WEIGHT VIBRATED THE METAL STAIRCASE, AND THE SNOWFLAKES ON THE RAILING WOBBLED AND FELL."... "THE SUN SAT ON THE OCEAN LIKE A FAT RED HEN, THEN SANK IN THE NIGHT."... "THE WORLD DIES A LITTLE WHEN GOOD PEOPLE DO NOTHING."

i always look forward to reading T. Jefferson Parkers books, they are fast paced and always exciting. I hope he gets out another one soon.

Losing a sometime partner - Terry Laws - in a barrage of automatic gun fire shakes L.A. County sheriff's deputy Charlie Hood out of his funk over the untimely death of his former lover, the spectacular outlaw Allison Murrietta ("L. A. Outlaws").

"Hood had patrolled with Laws before and thought that something was eating the big man, but Hood believed there was something eating most of us."

Laws - known as Mr. Wonderful for his bodybuilding and children's charities - had a dark side. While Hood investigates the murder, Coleman Draper, Laws' former partner, feels out a young recruit in an alternate first-person narrative, reeling him in with the temptations of crime and riches.

The narratives converge as Hood rummages into Laws' biggest crime bust and Parker, a happy sociopath, peels away layers of deceit.

This story is not as over-the-top thrilling as "L.A.Outlaws," but the subtler psychology has its own menacing suspense. Hood, while still a restless rookie, has grown into his role as a reflective man of action. There's a quirky spark of romance and great desert atmosphere and a couple of important ambiguities still to be resolved at the end.

Another fine thriller from Edgar winner Parker.