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jrobles76's review against another edition
4.0
So glad I started reading T. Jefferson Parker! I think it's a bit of a misnomer to call this a Charlie Hood novel, this book is more about Bradley, and [spoiler] Bradley is the one who actually wins in the end. [/spoiler]
This book is again told in the same way as the others in this series, with the first person narrative being that of one of the main, I won't say villains, but antagonists. This is a story that really hits home for me, since I originally come from the Texas/Mexico border and still live in Texas, so the stories of the Zetas and the drug cartels are something I see fairly often. The beheadings of bloggers and informants is something that was again in the news just a few weeks ago.
But as I said, this is more the story of Bradley, Allison Murietta's son who we met in the first of this series. Bradley is quickly making his way up the criminal ladder and is the main antagonist for Charlie. Bradley is an excellent criminal and is kind of the Moriarty to Hood's Holmes. The story of his love for his fiancee is quite compelling, and I'm afraid of how his life will effect her in the future.
I have the next book in the series ready to go, and will see how things turn out.
This book is again told in the same way as the others in this series, with the first person narrative being that of one of the main, I won't say villains, but antagonists. This is a story that really hits home for me, since I originally come from the Texas/Mexico border and still live in Texas, so the stories of the Zetas and the drug cartels are something I see fairly often. The beheadings of bloggers and informants is something that was again in the news just a few weeks ago.
But as I said, this is more the story of Bradley, Allison Murietta's son who we met in the first of this series. Bradley is quickly making his way up the criminal ladder and is the main antagonist for Charlie. Bradley is an excellent criminal and is kind of the Moriarty to Hood's Holmes. The story of his love for his fiancee is quite compelling, and I'm afraid of how his life will effect her in the future.
I have the next book in the series ready to go, and will see how things turn out.
liberrydude's review against another edition
3.0
Iron River refers to the river of iron or guns headed south to Mexico. It's particulary relevant given the flawed ATF Operation Fast and Furious in the news this past week. I'd read the other three books in this series, this being number three, I'd known some of the events in this book. A good but unbelievable read. Found it a little far fetched with Hood going into Mexico twice to get a fellow agent. The agent is kidnapped from the US because a drug kingpin's son is accidently killed in a shootout. Hood rescues him in Baja Sur. Then the agent is kidnapped again from a US hospital by a bus of cartel commandoes! Hood goes south, this time all the way to San Luis Potosi and pays a ransom to a narcoficante. Meanwhile the gun shop in Costa Mesa is cranking out more guns while a guy who could be the devil sits in the same hospital the ATF agent was whisked away from by the cartel. It's a little weird at times but Charlie Hood is a compelling character.
dmantonya's review against another edition
2.0
This one was not one of my favorites. The story is about a bust by the Bureau of Alcohol, tobacco, and firearms with a lot of side stories thrown in. I felt it was slightly confusing.
brettt's review
3.0
Iron River is the third book T. Jefferson Parker wrote featuring Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy Charlie Hood, who is currently working with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on cases involving drug and gun smuggling across the California-Mexico border.
We met Charlie in L.A. Outlaws, when he tangled with part-time robber Suzanne Jones/Allison Murietta. We saw him begin to be involved in the larger smuggling world by squaring off against corrupt cops in Renegades, and Iron River finds him temporarily attached to a unit working in far southern California and trying to take down drug smugglers and gun runners. Their efforts sometimes seem to have little or no effect in stemming the massive flow of weapons into the hands of corrupt officials and narcotic-dealing warlords in Mexico, the "iron river" of the title.
Charlie and his fellow team members find themselves searching for one of their members whose killing of a drug lord's son brought about his kidnapping. At the same time, there are hints of a large gun deal being brokered with a bankrupt gun manufacturer who doesn't seem to spare much thought for just who might be buying his weapons. How is Bradley Wilson, Suzanne's oldest son, involved? And what role is being played by an accident victim who had Charlie's number in his pocket and a lot of knowledge about ATFE activities that he shouldn't have?
So far, the Hood books have had a lot of classic noir trappings -- the bad guys have a little bit of good in them and the really bad guys don't, and the good guys have something of a darker edge themselves and they don't always win. Iron River keeps that atmosphere alive, showing Charlie as a man in the middle of fighting for a lost cause, maybe because he's the kind of guy who thinks those are the only kinds of causes really worth fighting for. Parker has made Hood an introspective sort, using his handwritten letters to a father with Alzheimer's as a kind of "thinking out loud" device to help us pause and reflect. He's kind of a thinking man's tough guy, or maybe a tough man's thinking guy, depending on your point of view.
Before L. A. Outlaws, Parker wrote mostly standalone crime novels, but he's said in interviews he sees there being about six Charlie Hood books in all, together forming one longer narrative. Through this volume, at least, it seems worth the journey.
Original available here.
We met Charlie in L.A. Outlaws, when he tangled with part-time robber Suzanne Jones/Allison Murietta. We saw him begin to be involved in the larger smuggling world by squaring off against corrupt cops in Renegades, and Iron River finds him temporarily attached to a unit working in far southern California and trying to take down drug smugglers and gun runners. Their efforts sometimes seem to have little or no effect in stemming the massive flow of weapons into the hands of corrupt officials and narcotic-dealing warlords in Mexico, the "iron river" of the title.
Charlie and his fellow team members find themselves searching for one of their members whose killing of a drug lord's son brought about his kidnapping. At the same time, there are hints of a large gun deal being brokered with a bankrupt gun manufacturer who doesn't seem to spare much thought for just who might be buying his weapons. How is Bradley Wilson, Suzanne's oldest son, involved? And what role is being played by an accident victim who had Charlie's number in his pocket and a lot of knowledge about ATFE activities that he shouldn't have?
So far, the Hood books have had a lot of classic noir trappings -- the bad guys have a little bit of good in them and the really bad guys don't, and the good guys have something of a darker edge themselves and they don't always win. Iron River keeps that atmosphere alive, showing Charlie as a man in the middle of fighting for a lost cause, maybe because he's the kind of guy who thinks those are the only kinds of causes really worth fighting for. Parker has made Hood an introspective sort, using his handwritten letters to a father with Alzheimer's as a kind of "thinking out loud" device to help us pause and reflect. He's kind of a thinking man's tough guy, or maybe a tough man's thinking guy, depending on your point of view.
Before L. A. Outlaws, Parker wrote mostly standalone crime novels, but he's said in interviews he sees there being about six Charlie Hood books in all, together forming one longer narrative. Through this volume, at least, it seems worth the journey.
Original available here.
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