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A review by veronica87
Big Red Tequila by Rick Riordan
3.0
Jackson "Tres" Navarre is returning to his hometown of San Antonio after a ten year absence to see if he can make a go of things with his old high school/college sweetheart. He would've married her back then but witnessing his father, then the local County Sheriff, being gunned down in their front yard (and the case never solved) - well, that does things to a young man. So, instead of the life he'd always thought he wanted, Tres suddenly needed a fresh start as far away as he could get. He made good use of that interim decade, earning a PhD in Literature and becoming a Tai Chi devotee, and generally making a life for himself in San Francisco. Once back on his old stomping grounds, however, it doesn't take long for the old questions about his father's murder to start reasserting themselves.
The author, Rick Riordan, is, of course, best know for his successful Percy Jackson YA series but this one pre-dates that. I mostly picked this up because I'm quite familiar with San Antonio and Riordan did a credible job of hitting a lot of the local hot spots, though several have changed or are no longer around (this was published back in 1997). I found his portrayal of the Mexican and Mexican-American people in the story far less appealing.
As a lead character, Tres was okay though I admit that some of the bests moments in the story for me were when he was getting punched or run over by cars. He's the kind of guy who always has a smug comment to make and who's too cool to ever feel something as mundane as fear when guns are placed to his head - which his Tai Chi skills can usually take care of with minimal sweat spent - so those moments when life swats him down are just like cherries on top of sundaes. Of the secondary characters, none really stood out. And don't get me started on Tres' romantic life. I'm not sure what was going on there. There's the San Antonio (old-ex) girlfriend but there's also apparently a (not-so-old-ex) San Francisco girlfriend, though the details on that relationship are never made clear so maybe that was just a friends-with-benefits thing. It was all too vague and odd. So, needless to say, I wasn't invested in either relationship. I will say this, though, at least the San Franciso lady had some useful skills that could come in very handy if the rest of Tres' life is going to be like his first week back in his hometown.
The cold case surrounding the murder of Tres' father started off interesting but it got too convoluted and there were too many potential players involved. I started losing track of who was who and who potentially did what and the ultimate reveal seemed a little far fetched. I'll give this a generous three stars and I may check out the second book...mostly because I already own it, having picked up books one and two at a used bookstore.
The author, Rick Riordan, is, of course, best know for his successful Percy Jackson YA series but this one pre-dates that. I mostly picked this up because I'm quite familiar with San Antonio and Riordan did a credible job of hitting a lot of the local hot spots, though several have changed or are no longer around (this was published back in 1997). I found his portrayal of the Mexican and Mexican-American people in the story far less appealing.
As a lead character, Tres was okay though I admit that some of the bests moments in the story for me were when he was getting punched or run over by cars. He's the kind of guy who always has a smug comment to make and who's too cool to ever feel something as mundane as fear when guns are placed to his head - which his Tai Chi skills can usually take care of with minimal sweat spent - so those moments when life swats him down are just like cherries on top of sundaes. Of the secondary characters, none really stood out. And don't get me started on Tres' romantic life. I'm not sure what was going on there. There's the San Antonio (old-ex) girlfriend but there's also apparently a (not-so-old-ex) San Francisco girlfriend, though the details on that relationship are never made clear so maybe that was just a friends-with-benefits thing. It was all too vague and odd
Spoiler
(sleeping with his ex-San Francisco girlfriend while his potential San Antonio girlfriend - the one he moved halfway across the country to be with - is missing/kidnapped was in serious poor taste)The cold case surrounding the murder of Tres' father started off interesting but it got too convoluted and there were too many potential players involved. I started losing track of who was who and who potentially did what and the ultimate reveal seemed a little far fetched. I'll give this a generous three stars and I may check out the second book...mostly because I already own it, having picked up books one and two at a used bookstore.