It is March 1956 and private
investigator Jack Laramie is in Dallas as Between Juarez And El Paso begins.
It has been a long drive for Jack in his Desoto towing his horse trailer home
as he came in to Dallas by way of Amarillo. All he wanted was a good drink when
he wandered into “Rube’s” on
Commerce and Field streets.
It was not long before a fight broke
out as they often do in drives such as “Rube’s”. In the aftermath of the brawl
he runs into a “Shel Eastman” who he first met on a forced march as prisoner of
war back in January of 45. They both survived the prison camp known as Stalag
Luft Three and more and came home with more than a few inner demons to deal
with. While Jack has found the open road to be some solace, what has kept Shel
going through still more grief in recent years is the love of his daughter,
Karen.
These days Karen is far from her
Dallas home as she is studying literature out at Texas Western University in El
Paso. At least, she is supposed to be there. Shel has no idea where his
daughter really is as both her and her college roommate seems to have vanished.
Staff of the university claims that Karen was never studying there. Police in
El Paso as well as local private investigator there were of zero help.
A while back there was a picture in
the local paper in Dallas that showed two Cuban casino owners, a U.S. Senator,
and three ladies. The ladies were young, beautiful women and one of them was
Karen. Despite the picture in the paper, Shel has not been able to get anyone
in El Paso interested in the
situation or the plight of his daughter. Shel was
politely warned off and the grief stricken father desperately needs Jack’s
help.
Jack goes to El Paso and soon
realizes something very strange is going on at the border city. It isn’t just
the fact that the staff at Texas Western is being so uncaring and difficult. It
isn’t just the fact that with a little help from a female contact he learns
young female students are disappearing at an alarming rate. It isn’t just the
fact that distinctive men in suits seem to be everywhere eyeballing certain
folks all while the local cops take a hands off approach. It is all that
and more and wants Jack Laramie sticks his nose in things his presence draws
unwelcome attention in multiple ways.
This sixth book in The
Drifter Detective series is another solidly good read. Written by Alec
Cizak there is a darker tone in this installment than some of the earlier read
in the series which began with The Drifter Detective by Garnett
Elliott. Plenty of action and intrigue are at work in novel that quickly escalates
the hard boiled tension as Jack Laramie confronts one and all in his latest
search for the truth. While it would help to have read earlier books this
enjoyable series, one could begin with Between Juarez And El Paso if one
were so inclined. It is a mighty good read.
Between Juarez And El Paso (The
Drifter Detective Series Book 6)
Alec Cizak
Beat To A Pulp
July 2015
ISBN# 978-1-943035-08-3
Paperback (e-book available)
114 Pages
$6.25
Paperback version supplied by the publisher in
exchange for my objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2015
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