GREASING THE PIÑATA

Armando Durán's powerful characterizations of sardonic PI Cape Weathers and his associate, Sally Mei, are believable and compelling. Two missing-person cases take them to Mexico to find controversial California State Senator Jim Dobbins and his drug-addicted son. Durán depicts Dobbins's estranged daughter, who hires Weathers, with bittersweet sensitivity. With sardonic humor he portrays the discovery of two mutilated bodies in the alligator pond of a Puerto Vallarta golf course. Instead of closing the case, it sets the stage for more action—with warring drug lords, a terrifying assassin, and an enigmatic Mexican police inspector. Descriptive scenes of piranhas at work are not for the squeamish. Exceptionally well done. G.D.W. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2009]