The Perpetrators
Marley is an expeditor. He moves stuff--or people, if need be--from one location to another. He has 24 hours to move Lina Guzman, heiress to a Mexican drug fortune, from Tijuana into the U.S. What should be a cruise-control Sunday drive turns into a NASCAR-meets-the-WWF spectacle seasoned with enough weaponry to fuel a Third-World insurrection. Chief among the evildoers out to foil Marley is Samson Twelvetrees, who wants Guzman's empire for himself. Stir in corrupt government officials, padded cops, and assorted armed thugs with murky motives, and we have what amounts to a literary video game. In the center of the maelstrom are Marley and Lina, who can't find the time to catalyze their obvious chemistry because they are too busy shooting, punching, kicking, and stabbing. The dialogue between the two is in the best tradition of Tracy-Hepburn distilled to its underlying, four-letter essence. This is no-frills fun for those who like their crime novels brimming with nonstop action and scented with cordite. Here's hoping Marley reloads for another adventure in the future.Wes LukowskyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved