Illegal
Non-series
Paul
Levine
Bantam
(Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-553-80673-4 (0553806734)
ISBN-13: 978-0-553-80673-1 (9780553806731)
Publication Date: March 2009
List Price: $22.00
Synopsis (from
the publisher): Haunted by a tragedy in his past and wanted by the cops
for his latest malfeasance, trial lawyer Jimmy
“Royal” Payne needs to skip town. That’s
when he crosses paths with twelve-year-old Tino Perez, newly arrived
from Mexico with no money and no papers. The gutsy kid first robs
Payne, then pleads for his help. Marisol, the boy’s mother,
is missing, after crossing the border with a vicious coyote.
Payne doesn’t go out of his way for anyone. But ex-wife
Sharon, the L.A.P.D. detective he still loves, gives him a choice: help
the boy or go to jail.
Following a chain of greed, corruption, and betrayal, Payne traces
Marisol’s steps from Mexicali to California’s
Hellhole Canyon, swept into the dark current of illegal immigration,
human trafficking, and sexual slavery. Soon the cynical lawyer and the
savvy kid are bonding…and battling cunning predators on both
sides of the border. It’s the two of them against an army of
cops, coyotes, vigilantes, and sex slavers. Most dangerous of all is
Simeon Rutledge, a wealthy grower and the biggest employer of farm
workers in California.
Just why is Rutledge willing to bribe Payne -- or kill him -- to keep
Marisol under wraps? Will Payne’s quest redeem his mistakes
and resurrect his dead marriage—or get him buried in a
shallow grave? Either way, he’ll find out there’s
no escaping his past.
Review:
Illegal, a
stand-alone thriller by Paul Levine, is the story
of a lawyer at a
crossroad in his life, only seeing a future of despair but
seizing
an opportunity to make a difference in someone else's life and
ultimately, just possibly, his own.
J. Atticus "Jimmy" Payne has had a tough year, a year he wouldn't wish
on anyone. He lost his 10-year-old son in a hit-and-run automobile
accident, and lost his wife through divorce. Not only has he suffered,
his wife has suffered and his law practice suffered. Not able to accept
his son’s death, believing it was somehow his fault, he has
forced out of his life the people and experiences that have meant the
most to him. Because of a trial fiasco, he has been found in contempt
of the court and sentenced to jail time. With the help of a friend, he
manages to escape from jail and heads for his office to get whatever he
needs to leave Los Angeles and try to start a new life somewhere else,
anywhere else. But he's confronted by a 12-year-old street-wise Mexican
boy who has illegally entered the United States and was separated at
the border from his single mother, Marisol. The boy, Augustino, begs
Jimmy to help him find her. Jimmy, who for over a year had not gone out
of his way to help anyone, is told by his ex-wife, police officer
Sharon Payne, to either help Nino or she would see to it that he is
arrested again. And this time sent to prison for good. Jimmy elects to
help Tino.
Jimmy takes Tino back to Mexico so they can try to follow the steps
Marisol may have had to take. Jimmy takes on the role of an alien
trying to enter the US illegally. He trades his car for another with
new plates, gets a visa for himself and a student visa for Tino, and
off they are on an adventure filled with brutality, sexual slavery,
selling of humans, money exchanges and murder. Jimmy and Nino trail
Marisol’s movements from Mexicali to California’s
Hellhole
Canyon. Now that they knew where she is, will her
“owner”
give her up? Can she be reunited with her son Tino?
Illegal
is more than
just a thriller; it paints a bitter picture of Mexicans trying to
illegally cross the US border to work, to create a better environment
for themselves and the families they leave behind. Levine seems to be
using Jimmy as a metaphor here, that the conflicts he faces are
analogous in some way to those of the Federal government. Though the
author tends to take a balanced approach here, with both pros and cons
considered, the problem is overly complex and the metaphor in the end
tends to fail. There are no absolutes here. Still, as a suspense novel,
the story generally works. Just don't read too much in to it.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Illegal and to Authors on the Web for providing a copy of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
Have you read Illegal? How would you rate it?
Non-series thrillers by this author ...
9
Scorpions
Pocket Books (Hardcover), September 1998
ISBN-10: 0-671-01939-2 (0671019392)
ISBN-13: 978-0-671-01939-6 (9780671019396)
Illegal
(), January 1900
ISBN-10: 0-553-80673-4 (0553806734)
ISBN-13: 978-0-553-80673-1 (9780553806731)
Omnimystery
keywords for Illegal
...
Location(s) referenced: Los Angeles, California, Baja California,
Mexico.
