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A series of seemingly unrelated crimes finds Deke Tanner battling wits with a gorgeous but deadly female explosives expert—both stepping in the shadows of the DEA, state police, gangsters, assassins and drug dealers in the swamps of south Louisiana’s Atchafalaya Basin.
The concept as conceived by an enterprising Mississippi lawyer was to create a new cocaine pipeline directly from Bolivia to Chicago, bypassing the cartels and the DEA. It was unprecedented, brilliant and potentially very profitable. Then, everything fell apart: an explosion, people are dead or missing, and forty kilos of pure cocaine and two million in cash have vanished. Motive and suspects are epidemic but every solution points to a Cajun girl hiding in the bowels of Red-Eye Swamp near Catahoula. Louisiana.
The author describes Catspaw in his own words:
“Catspaw is a techno-thriller that captures the action and the urgency of the chase, the agony and fears inured by the innocent, the pathological indifference of criminals, and the thrill of the surprise when the reader discovers twists in the plot that glue your eyes to the pages. Think of The Day of the Jackal meets Clear and Present Danger and you’ll get the idea.”
David L. Fey draws from his military background, extensive travels, experiences and close relations with the Cajuns of south Louisiana, and knowledge of the Mississippi Delta where he was raised.
Reviews:
Catspaw, ISBN: 0974695912, by David Fey
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-Reviewer: |
BookReview.com (Madison, WI United States) |
“The world of drug trafficking is paved with the blood and souls of its victims and quite often, the players themselves. Yet another new drug ring is under the ever-watchful eye of the DEA and things are about to get very complicated. During a planned drop some things go awry...intense explosions, shootings, missing people and missing cash in the amount of two million, not to mention the disappearance of 40 kilos of pure cocaine. The players are left scratching their heads and blaming each other, eventually losing a great deal more than a future drug deal.
Meanwhile, down in Texas, Deke Tanner is enjoying the great outdoors until a shadow from his past pays a visit. Compelled to clear the threat of exposure Deke hires a Private Investigator to do some digging. What he finds does not put his mind at ease and leads him to take actions that he wishes he didn't have to.
The character list now becomes full with diversity. From a small town cop to a mob family boss, an innocent young woman who can speak to the animals of the swamp, to her sister who is through with her lowlife criminal husband, from good old boy Deke Turner who may end up paying for his loyalty to friendship, to a mysterious female operative who is a wiz with explosives and stealth, the protagonists are anything but boring. The plot is twisted and complicated but full of suspense and intrigue.
There is a bit of repetitiveness in regards to the facts of the story. I felt that the author was trying to be sure that everyone understood what had happened, what was going on and what was coming. It would have been better to spell this all out exactly as it unfolded when it occurred rather than rehashing the facts from every main character's viewpoint, but this approach still worked and in the end the reader is pretty clear on what all happened. At least as sure as the main character is.
"Catspaw" is a fast paced, well thought out adventure that will have you smiling at the power of small town family and wondering what might really be going on out in the big world in which we live.”
-“I really enjoyed this book. It had all the ingredients one looks for in a thriller and it has a bundle of subplots with inventive and diverse characters. That could normally invite confusion but in this case, the plot is strategically fabricated over a brief, finely calculated thirteen days, by chapter. And for me, it stayed together. Great story, great characters. Deke Tanner will likely remind you of someone you know...it did for me.”
-“This book kept me in suspence the entire time! It was well written and the ending was sensational!! The action kept me on the edge of my seat. In essence, it was a WONDERFUL READ!!”
-“....and unfortunately, motive is epidemic." Wow. That may personally be a bad thing for our main man, Deke Tanner, but it certainly offers a thrilling ride for the reader. I really like the treatment of this character. I'm not knocking the James Bonds and the Jack Ryans of the world, but it's refreshing to encounter a protagonist who is forced (self-preservation being the #1 emotion last time I checked) to engage the bad guys foremost with his wits, his logic, and his unpredictable nature instead of battling baddies on their own turf with minimal resources. In other words, he's a believably ordinary guy applying a mix of standard military training, hunting acumen, caution and intelligence to the tasks at hand. He's no hot-shot, he's not bionic, he doesn't work for the government or the legal community, and he doesn't have pro bono blood running through his veins. In fact, he's not even particularly lucky.
Now, take that great character style and imbed it into a hard-charging thriller storyline stretching from St. Louis to the Mississippi Delta to Louisiana's Atchafalaya Swamp with life-like bad guys (come back, Mano, readers will want an entire book on you), assassins, cops and Cajuns and you're left asking, "WHY HASN'T SOMEBODY MADE A MOVIE OUT OF THIS?"
If you enjoy being able to predict a book's ending when you're only half-way through, pass on this one. Otherwise, open the book, open your mind, and enjoy the ride...it's definitely worth your time. Once you get tight with Deke, go back and read Fey's first novel, Whitetail, which introduces the reader to Deke at the nasty age of eight. 2 Cool.”
-“This book kept me on my toes. The inner games that the author plays with the action is |
