Stephen Leather cements his mastery of churning out gritty writing as he tackles a thriller quite distinct from his usual espionage narratives. Witchcraft, demons, and a former cop with the tools to battle evil, both human and supernatural.
Rio Grande Night centers on Jack Nightingale, a witty and haunted man with a peculiar past, who’s asked by a wealthy benefactor to investigate the disappearances of young foreigners in Mexico. Initially pegged as a human trafficking ring, Jack digs deeper to find out that there are more sinister and disturbing forces at play involving a macabre cartel that practices witchcraft and devil-worshiping. Jack must use his experiences of the supernatural to stop the madness before more innocents are brutally murdered.
Stephen Leather creates a vibrant and dark world that mirrors ours but has a lot more going on beyond what we can see. The limelight stays on the gritty old-school crime-solving antics of Jack Nightingale as he employs realistic tactics in uncovering the cartel. The fantastical and supernatural elements wonderfully complement the real-world thriller aspect and introduce a macabre element of violent horror to an already intense narrative. The ultimate result is a hair-raising story that unwinds in the most engaging fashion, keeping you gripped in both fascination and terror with palpable tension due to Stephen Leather’s brilliant fusion of two separate genres that poetically complement each other with stellar writing.
If you’re feeling adventurous, you’re going to love staying up late with Rio Grande Night and its exotic flavors of action and supernatural horror.
Follow Kashif on Twitter or contact him via the site.
Purchase Rio Grande Night
(Note: most indie bookstores can fulfill an order as quickly as larger retailers. Please consider contacting them for your next purchase.)
Barrington Books
Chapter 2 Books
Murder By The Book
Once Upon A Crime
The Book Dragon
The Poisoned Pen
