Night Game

October 1, 2004
In his second outing (after Shell Games), California Fish and Game Lt. John Marquez and his Special Operations Unit (SOU) go undercover in the Sierras to find the source of bear parts farming, an illegal business made lucrative by Chinese medicine practitioners needing bear bile. Wary of his informant, Marquez also doubts local warden Bill Petroni's forthrightness since the two of them have a history-and Petroni is dating a member of a known poaching family. Worse still, sheriff's detective Jack Kendal wants to implicate Petroni in an unsolved homicide of a geology graduate student. Things really heat up when Petroni's estranged wife turns up dead, he disappears, and the SOU finds its case deeply entwined with the others. With its complex plotting and tough yet honorable protagonist, this exciting outdoor crime series is just the ticket for fans of C.J. Box's Joe Pickett and Joseph Heywood's Grady Service. For most mystery collections. Russell lives in Berkeley, CA.-Teresa L. Jacobsen, Santa Monica P.L., CA

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2004
Russell introduced a highly original detective, an officer in the California Department of Fish and Game, in last year's " Shell Games." The return of the Fish and Game officer, John Marquez, this time working forests rather than the shore, proves the debut was no fluke. This episode's focus is on trafficking in animal parts, specifically bear bile, which is prized as an alternative medicine. Marquez's covert-operations unit flushes out part of a trafficking ring, whichcaptures bears and then catheterizes them to remove the bile. The traffickers up the ante by murdering a geology student, who is a member of the Bear Initiative. Marquez, an ex-DEA agent, is a real grown-up, not one of the embittered loners who too often populate procedurals. Russell writes of the wilds with deep knowledge, making his story achingly credible.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)