Ragged Justice

Ragged Justice is the second Lou Drake book, following Rejection which is one of my favorite crime novels of all time. This well-titled book (and you’ll have to read it to understand that) is a worthy successor. Rather then New York City, this book is set in San Diego and in the course of the books action, Matthews does a great job taking the reader on a tour of the city. The cast of characters is as diverse as any book that I’ve read, from the city elite in government, development, law enforcement, porn, and religion to the inner workings of and the diversity in San Diego’s homeless population. Wow! There are a lot of people to keep tract of but it’s worth paying attention as you get pulled in the mysteries.

Matthews’ premise is that there is vast corruption at the heart of the deals behind the development of important areas in the city. This is a complex plot that artfully unfolds – I didn’t see the conclusion coming until the very end. There are real heroes and villains in this story. The author writes with words that evoke emotion for the cruel and murderous reality behind corruption, with compassion for those innocents caught in the crossfire (both literally and figuratively), and with frustrations for those whose ultimate punishment does not fit the crime. Matthews’ captures the importance of choosing leaders in all aspects of life who can be trusted and the incredible difficulty of figuring out who those people might be.

This is a prepublication review. If you haven’t yet read Rejection, jump into that one now (January 2018). The publication of this second Lou Drake novel is about a month away.