The Devil's Hatband: A Novel (CJ Floyd Mystery Series) [Paperback]

Robert Greer (Author), John Dunning (Foreword)

Book Description

Series: CJ Floyd Mystery Series | Publication Date: September 30, 2004

When the daughter of a black federal judge gets carried away with her militant environmentalism, Denver bail bondsman and sometime bounty hunter CJ Floyd is hired to retrieve her and the important documents she possesses. But when CJ finds her, she's been strangled with the devil's hatband—a length of barbed wire—the symbol of the cattle industry she wants to destroy. The body count mounts as CJ's search for the murderer makes him a target for environmentalist crazies, gangbangers, police, and even a deadly, genetically engineered virus. This is a first novel, and the first in a series, and it's a worthy debut.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Crimes against cattle and cars feature strongly in this muddled but undeniably original debut starring CJ Floyd, a black Denver bail bondsman and sometime bounty hunter. Hired by a couple of corporate troubleshooters, CJ searches for the missing daughter of a black federal judge, figuring that his clients are less interested in Brenda Mathison than in some documents they say she stole. Brenda is a leader of PlanetFirst, a gang of animal rights fanatics who've been tormenting some ranchers. The group's ranks also include two hard cases who share Brenda's bed at various times, and who have in their possession a new killer virus that could effectively wipe out the cattle population. By the time CJ arrives at Brenda's rural cabin, she's dead on the floor, wearing a barbed-wire necklace. CJ's subsequent investigation is as much a ritual of revenge as it is a battle for controlling rights to the virus. Greer packs in a few too many subplots (a slow romance with a woman at a diner; a feud with a Denver gangster), and he reiterates too often what we already know: that a black man like CJ knows justice isn't blind. But his narrative is taut and the characters?the tough CJ and others?are intriguing. Though Greer could easily have jettisoned a hundred pages and still retain a slick-functioning mystery, his first work, for all its excesses, leaves a reader hungry for more. Author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

When the daughter of a black federal judge gets carried away with her militant environmentalism, Denver bail bondsman and sometime bounty hunter C. J. Floyd is hired to retrieve her and the important documents she possesses. But when C. J. finds her, she's been strangled with the devil's hatband--a length of barbed wire--the symbol of the cattle industry she wants to destroy. The body count mounts as C. J.'s search for the murderer makes him a target for environmentalist crazies, gangbangers, police, and even a deadly, genetically engineered virus. This is a first novel, and the first in a series, and it's a worthy debut. C. J. is the archetypal lone-wolf American private eye; he's smart, tough, principled, and complex in the best Philip Marlowe tradition. But C. J. is African American, and his Denver 'hood is a fascinating place filled with lovingly drawn characters. Author Robert Greer has a winner on his hands, and librarians should tout C. J. to patrons who scour the new fiction shelves for hard-boiled mysteries. Thomas Gaughan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Frog Books (September 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583941193
• ISBN-13: 978-1583941195
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.8 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,034,791 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It'll Keep You Guessing Till The Very End..., September 3, 1999

By 

Janice Sims "a reader & a writer" (Central Florida) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Devil's Hatband (Mass Market Paperback)

The Devil's Hatband is my first Robert Greer novel. A friend who reviews for a California-based magazine told me about him since she knew I'm interested in the mystery genre. CJ Floyd is a character that gets to your heart. I know some folks like their detectives (CJ's a bounty hunter, but you'd just as well call him a detective) hardboiled. CJ is tough but also a thinker. I like that. Mr. Greer wrote a very believable tale about the cattle industry in a time when a comment from Oprah can throw them into an uproar. I never realized how cutthroat the cattle business could be. And Mr. Greer peopled his novel with memorable folks like Billy Delong, Dittier Atkins and Morgan Williams broken down ex-rodeo cowboys whom I hated to say so long to. And Mavis, CJ's on-again, off-again lady who had HIS number but still liked to call sometimes. Fresh, lively and thoroughly entertaining. I'm ordering the other CJ Floyd mysteries.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DEFINITE NAIL-BITER., September 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Devil's Hatband (Mass Market Paperback)

THE DEVIL'S HATBAND IS AN IMPRESSIVE NOVEL FROM ROBERT O GREER. GREER HAS A TALENT FOR DEVELOPING BOTH LOVABLE AND HATEFUL CHARACTERS. GREER ALSO WRITES VIVID DESCRIPTIONS OF THE BEAUTIFUL AND HARSH ASPECTS OF LIFE IN DENVER AND SURROUNDING AREAS. THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN CJ FLOYD (DENVER BONDSMAN) AND VARIOUS DEGREES OF LAWBREAKERS WILL COMPLETELY OCCUPY YOUR MIND UNTIL YOU'VE FINISHED THE BOOK -- AND PERHAPS EVEN AFTER THAT! WELL DONE DR. GREER!

4.0 out of 5 stars The Devil's Hatband, July 4, 2009

By 

G. Bolin (Arvada, Co.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Devil's Hatband: A Novel (CJ Floyd Mystery Series) (Paperback)

A good story line. Living in the Denver area for almost 40 years I enjoyed how the author used locations in the city and Colo.