P.I. Wil Hardesty is hired to solve the murders of seven little children whose skeletons are discovered in the California desert. Evidence indicates that their throats were cut, and the only available clue is a tarnished, peeling St. Christopher medal with a faded inscription.
The Innocents
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Author Richard Barre kicked off his Wil Hardesty series with this smart, psychologically nuanced first novel, which garnered a 1996 Shamus Award. As The Innocents opens, a flash flood in the California desert has uncovered the dessicated remains of seven children. The only clue to their identity: a worn St. Christopher medal inscribed "Vaya Con Dios, Benito. Papa, 1967."
Years before, as an impoverished Mexican peasant, Ignacio Reyes, sold his youngest son to a border runner. He used the money to bring his family over into the United States and open the first of his chain of successful restaurants, but he's been tortured with guilt ever since. Meanwhile, aging surfer, Vietnam vet, and private detective Wil Hardesty is wrestling with his own demons after his son's accidental drowning four years earlier and his own subsequent breakdown.
When Reyes contacts Wil, asking him to investigate the deaths of those seven children, Hardesty unearths far more than just bones--including artifacts from a bloodthirsty Santeria cult. The plot is gripping, the dialogue sharp, and the villains very villainous indeed, but the character of Wil Hardesty is what separates this mystery from the rest of the pack. More than just another private-eye-with-a-troubled-past, Hardesty is both complicated and flawed, a very real human who brings a lifetime's worth of pain, passion, and guilt to bear on solving this crime. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Barre enjoys modest success with a debut that, weighted with angst, stands uncertainly on a rickety plot. Aging surfer and Vietnam vet Wil Hardesty watches his marriage and sleuthing practice falter in the wake of his young son's death. He does still get the odd case, however: in this instance, the father of a dead boy comes forward when the bones of seven children are discovered in the California desert. With the help of the father, who tells of giving his son up for adoption to a frightening man with a scar, Wil follows the trail to a powerful church, a charismatic preacher and a generous benefactor?and the man with the scar. The scenario suggests serial murder, illegal adoption, pedophilia or satanic dabblings. Managing to steer clear of the expected, Barre falters in the end with a simplistic solution. His efficient narrative style begs to be used on a better story.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"The innocent and the beautiful have no enemy but time." Yeats,
By
This review is from: The Innocents (Wil Hardesty Novels) (Paperback)
Imagine reading the news that seven graves of young children have been discovered at Saddleback Butte, in the California desert? Even reporters are horrified and refer to the deceased children as The Innocents.
The bones are old and cannot be identified except for a St. Christopher's medal with an inscription that mentions the name Benito. Eventually, a man who learns of the inscription, believes that this may be the body of his six-year-old son. He contacts private investigator Wil Hardesty for help. With heartacke showing through his words, Ignacio Reyes, explains how desperately poor his family was in Mexico. Then they heard about a border runner named Bolo Zavala. This man was contacted and saw how poor and nearly starving the family was. He informed them that if they gave him their son Benito. The child would have enough to eat and would be placed in a good home with a wealthy family in the United States. With the money Zavala would get from placing the child in adoption, he would take Reyes and his family across the border. Eventually, the father agreed and has lived with the sadness and loss since then. Wil is assisted by his friend, Paul Rodriguez. The men were Vietnam buddies. As they talk, we learn that Wil has a particular reason for wanting to help with this case. Wil can relate to Reyes because Wil lost his ten-year-old son to a surfing accident. He still feels the acute sadness that grips the parent who has suffered the loss of a child. As the search for Zavela continues, possible leads arrive and the reader learns that the title of the novel, "The Innocents" doesn't just represent the children who have been murdered in the desert. It describes the men searching for Zavala and his associates. We come to wonder, how many people has Zavala killed and how did a certain businessman become so wealthy in the midst of the poverty that surrounds him. The chronicle is filled with the grief of Benito's father, since the child's mother died not long after the parents gave their child away. We also see the sadness of Wil and his wife who discuss wanting another child. There is still one other character who has a baby that could be the next child murdered. This drama gives the reader pause to think about what can exist and how fortunate they are that others take responsibility to find and stop criminals and killers such as are described in the novel.
19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
SUPERB book. Hard to believe it's a first effort.,
By sbeas@macol.net (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Innocents (Wil Hardesty Novels) (Paperback)
THIS WRITER IS GOOD. Several times I'd picked this book up and put it down because of the synopses I'd read - surfer private investigator and such. This private eye has been very poorly misrepresented. Think of Wil Hardesty as a cross between early Spenser and Harry Bosch. Yes, he does surf but I won't get into that here because reading the book will put it into perspective for you. Mr. Barre's characters are tight and very original. Had to read the last 100 pages in one sitting as I couldn't put the book down. Highest recommendations for this book.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Wil Hardesty, Determined PI, Deadly Friend.,
By
This review is from: The Innocents (Wil Hardesty Novels) (Paperback)
Richard Barre's novel THE INNOCENTS, introduces PI Wil Hardesty. Wil is a Viet Nam Vet, surfer-dude, who rides a Harley. Also, as the novel opens, he is a mourning father and troubled husband, trying to hash out the terms of his marriage after he and his wife, Lisa, have lost their 11year old son in a surfing accident. The theme of children lost to tragedy permeates this novel as Wil investigates the apparent ritualistic murder of seven children, their skeletal remains found in the desert after a rainstorm has uncovered them. A medallion found with one of the skeletons and publicized on TV alerts Wil's client that it was his son that was murdered and recently found. However, this client is reluctant to come forward due to the fact that for all intents and purposes he sold his son in exchange for safe passage across the border into the US for him and the rest of his family. Quickly Wil and his friend Paul Rodriguez quickly zero in on a strong suspect, the deadly Zavala Bolo who bought the child years earlier and gave Wil's client passage into the US. Just as quickly Bolo and his associates realize that Wil and Paul are after them and begin counter measures to evade capture, including plans to terminate the PI and his companion. The strength of the novel is its portray of Zavala and his associates as frightening threats. A few scenes give you the enemies' POV, in order to build tension by revealing how close the villain is to doing in the heroes. The novel is adequately written in a third person point of view, which allows Barre to reveal the minds of the villains as well as those of the PI, his associates, and several of the vitcims. Barre has attempted an ambitious first outing, however, there are several spots where the novel falls short. First, those PI fans that are used to getting a full-blown exposure to the PI's personality and mind through first person narration may feel distanced from Wil. It's as if Barre is holding everyone at arm's length from his main character. There are a few scenes in fact where we're given the interior world of minor characters better than the mind of Wil. I comprehended the tragedy of his lost son and the problems of his marriage but never felt them. Second, the plot hinges too heavily on coincidences: the upper hand given to the enemies by slips of the tongue by Paul and Wil at various points, clues consist of scraps of paper and candy wrappers (flimsy), and Wil lucks out when it comes to finding an expert in art/social history. Third, several characters are snuffed out or come close to death because of their association with Wil. In other words, it seems as if you're taking your life in your hands if are related to or otherwise in a relationship with Wil Hardesty. I'll spare you the list of causalities, suffice it to say, I had my doubts any characters would survive til the next installment. Overall if you can stand a few stretchers in believability and don't mind a bit of distance from your main investigator, THE INNOCENTS is spare, frightening thriller.
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