Customer Reviews

The Last King of Texas

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Dr. Theodore Haimer was forced into retirement after making a racial slur. Soon after, he died from a heart attack. His replacement as an English professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio was Dr. Aaron Brandon. He received several threatening letters. In his first semester at the school, someone murdered Aaron. The administration offers the teaching seat to Tres Navarre. Besides English literature credentials, Tres has the additional experience of working for a private investigator. Tres accepts the position after a home made bomb addressed to Aaron blows up in the office.

The head of the Brandon murder investigation, San Antonio police detective Ana DeLeon, demands that Tres do no sleuthing. The police think Aaron's murder is personal and tied to the killing of his father several years ago. Tres, PI boss Erainya Manos also wants him to stay out of the investigation. The university has hired her agency to look into the threatening letters. She wants Tres to teach while another of her operatives, George Berton, uncover the facts. Tres may know his English literature well enough to teach three classes, but he also cannot stay on the sidelines, especially since he potentially could be victim number three.

The third Tres Navarre mystery is an entertaining tale that provides insight into the lead protagonist and several of the repeat supporting cast. The enjoyable story line is filled with action and colorful characters that provide insight into San Antonio. The subplots nicely tie back to the main story line. As with his two previous Navarre novels (see BIG RED TEQUILLA and THE WIDOWER'S TWO-STEP) Rick Riordan writes an enjoyable novel that provides readers with much pleasure.

Harriet Klausner

When I read mystery stories, I usually turn to the classics: Holmes, Wimsey, Wolfe. But when I choose a contemporary mystery, I tend to find myself drawn to authors whose stories have a strong sense of place: Margaret Truman in Washington, D.C., for example, or J.A. Jance here in Seattle. Now, I'm pleased to say, I can add San Antonio's Rick Riordan to the list.

Some of my family is in San Antonio, and it's where I went to school, so I found the setting of 'The Last King of Texas' very easy to embrace and understand. Riordan tosses out the names of local streets, landmarks, events, and personalities with an ease that may cause people unfamiliar with San Antonio a little confusion. But that shouldn't distract too much from this well crafted murder mystery.

The story itself is fast paced, and while there is a lot of fightin' and shootin' going on, the scenes are not disturbingly graphic. In fact, one of my main complaints with the story is that our P.I., Tres Navarre, sometimes seemed to have the superhuman qualities of a kung fu movie hero, able to single-handedly dispatch masses of bad guys with his lightning-fast moves. That slight unbelievability, however, did not extend into the story itself -- which, through all its twists and turns, remained believable and true to life. The solution to the mystery did not suggest itself too early, and was ultimately a satisfying payoff. Navarre himself is an attractive and likeable figure, and most of the other major characters, good and evil, were fully drawn.

Mark Twain famously called San Antonio 'one of America's four unique cities.' For anyone familiar with San Antonio, this novel will be an entertaining trip back. And even if you haven't been blessed with a trip to the Alamo City, you'll find yourself looking for the chips and margaritas to keep you company as you hurtle through this entertaining and exciting mystery. I will definitely be seeking out the two earlier Tres Navarre stories, the one after, and any more coming down the pike.

This is the first Rick Riordan book I've read and I look forward to reading his previous 'Tres Nevarre' novels. I liken Riordan's style to that of a Texan Carl Hiaasen. While Hiaasen weighs heavier on humor, Riordan weaves a fast-action murder mystery with sarcastic wit throughout. I believe anyone would enjoy this novel, unless their idea of fun is curling up to a tech manual.

Excellently written and crafted, The Last King of Texas will keep you turning pages even if you're not from the Lone Star state. Riordan expertly puts you into the head of his hero and entertains with a cast of intriquing characters. Riordan's descriptions of his settings are vivid and make you feel right at home in San Antonio. The dialogue is crisp and endures the reader to the hero, Tres. Another winner from a talented author. Read it. You won't be disappointed.

Rick Riordan does it again. Another fast-pace, edge of the seat mystery starring Tres Navarre...hunk of a P.I. who makes Spenser looks tame. This time he not only solves the case but finally gets to use that English PHD, teaching at UT San Antonio. Tres starts out trying to figure out who keeps killing English lit professors at UTSA and ends up uncovering gang and mob connections to drugs and amusement park rides. In the end he almost gets himself killed and finds out that the good guys you depend on aren't always who and what you think they are. On a happy note, he may have a new woman in his life. But we'll have to wait until the next book to find out for sure. This book is impossible to put down, a real page-turner with lots of excitement and surprises. A must read for mystery fans.

If not the king of Texas crime-writing, Rick Riordan is certainly among the princes in a royal family that already includes James Lee Burke and David Lindsey. And in "the Last King of Texas," the third in Riordan's Tres Navarre series, the San Antonio suspense author proves he's no pretender to the throne.

"The Last King of Texas" is a wryly funny book, not dark, but definitely dusky. His metaphors are apt and entertaining, especially when they seem to parody the purplish gravity of some of Riordan's heroes, such as Hammett and Chandler: "She laughed with all the warmth of rattling aluminum foil" or "(a meal) with a enough cornbread to construct a small toolshed." With his sardonic voice, his tarnished virtue and his unlucky-at-love-and-rental-properties back story, Navarre is a low-rider knight in rusty armor. And Riordan just might be the king after all

I first read "The Widower's Two-Step" and was a little familiar with some of the characters. This book got a great review in the Dallas Morning News so, I decided to give it a shot. The writing is terrific. Riordan does marvelous descriptions of most of the characters and the various San Antonio neighborhoods. One gripe in the description department, what does Tres (the principal character) look like? Tres' physical appearance, other than his injuries, are glossed over. I want a picture of this guy, please. The mystery behind the murders is not all that puzzling. Riordan gives you a lot of clues before the final enlightenment.

The characters in this book are fresh and different--not at all run-of-the-mill, and that includes the bad guys. If you are looking to escape from your everyday world and meet a decidedly cool teacher/private eye then, this is the book for you. People from his past and present collide in rather unexpected ways.

I enjoyed this book. I am a huge fan of mysteries, especially mysteries like this one. Rick Riordan is a fine story teller, and he captures the multicultural aspects of contemporary Texas perfectly. The Last King of Texas is an excellent book.

The last two professors of an English Lit class at UTSA (the University of Texas at San Antonio) have wound up dead, the first a victim of a heart attack, the second a victim of lead poisoning, the kind you get from a forty-five. Part time private eye Tres Navarre is qualified to teach the course, since he has Ph.D. in English and while he is considering the job, someone tries to take him out with a pipe bomb. Instead of discouraging him, the bomb has the opposite affect.

It turns out the murdered prof was the son of the King of Carnivals, a dealer in used carnival equipment. A gangster type named Zeta Sanchez sent him to his maker six years earlier because he suspected the prof's dad of messing around with his wife. Death by forty-five, just like the son six years later. So now the cops are looking to Zeta for the prof's murder, but it looks like a frame to Tres. So Tres investigates further and when roadblocks are put up in front of him, he just digs in and works harder and the results will have you on the edge of your seat.

This is a very good book written in the first person, so you really get into Navarre's wisecracking head. Mr. Riordan is a master of description, drawing you into a character with just a line or two. For example how about these few lines used to introduce the reader to Detective Ana DeLeon:

"When DeLeon moved, her blazer and skirt and silk blouse shimmered in frosty shades of gray, all sharp creases and angles. Her hair was cut in the same severe pattern, only black. Her eyes glittered. The whole effect reminded me of one of those sleek, fashionable Sub-Zero freezer units, petite size."

Did he nail that character or what? And that's from the first page, the whole book is stuffed full of writing like that. Riordan is a wordsmith. He's fun. The book is outstanding. You can't go wrong with this one.

Set in San Antonio, Texas, The Last King of Texas is the 3rd book in the Tres Navarre series by Rick Riordan and by this point the world of Tres Navarre is humming along very nicely. He is now a fully licensed private investigator working for the energetic and, let's face it, slightly manic Erainya Manos.

Its six months after the finale of the second book in the series, The Widower's Two-Step , and Tres is once again being offered the teaching position at the University of Texas at San Antonio. This time though the position is vacant because the previous professor had been shot to death. Only after narrowly escaping a letter-bomb explosion while sitting at the dead professor's desk does Tres decide that he'll take the job. Now that's says a lot about the type of guy Tres Navarre is.

Zeta Sanchez has been away from San Antonio for quite some time. In fact, he disappeared very soon after someone matching his description was seen shooting Jeremiah Brandon in the chest. From all reports Zeta has returned to town and in a remarkable coincidence Aaron Brandon, the late English professor at UTSA and son of Jeremiah is now dead. It doesn't take a great deal of detective work for the San Antonio PD to figure out who the number one suspect is.

But it all seems too easy for Tres, he smells a set-up and then, when the murders continue after Zeta is caught he becomes convinced that he's right. He makes himself unpopular with the police when he suggests they've arrested the wrong man for Aaron Brandon's murder, he's just as unpopular with the gangs hanging around the barrio, pushing them around and dissing their boss. But he's most unpopular with Brandon's family who would just like to get on with their lives.

Tres sure is one unpopular man, but that's because he's on to something and he's about to uncover some closely kept secrets. Secrets that some people will do just about anything to keep. Zeta Sanchez is a killer, there is no doubt and while he's in jail you can be sure that there are plenty of men willing to step into his shoes to deal with a nosy detective.

I felt that The Last King of Texas compares very well with the earlier Tres Navarre books, taking off with a real bang and never really letting up as he puts himself in extreme danger at every opportunity. Considering that the earlier books are by no means slow this is a strong indication of what a pulse-quickening story it is. Making it even more thrilling is the disregard Tres seems to have for his own safety. He's always been a confident man but he is now bordering on the outlandishly reckless. The action first, worry about the consequences later approach can be exasperating at times, but it certainly maximizes the excitement.

Rick Riordan has kept the series fresh by resting a couple of characters who featured prominently in the earlier books and introducing a few interesting new characters. The most dynamic of these is homicide detective Ana DeLeon with whom Tres enjoys a rather stormy working relationship. If he survives her friendship she promises to be a formidable ally in the police force. Of course staying on her good side is not high on his list of priorities providing some of the more amusing encounters in the book.

Uncompromising violence, drug dealing and drug taking and frequent coarse language ensures that The Last King of Texas sits firmly in the hardboiled category. A solid mystery that should have you guessing until the end and the unveiling of a surprise twist or two makes this an all round entertaining story.