The Renegades: A Charlie Hood Novel [Hardcover]

T. Jefferson Parker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 10, 2009

Deputy Sheriff Charlie Hood—the hero of L.A. Outlaws—left readers clamoring for more, and in The Renegades, T. Jefferson Parker more than delivers.

Some say that outlaws no longer exist, that the true spirit of the American West died with the legendary bandits of pulp novels and bedtime stories. Charlie Hood knows that nothing could be further from the truth. These days he patrols vast stretches of the new American West, not on horseback but in his cruiser. The outlaws may not carry six-shooters, but they’re strapped all the same.

Along the desolate and dusty roads of this new frontier, Hood prefers to ride alone, and he prefers to ride at night. At night, his headlights illuminate only the patch of pavement ahead of him: all the better to hide from the demons—and the dead outlaws—receding in his rearview mirror.

But he doesn’t always get what he wants— certainly not when he’s assigned a partner named Terry Laws, a county veteran who everyone calls “Mr. Wonderful.” And not when Laws is shot dead in the passenger seat and Hood is left to bear witness by someone who knew that Mr. Wonderful didn’t always live up to his nickname. As he sets out to find the gunman, Hood knows one thing for sure: The West is a state of mind, one where the bad guys sometimes wear white hats—and the good guys seek justice in whatever shade of gray they can find it.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Parker’s superb new thriller continues the tale of Charlie Hood, the Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy who fell hard for beautiful gangster Allison Murrieta in L.A. Outlaws (2008). Deputy Hood now patrols the Antelope Valley, a desert region north of Los Angeles where still nights and stark beauty provide a refuge from his past (though he still hasn’t come to terms with Murrieta’s death). But Hood’s new beat has a breed of heinous criminals all its own. When his partner, Terry Laws, known by fellow officers as Mr. Wonderful, is gunned down in the passenger seat of their patrol car, Hood once again finds himself among the dark-hearted and the damned. It turns out that Laws wasn’t such a model cop after all. He and a former partner were involved in a lucrative operation running drugs south of the border. Then Laws found a conscience—a little too late. Two-time Edgar winner Parker vividly evokes the spirit of the Wild West, where bad guys prosper and good guys seek vengeance—at a price. He delivers steady suspense and a cast of damaged characters led by Hood, whose days crackle with moral conundrums and bone-deep regret. Approaching the novel’s climax, Parker writes: “a wiggle of fear came up Hood’s back and crawled across his scalp.” Readers will likely find themselves rattled—and riveted—too. --Allison Block

About the Author

T. Jefferson Parker is the bestselling author of fifteen previous novels, including L.A. Outlaws and Storm Runners. Along with Dick Francis and James Lee Burke, he is one of only three two-time recipients of the Edgar Award for Best Novel.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 338 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult (February 10, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525950958
• ISBN-13: 978-0525950950
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #305,634 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

T. Jefferson Parker is the bestselling author of numerous novels, including Storm Runners and The Fallen. Alongside Dick Francis and James Lee Burke, Parker is one of only three writers to be awarded the Edgar Award for Best Novel more than once. Parker lives with his family in Southern California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Big Step Down from "LA Outlaws", February 15, 2009

By 

Brian Baker (Santa Clarita, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Renegades: A Charlie Hood Novel (Hardcover)

From his outstanding debut with "Laguna Heat", Parker's been one of my favorite authors. In my opinion as an LA County resident he has an uncanny ability to capture the moods, nuances and settings of Southern California that's matched by very few; Michael Connelly, James Elroy, Chandler, perhaps one or two others.

"LA Outlaws" was a terrific book, with vivid and captivating characters just oozing noir excitement.

Unfortunately, this follow-up featuring Charlie Hood from the previous book doesn't quite make the grade. The previous book was completely dominated by Allison Murrietta - a descendant of the famed outlaw Juoaquin Murrietta - who died at the end of that work. This book centers on her paramour LA Deputy Sheriff Charlie Hood, who is not nearly as interesting a character; bland and pretty two-dimensional. None of the other characters are as interesting, either. By comparison, this is a pretty blah offering.

Pretty standard fare regarding drug running and money laundering; little tension or excitement; few action scenes; scant psychological suspense.

I will give it props for exploiting the SoCal landscape, though a very promising setting in the Llano del Rio ruins in the Antelope Valley had a lot more potential than I think was really explored.

But again, the main problem here is that I simply don't think the character of Charlie Hood is very interesting or complex. Certainly not enough to center a continuing series on.

Three stars. Mildly entertaining, but far from being his best work. Ultimately pedestrian.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "A greedy mind is satisfied with no amount of gain." Proverb, October 24, 2009

By 

michael a. draper (Guilford, CT) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Renegades: A Charlie Hood Novel (Hardcover)

Charlie Hood is back after his adventures in "L. A. Outlaws."
After the shooting and internal affairs investigation of the "L.A. Outlaw" novel, Charlie asks for a more quiet division. He is assigned to the Antelope Valley Division.

While he and Terry Laws are on a call, Terry is murdered. Hood wonders if the killer's gun jammed or did they want to leave him alive as a witness.

Internal Affairs reassigns him to their unit so he can lead the investigation into his partner's killing. It doesn't take long for Charlie to see that Laws was a crooked cop, from his bogus charity to the weekly deposits of $7,200 into his account.

Laws and Coleman Draper arrested Shay Eichrodt, supposidly because he just killed two cartel couriers. There was $340,000 in the trunk which they brought to the leader of the cartel and began their weekly payoffs by moving money and other items across the boarder.

This novel was not up to the excellence of "L. A. Outlaws." In my opinion, the author felt his readers would be familiar with Charlie Hood as the protagonist so there wasn't much character development. In addition there were times when it was confusing to follow when the writing changed from third person to first person in a short time.
In addition, Coleman Draper was an unusual antagonist. At times he seemed honorable and sincere and at others he didn't hesitate to either take a life or order someone killed. Perhaps the author is telling us that although a character may be evil, they could posess some good characteristics.

The author is one of only three people who have won the Edgar Award for best novel more than once. The other two are James Lee Burke and Dick Francis. Nice company.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Mediocre effort - feels like it was rushed to print, June 5, 2009

By 

Old timer and wife "AJS" (Round Rock,TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Renegades: A Charlie Hood Novel (Hardcover)

This book reads like it was rushed to print. The story is somewhat choppy and hard to follow. The author uses changing points of view without anything to alert you to the change.

There is also one major plot problem that ruined the story for me. The patrol car wouldn't start because the battery cable was cut. This immobilized the car and set up an ambush to kill the hero's partner. Later, he uses the police radio in the car to call for help. If the battery cable was cut, the radio wouldn't work. There are other inconsistencies in the story, but this was the worst.

All in all, I am disappointed that I bought this book. It could have been much better if the author and editor had taken time to do their jobs. This frequently happens to authors that have written a number of best sellers. They are pressured into cranking out a bunch of mediocre novels. They should focus on each book as if it was the only one they were ever going to write. They owe it to their readers to do the best they can do.