Rumble on the Bayou [Mass Market Paperback]

Jana DeLeon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2006

Deputy Dorie Berenger knew the day would go from bad to worse when she found a stoned alligator in the town drunk’s swimming pool. Then DEA agent Richard Starke shows up in Gator Bait, Louisiana, giving out orders and insults faster than you can cast a fishing line.

Dorie knows the residents of Gator Bait aren’t going to talk to a stranger, especially a Yankee, but she stuck with Richard until he catches his bad guy. With no other alternative to restore peace to the small town, Dorie agrees to help Richard catch a criminal and in the process, uncovers decades of secrets that have been hiding deep in the Louisiana bayou.

(Note: This book is part of the author’s backlist, originally released in print in 2009 by Dorchester Publishing)

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The worst crime Deputy Dorie Berenger usually faces in Gator Bait is Maylene Thibodeux weaving about with too much liquor in her and too few clothes on her. This time Maylene's troubles herald events far more serious. An alligator winds up in her pool stoned on heroine, and the drug trail leads to Gator Bait itself with big-city DEA Agent Richard Starke hot on the trail. Funny thing is, there could be an even bigger problem: Dorie's feeling pretty hot for Agent Starke. Part of the growing romantic mystery genre--in which romance and mystery tie the knot with chick-lit's blessing--this debut novel is chock-full of quirky small-town characters and an entertaining, offbeat love story. The mystery pulls its weight, taking readers on a ride as intriguing and wild as a flat-bottom-boat race in the bayou. Nina Davis
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"A very impressive debut novel. Rumble on the Bayou kept me enthralled from the first page to the last!" -- Tanzey Cutter, Fresh Fiction

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 325 pages
• Publisher: Leisure Books (October 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0843957379
• ISBN-13: 978-0843957372
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #836,383 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jana DeLeon was raised in southwest Louisiana among the bayous and gators. Her hometown is Carlyss, but you probably won't find it on a map. Her family owned a camp located on a bayou just off the Gulf of Mexico that you could only get there by boat. The most important feature was the rope hammock hanging in the shade on a huge deck that stretched out over the water where Jana spent many hours reading books.

Jana and her brother spent thousands of hours combing the bayous in a flat-bottom aluminum boat, studying the natural habitat of many birds, nutria and alligators. She would like you to know that no animals were injured during these "studies," but they kept makers of peroxide in business.

Jana has never stumbled across a mystery or a ghost like her heroines, but she's still hopeful.

She now resides in Dallas, Texas, with the most spoiled Sheltie in the world.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grab a cold drink and pull up a lawn chair, believe me you don't want to miss this RUMBLE ON THE BAYOU., January 19, 2007

By 

C. Dionne "Chrissy Dionne" (Cloverdale, OREGON USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rumble on the Bayou (Mass Market Paperback)

Dorie Berenger is more than just the deputy in Gator Bait, Louisiana. She's also the game warden. So when there's an alligator floating in the town drunk's swimming pool she gets the distinct pleasure of dealing with it. Only the gator isn't just napping, it's stoned. Life on the bayou has always been peaceful and laid back but now trouble has arrived. Dorie doesn't know which is worse - the drugs being found in Gator Bait, or the overwhelming and condescending DEA agent who's been sent to catch a drug trafficker.

Agent Richard Starke has invested more than eight years in trying to track down the elusive drug trafficker, Shawn Roland. He never anticipated ending up in a small backwater town in a stand off with the deputy sheriff, whom he's dubbed the "Princess of Hicksville." Richard (or Dick, as Dorie calls him) is clueless on how to deal with Dorie or any of the rest of the residents of the town but he'd better figure out how to be a mite friendlier if he has any hope of getting anyone to talk to him.

The stoned alligator in Maylene's pool is the first indiction that there are drugs being moved through Gator Bait. The backpack lodged in the alligator's mouth which is full of heroin and cash is the second. Unfortunately they're all wet so Dorie and the other town deputy, Joe, have no way of getting fingerprints off any of it. As luck would have it, they get their print anyway off the one other object found in the mouth of the alligator - a finger. They run the print through the national database and right away Dorie notices a discrepancy from the normal message she would have received if there are no matching records. Going on instinct, Dorie knows that something big is going on and her little hometown is going to play a major role in whatever happens next.

The following day after verifying that everybody in town still had all their fingers Dorie opts to spend her day off "fishing." Dorie's fishing attire is well known by her friends and acquaintances and since it makes most of them uncomfortable they leave her alone. Uptight DEA agent Starks is unaware of Dorie's penchant for fishing/sunbathing in her underwear and arrives in town demanding to see the sheriff. The sheriff is on medical leave and he'll have to make do with Dorie - underwear and all. From the minute they meet, they're at each other's throats but they're going to have to find a way to work together if they have any hope of capturing Shawn, maybe relieving a little of their pent up sexual frustration would help.

RUMBLE ON THE BAYOU is Jana DeLeon's first published novel and I have to say it's one of the most entertaining books I've read in quite a while. From the very first page I was charmed by the characters that inhabit Gator Bait. I fell in love with deputy Joe and his shy nature, and laughed out loud at all the scenes involving the town drunk, Maylene. I loved every second of Dorie and Richard's ongoing battle of wills and the way they interact with each other is absolutely hilarious. In addition to the humor that is present throughout this book there is also the suspense of whether they'll capture Shawn Roland but then you also start to wonder which of the townspeople is guilty of helping him bring drugs through town. This is a wonderful novel full of many surprising elements that in my opinion would make an awesome movie. I'll definitely be making space in my keeper shelf for this book.

Chrissy Dionne (courtesy of Romance Junkies)

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BUY this book!, November 12, 2006

By 

Sandra Smith (Clayton, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rumble on the Bayou (Mass Market Paperback)

I absolutely loved Rumble on the Bayou! Not many books make me laugh out loud. Even fewer books keep me turning the pages long after I should be asleep at night. Rumble did both!

The characters in the small, southern town of Gator Bait, Louisiana are wonderful, eccentric and completely believable.

Deputy Dorie Berenger is smart, sharp and sexy. She's a heroine I can admire and believe in. City slicker DEA agent, Richard Stark, is a brash know-it-all who doesn't know who he's about to tangle with. He soon learns that he'd better get on Dorie's good side if they're going to solve the mystery of why there's an alligator, high on heroin, in Maylene Thibodeaux's swimming pool! And who does the finger, also in the 'gator's mouth, belong to?

Maylene herself is hilarious - knocking back the homebrew and seeing aliens in the garden and unicorns in the bedroom. I loved sweet, shy Deputy Joe and his halting pursuit of the loveable Jenny. Dorie's father is there, with advice and help - but Dorie soon begins to wonder if he's a part of the problem.

The other secondary characters are equally compelling and fully developed. No one dimensional characters in Rumble!

Buy this book! You won't be sorry you did. I'm looking forward with eager (and slightly impatient!) anticipation for more, more, more from Jana DeLeon!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fun, sexy mystery, February 12, 2007

By 

Colleen "Colleen" (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Rumble on the Bayou (Mass Market Paperback)

I usually can pick out the bad guy in the first third of a mystery novel, but not so for this one. That alone is enough for me to give this book a five-star rating.

And I usually find attempts a humor more of an eye-rolling variety. I hate it when an author tries too hard to be funny.

The thing is, Jana DeLeon doesn't have to try hard to be funny--it's all inherent in her characters and the situation! She doesn't need to make them like Keystone Kops and put them in ridiculous setups in order to make me laugh--it's all in the small-town, Louisiana culture.

I loved this book and I gave it to my mom, and she loved it and has been passing it around to all of her friends. So, if you're looking for a good mystery with the right amount of romance and laugh-out loud humor, you'll enjoy DeLeon's RUMBLE.

I know I can't wait until the next one comes out!