California Smoke

At the start of Shaeffer’s impressive first novel, Eddie Fuentes, who 10 years earlier was a vice cop in Oakland, Calif., after a military tour in Iraq, returns home to Redwood County to sort out the aftermath of his father’s death. Eddie and childhood pal Russell George soon get involved with Save the Trees protestors, savvy lawyer Shanna Black, and a client of Shanna’s known as the Doctor, a major manufacturer and distributor of illegal substances, particularly marijuana. The rich supporting cast includes the U.S. attorney for Northern California, a DEA agent, a young woman living in a tree, and assorted schemers and scammers. Witty wisecracks from Eddie keep the energy high as he tries to discover the truth about his father’s death, prevent Shanna from landing in the slammer, dodge the bullets of a sniper with a pistol-packing mother, and outwit the feds. This is a puzzle box of a caper, each piece sliding snugly into place to create a gratifying and thoroughly enjoyable finale. [em](Nov.) [/em]