Blood Game: A Jack Boucher Thriller

Early in Lyons’s superior sequel to 2012’s Ice Fire, federal judge Jock Boucher returns home from a meeting with the U.S. president in Washington, D.C., to post-Katrina New Orleans, where he’s confronted by a mugger in the French Quarter. Skilled in the martial arts, Boucher fights back and inadvertently kills the man. Det. Roscoe Finch informs Boucher during their next day’s fishing trip that the mugger’s gun was a Soviet model that fires armor-piercing bullets. Later, they recover the body of a man floating near their boat who they learn worked for one of Louisiana’s major industries—a company that’s owned by Boucher’s fellow French Quarter resident Ray Dumont. After Dumont’s maid is killed by her boyfriend, Fitch investigates, discovering that cop-killing bullets identical to the ones in the mugger’s gun were used. Boucher soon finds himself in the midst of a possible conspiracy involving arms dealers, drug runners, and a small group of individuals trying to set off a major international incident. A strong protagonist, unexpected plot twists, and smart dialogue make this a winner. (Aug.)