The Last Straw

The Last Straw is the second installment of the Pigeon-Blood Red series. 

Interestingly, the print copy I received for review does not mention the first book, or that this is indeed a sequel. The Last Straw can easily be read as a stand alone. I don't necessarily advise that though, just because the first book is also a very good read. 

Author Duncan does give us enough background from the first book to keep the relationships among characters clear but (thankfully) does not retell the entire first book.

Our hero (anti?) is a hitman with scruples, not many, but enough for our purposes. He starts out helping his prostitute friend and gets caught up in a much larger and more convoluted situation. We have an organized crime connection and a racial theme, though maybe not what you might expect. I'll not spoil it here, I'll let you read it for yourself. 

Very well balanced action and suspense. Peripheral sex. A full serving of the seedier side of life. The main character, Rico (what else?) is a "man-with-no-name" kind of character, deadly as they come if you get on his bad side and able to deal with pretty much any situation. A true stoic (actually, my kind of hero) in the classic sense.

Rico deals with a rival, a girlfriend, a mob boss, an unlikely ally and various distractions all with a laconic, "just doing my job" approach. He is not big on explanations.  

Thankfully, as the second part of a trilogy, Duncan does not saddle us with the dreaded cliffhanger ending (THANK YOU). As I said, it stands alone. But if you don't read the first book, you're missing out. Enjoy!

Mike