Something Borrowed, Something Black

by Loren D. Estleman Narrated by Justin Price

Overview

Trying to go straight, former contract killer Peter Macklin carries out a hit in the Lone Star state, in this must-listen, hard-boiled thriller



Johns Davis has just left the Alamo when he feels the garrote wrap around his neck. The bookie slams his foot on the gas, sending the car into oncoming traffic. It bounces off a van, hops the curb, and crashes into a hotel, knocking Davis unconscious and breaking the neck of his would-be assassin. Davis can breathe again, but just for a moment. When the mob wants you dead, they'll always send another killer.



The only man for the job is Peter Macklin, a veteran killer who's trying to put his old life behind him. He's just married Laurie, a beautiful, innocent young woman who believes her husband is a salesman. They're on their honeymoon in Los Angeles when he gets the call, and it's a gig he can't refuse. Macklin is going to Texas for a battle so tough it will make the Alamo look like a fair fight.



This spellbinding thriller from four-time Shamus Award-winning author Loren D. Estleman takes hit man Peter Macklin out of his Motor City comfort zone and into the hot spots of San Antonio and Los Angeles.



Contains mature themes.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Peter Macklin is a truly compelling antihero and not the kind who's secretly saving the world. This is the real thing: a man who kills much too easily and who knows an enormous amount, but not necessarily right from wrong. Macklin (last seen in 1991's Kill Zone) has retired from the hit-man business and married Laurie, a young woman who knows nothing of his former career. They're on their honeymoon in Los Angeles when Macklin is forced back into his old calling by a Midwestern crime lord who's interested in expanding his territory. Traveling to San Antonio, Tex., to finish somebody else's botched hit, Macklin must remember how to read every inadvertent message from his contacts, his target and his potential enemies. He's a former master at the unspoken and the unintentional, despite being a little rusty on the fine points. Back in L.A., Laurie is being held hostage. At first she thinks the lanky cowboy named Abilene is just keeping her company while her husband is away "on business," but a fist in the face changes her take on things. Fortunately, Laurie is as resourceful as Abilene is ruthless, and she saves herself from his everpresent knife more than once. The story vibrates with letter-perfect details, and the plot, with changing locations and changing points of view, is deftly handled. Each character, major or minor, is fresh and real, and this creates a terrific energy throughout the book, demonstrating once again why Estleman has won so many awards. (Apr. 26) FYI: Estleman has won three Shamus Awards for his Amos Walker series, the latest of which is Sinister Heights (Forecasts, Dec. 10, 2001). Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Peter Macklin is pushing 45; he's been retired from business for several years; and he's just married Laurie, the dishy 21-year-old who's honeymooning with him in Los Angeles. So he has every reason to think his days as a contract killer are over. But when Charles Major, ne Carlo Maggiore, the crime boss Macklin pumped two bullets into back in Detroit, spots him hours after one of his lesser killers botches a contract on San Antonio bookie Johns Davis, he's back in the game, with Maggiore's cowboy thug Roy (Abilene) Skeets babysitting Laurie to make sure Macklin doesn't miss the target or change his mind. That's the setup, and unless you're worried that Estleman brought his long-dormant hit man (Any Man's Death, 1986, etc.) out of retirement in order to kill him or his bride, that's pretty much all there is. The complications, from Laurie's attempts to slip out from under Abilene's watchful eye to Macklin's sarabande with the San Antonio locals to a climactic pair of showdowns back in LA, are all dispatched with an experienced hand; but there's nothing like the magisterial density of the author's Amos Walker novels (Sinister Heights, 2002, etc.), and oddly little attention to the questions of who would want to kill inoffensive Johns Davis, and why. As to the equally interesting question of how Laurie Macklin's going to deal with the long-term implications of her bridegroom's career choice, it looks as if that's going to have to wait for the sequel.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940159968838
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	10/10/2023
Series:	Peter Macklin , #4
Edition description:	Unabridged

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