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Tres Navarre #1
Big Red Tequila
Everything in Texas is bigger...even murder.Meet Tres Navarre...tequila drinker, Tai Chi master, unlicensed P.I., with apenchant for Texas-size trouble.
Jackson "Tres" Navarre and his enchilada-eating cat, Robert Johnson, pull into San Antonio and find nothing waiting but trouble. Ten years ago Navarre lefttown and the memory of his father's murder behind him. Now he's back, looking for answers. Yet the more Tres digs, trying to put his suspicions to rest, the fresher the decade-old crime looks: Mafia connections, construction site payoffs, and slick politicians' games all conspire to ruin his homecoming. It's obvious Tres has stirred up a hornet's nest of trouble. He gets attacked, shot at, run over by a big blue Thunderbird--and his old girlfriend, the one he wants back, turns up missing. Tres has to rescue the woman, nail his father's murderer, and get the hell out of Dodge before mob-style Texas justice catches up to him. The chances of staying alive looked better for the defenders of the Alamo....
"A standout...A crooked construction company, corrupt cops, oldenemies--you can almost feel the summer storms rolling over South Texas."
"---Publishers Weekly (starred review)"
Jackson "Tres" Navarre and his enchilada-eating cat, Robert Johnson, pull into San Antonio and find nothing waiting but trouble. Ten years ago Navarre lefttown and the memory of his father's murder behind him. Now he's back, looking for answers. Yet the more Tres digs, trying to put his suspicions to rest, the fresher the decade-old crime looks: Mafia connections, construction site payoffs, and slick politicians' games all conspire to ruin his homecoming. It's obvious Tres has stirred up a hornet's nest of trouble. He gets attacked, shot at, run over by a big blue Thunderbird--and his old girlfriend, the one he wants back, turns up missing. Tres has to rescue the woman, nail his father's murderer, and get the hell out of Dodge before mob-style Texas justice catches up to him. The chances of staying alive looked better for the defenders of the Alamo....
"A standout...A crooked construction company, corrupt cops, oldenemies--you can almost feel the summer storms rolling over South Texas."
"---Publishers Weekly (starred review)"
400 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 2, 1997
434 people are currently reading
5129 people want to read
About the author
Rick Riordan
371 books452k followersRick Riordan is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of many books, including the Percy Jackson series.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 391 reviews
February 9, 2023
Join Jackson "Tres" Navarre (Percy Jackson's name seems to be Rick Riordan's tribute to his first ever protagonist), P.I. extraordinaire, armed with ostensibly drool-worthy cocktail recipes, as he kicks-ass and, ahem, tests the versatility of the hood of a Buick...along with his girlfriend (it's complicated, lmao).
Rick's meticulous writing teleports audience to San Antonio, the setting for this introductory novel to the suspenseful mystery/crime series.
The novel, while claimed to be fast-paced, takes a while to actually get going. However, when the seemingly tangential plot lines come together in a cohesive tapestry towards the end, the audience is left stunned. Tres, himself, is quite the suave and entertaining arse (lol, though nothing compared to his cat, of course) and is supported by interesting secondary characters.
Trigger warning for those prone to getting butt-hurt, this novel (and series) deals with mature themes and is intended for a psychologically mature audience.
Big Red Tequila is a suitable gateway to the addiction of thrill that Rick's debut series promises to deliver.
Rick's meticulous writing teleports audience to San Antonio, the setting for this introductory novel to the suspenseful mystery/crime series.
The novel, while claimed to be fast-paced, takes a while to actually get going. However, when the seemingly tangential plot lines come together in a cohesive tapestry towards the end, the audience is left stunned. Tres, himself, is quite the suave and entertaining arse (lol, though nothing compared to his cat, of course) and is supported by interesting secondary characters.
Trigger warning for those prone to getting butt-hurt, this novel (and series) deals with mature themes and is intended for a psychologically mature audience.
Big Red Tequila is a suitable gateway to the addiction of thrill that Rick's debut series promises to deliver.
August 31, 2018
Rick Riordan, the brilliant author of Percy Jackson and the Olympiads. Excellent young adult books! But if you think this book will have a young adult feel, you'd be wrong. This book is very adult. And it won awards in 1998. So it is kinda amazing that he turned his brilliance to young adult books.
Set in San Antonio, Texas this book is a murder mystery with an unsolved case, kidnapping, the Mob and lots of romance. Ten years earlier our hero witnessed the murder of his father. Now he receives a call from his old girlfriend and runs to her rescue leaving California and his current girlfriend behind. Now that he is a private investigator, our hero uses his knowledge to uncover secrets while reliving his past in San Antonio. His visual on the little river through the city is spot on. The United States Air Force's basic training is near San Antonio and almost every GI visits that tourist spot, including yours truly. I thoroughly enjoyed my ride on the river, (stream actually) and visiting the many shops, (bring your wallet).
Excellent story by an amazing author! (BTW this was his first novel)
Set in San Antonio, Texas this book is a murder mystery with an unsolved case, kidnapping, the Mob and lots of romance. Ten years earlier our hero witnessed the murder of his father. Now he receives a call from his old girlfriend and runs to her rescue leaving California and his current girlfriend behind. Now that he is a private investigator, our hero uses his knowledge to uncover secrets while reliving his past in San Antonio. His visual on the little river through the city is spot on. The United States Air Force's basic training is near San Antonio and almost every GI visits that tourist spot, including yours truly. I thoroughly enjoyed my ride on the river, (stream actually) and visiting the many shops, (bring your wallet).
Excellent story by an amazing author! (BTW this was his first novel)
January 27, 2010
I read this book because my husband loved it and because I loved the author's other series, Percy Jackson. I hated this book. First of all, way too much swearing. The F word was used as much as the word "the". I tried to like Tres, but I can't. He's a womanizer and he's trying to solve his father's murder, who was surprise!! a womanizer. However, he makes Tres look like a boy scout by comparison. I did not finish the book because I was so disgusted,but my husband told me how it ended. Not satisfying in the least!! And certainly not worth the time it took to read.
April 19, 2019
Jackson "Tres" Navarre is returning to his hometown of San Antonio after a ten year absence to see if he can make a go of things with his old high school/college sweetheart. He would've married her back then but witnessing his father, then the local County Sheriff, being gunned down in their front yard (and the case never solved) - well, that does things to a young man. So, instead of the life he'd always thought he wanted, Tres suddenly needed a fresh start as far away as he could get. He made good use of that interim decade, earning a PhD in Literature and becoming a Tai Chi devotee, and generally making a life for himself in San Francisco. Once back on his old stomping grounds, however, it doesn't take long for the old questions about his father's murder to start reasserting themselves.
The author, Rick Riordan, is, of course, best know for his successful Percy Jackson YA series but this one pre-dates that. I mostly picked this up because I'm quite familiar with San Antonio and Riordan did a credible job of hitting a lot of the local hot spots, though several have changed or are no longer around (this was published back in 1997). I found his portrayal of the Mexican and Mexican-American people in the story far less appealing.
As a lead character, Tres was okay though I admit that some of the bests moments in the story for me were when he was getting punched or run over by cars. He's the kind of guy who always has a smug comment to make and who's too cool to ever feel something as mundane as fear when guns are placed to his head - which his Tai Chi skills can usually take care of with minimal sweat spent - so those moments when life swats him down are just like cherries on top of sundaes. Of the secondary characters, none really stood out. And don't get me started on Tres' romantic life. I'm not sure what was going on there. There's the San Antonio (old-ex) girlfriend but there's also apparently a (not-so-old-ex) San Francisco girlfriend, though the details on that relationship are never made clear so maybe that was just a friends-with-benefits thing. It was all too vague and odd . So, needless to say, I wasn't invested in either relationship. I will say this, though, at least the San Franciso lady had some useful skills that could come in very handy if the rest of Tres' life is going to be like his first week back in his hometown.
The cold case surrounding the murder of Tres' father started off interesting but it got too convoluted and there were too many potential players involved. I started losing track of who was who and who potentially did what and the ultimate reveal seemed a little far fetched. I'll give this a generous three stars and I may check out the second book...mostly because I already own it, having picked up books one and two at a used bookstore.
The author, Rick Riordan, is, of course, best know for his successful Percy Jackson YA series but this one pre-dates that. I mostly picked this up because I'm quite familiar with San Antonio and Riordan did a credible job of hitting a lot of the local hot spots, though several have changed or are no longer around (this was published back in 1997). I found his portrayal of the Mexican and Mexican-American people in the story far less appealing.
As a lead character, Tres was okay though I admit that some of the bests moments in the story for me were when he was getting punched or run over by cars. He's the kind of guy who always has a smug comment to make and who's too cool to ever feel something as mundane as fear when guns are placed to his head - which his Tai Chi skills can usually take care of with minimal sweat spent - so those moments when life swats him down are just like cherries on top of sundaes. Of the secondary characters, none really stood out. And don't get me started on Tres' romantic life. I'm not sure what was going on there. There's the San Antonio (old-ex) girlfriend but there's also apparently a (not-so-old-ex) San Francisco girlfriend, though the details on that relationship are never made clear so maybe that was just a friends-with-benefits thing. It was all too vague and odd . So, needless to say, I wasn't invested in either relationship. I will say this, though, at least the San Franciso lady had some useful skills that could come in very handy if the rest of Tres' life is going to be like his first week back in his hometown.
The cold case surrounding the murder of Tres' father started off interesting but it got too convoluted and there were too many potential players involved. I started losing track of who was who and who potentially did what and the ultimate reveal seemed a little far fetched. I'll give this a generous three stars and I may check out the second book...mostly because I already own it, having picked up books one and two at a used bookstore.
February 10, 2014
Rick Riordan is the author of my beloved "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series. Little-known fact: he'd already been a published writer of a critically-acclaimed mystery series for at least a decade previous to that.
Given my love of Riordan's YA fantasy and my love of mystery series, I've been wanting to try his Tres Navarre series in earnest for some time. I'd started this book several times in the past but always ended up getting drawn away by other things within the first chapter or two. This time, looking for a break between Conan Doyle collections, I decided to pick up "Big Red Tequila" and power on through in earnest this time.
Considering how determined I was to read it through, it might be saying something that I just couldn't manage it. I made it halfway before finally deciding to stop forcing myself to plow through on a book that I was, okay, maybe sort of vaguely enjoying when I was actually caught up reading it, but which I never actually felt like picking up after I'd put it down. It was failing to hold my attention, and there's too many books to read to stick with something that you're not connecting with.
This was Riordan's first published novel, and I think the problem basically boils down to that. There's a lot of promise here -- one of the reasons I was able to pick up the book several times and always made it through the first chapter is that the book starts off on a hell of a hook. Our narrator, Jackson "Tres" Navarre (and yes, Percy Jackson's surname *is* a callback to Tres), is returning to his hometown of San Antonio, and he's barely two minutes out of the cab when he receives welcome-home well-wishes in the form of the irate former tenant of the apartment Tres has rented refusing to vacate said apartment. The story unfolds quickly enough as we learn the double-motive for Tres's return -- at the request of his high school sweetheart, as well as because he's been unable to let go of his father's unsolved murder from ten years previous and would like to finally find some answers.
One of those stories is tailor-made to pique my interest (hint: it's the latter). And yet, most of the time, I just didn't care. Despite being told that Tres is concerned, confused, and still grieving his father, I never really *felt* any of those things from the character, and so I couldn't bring myself to care about him to the degree that I need to care to be really engaged by a story.
It was a similar problem with the side characters. Many of said characters have a wacky idiosyncrasy which is so fun-ly characteristic of Riordan's stories (the enchilada-eating cat! The Jimmy-Buffet-loving computer-hacker brother!). But because the characters didn't seem to have any depth behind them, the idiosyncrasies felt forced -- tacked on to make us like the characters because there wasn't anything else there TO like.
The plot, which moves along sharply enough and has plenty of action and unveiled puzzle-pieces, nevertheless could never really engage me because I never really felt like Tres or his associates are "real." Halfway through, I admitted temporary defeat, and the book is back on my bookshelf awaiting another try.
... I say "awaiting another try," despite my negative review, because I've heard that the Tres Navarre really picks up after the first book as Riordan develops his skills as an author. And I'm inclined to believe this, because by the time the "Percy Jackson" series rolls around we have an author whose plotting, pacing, style, and most of all *characters* positively shine thanks to his decade or more of published writing experience. I'll finish this book off, by hook or by crook, before moving on to the rest of the series, because I'm an Adrian-Monk stickler for Proper Reading/Viewing Order when I can manage it -- but I definitely won't be spending valuable Official Reading Time on it. (This is the sort of book I'll keep in the car to read for when I'm stuck in truly-bad traffic or unexpectedly have to wait for somebody somewhere.) I'm banking on the series being worth finishing the first one -- I hope I turn out to be right!
Given my love of Riordan's YA fantasy and my love of mystery series, I've been wanting to try his Tres Navarre series in earnest for some time. I'd started this book several times in the past but always ended up getting drawn away by other things within the first chapter or two. This time, looking for a break between Conan Doyle collections, I decided to pick up "Big Red Tequila" and power on through in earnest this time.
Considering how determined I was to read it through, it might be saying something that I just couldn't manage it. I made it halfway before finally deciding to stop forcing myself to plow through on a book that I was, okay, maybe sort of vaguely enjoying when I was actually caught up reading it, but which I never actually felt like picking up after I'd put it down. It was failing to hold my attention, and there's too many books to read to stick with something that you're not connecting with.
This was Riordan's first published novel, and I think the problem basically boils down to that. There's a lot of promise here -- one of the reasons I was able to pick up the book several times and always made it through the first chapter is that the book starts off on a hell of a hook. Our narrator, Jackson "Tres" Navarre (and yes, Percy Jackson's surname *is* a callback to Tres), is returning to his hometown of San Antonio, and he's barely two minutes out of the cab when he receives welcome-home well-wishes in the form of the irate former tenant of the apartment Tres has rented refusing to vacate said apartment. The story unfolds quickly enough as we learn the double-motive for Tres's return -- at the request of his high school sweetheart, as well as because he's been unable to let go of his father's unsolved murder from ten years previous and would like to finally find some answers.
One of those stories is tailor-made to pique my interest (hint: it's the latter). And yet, most of the time, I just didn't care. Despite being told that Tres is concerned, confused, and still grieving his father, I never really *felt* any of those things from the character, and so I couldn't bring myself to care about him to the degree that I need to care to be really engaged by a story.
It was a similar problem with the side characters. Many of said characters have a wacky idiosyncrasy which is so fun-ly characteristic of Riordan's stories (the enchilada-eating cat! The Jimmy-Buffet-loving computer-hacker brother!). But because the characters didn't seem to have any depth behind them, the idiosyncrasies felt forced -- tacked on to make us like the characters because there wasn't anything else there TO like.
The plot, which moves along sharply enough and has plenty of action and unveiled puzzle-pieces, nevertheless could never really engage me because I never really felt like Tres or his associates are "real." Halfway through, I admitted temporary defeat, and the book is back on my bookshelf awaiting another try.
... I say "awaiting another try," despite my negative review, because I've heard that the Tres Navarre really picks up after the first book as Riordan develops his skills as an author. And I'm inclined to believe this, because by the time the "Percy Jackson" series rolls around we have an author whose plotting, pacing, style, and most of all *characters* positively shine thanks to his decade or more of published writing experience. I'll finish this book off, by hook or by crook, before moving on to the rest of the series, because I'm an Adrian-Monk stickler for Proper Reading/Viewing Order when I can manage it -- but I definitely won't be spending valuable Official Reading Time on it. (This is the sort of book I'll keep in the car to read for when I'm stuck in truly-bad traffic or unexpectedly have to wait for somebody somewhere.) I'm banking on the series being worth finishing the first one -- I hope I turn out to be right!
August 12, 2012
What I liked about this book is that Riordan authentically knows San Antonio. Anyone who has lived there any time at all can follow in the mind's eye the travels around town, can taste the food at the restaurants, can rejoice that the speed trap is no longer in that spot, can appreciate the precise flavor of the local politics. It was like the first two or three episodes of the old Hawaii 5-O, before they began to obscure locations and make everything generic.
What I also liked about this book is that there are very few "put it down" points. The chapters are short and you keep saying, "Just one more and then I'll go to bed," but you don't until much later.
What I don't like about this book is that there are no sympathetic characters. Tres is drunk just about the entire book. Immorality runs rampant. The "good guys" aren't. And there isn't even a decent explanation why the hero doesn't want either girl at the end, except that Riordan is free to have Navarre to bed some other wench in the sequel.
OK, maybe the cat with the weird name is a sympathetic character. But it sure does have funny eating habits!
What I also liked about this book is that there are very few "put it down" points. The chapters are short and you keep saying, "Just one more and then I'll go to bed," but you don't until much later.
What I don't like about this book is that there are no sympathetic characters. Tres is drunk just about the entire book. Immorality runs rampant. The "good guys" aren't. And there isn't even a decent explanation why the hero doesn't want either girl at the end, except that Riordan is free to have Navarre to bed some other wench in the sequel.
OK, maybe the cat with the weird name is a sympathetic character. But it sure does have funny eating habits!
March 22, 2010
I was disappointed. He wrote the Percy Jackson books, so I was hoping he would be good with this. It was just blah. And he used the F word just a little bit too much. I don't know if I will read another adult book by him or not.
August 5, 2010
I cannot imagine the pleasure of having a bestselling genius like Rick Riordan as your literature teacher, but i think the rate of cutting classes must be real low and the energy in the class high...
Tres Navarre, seems the poor guy doesn't get any slack in this series at all, in a way the writing reminds me of Jim Butcher at his best, the punches keep coming and the hero keeps getting up for the next one, on pure willpower only...I think its the first book i have read, where the main hero loses even couple of his teeth...
Sometimes you read a book where all the characters have a same voice, same type of jokes, favorite curse words in bad situations and even same life philosophy because the writer lacks the skill to create a real world, where people are so different and unpredictable its scary...Rick Riordan doesn't have the problem...When you read it, its real...
Tres Navarre, seems the poor guy doesn't get any slack in this series at all, in a way the writing reminds me of Jim Butcher at his best, the punches keep coming and the hero keeps getting up for the next one, on pure willpower only...I think its the first book i have read, where the main hero loses even couple of his teeth...
Sometimes you read a book where all the characters have a same voice, same type of jokes, favorite curse words in bad situations and even same life philosophy because the writer lacks the skill to create a real world, where people are so different and unpredictable its scary...Rick Riordan doesn't have the problem...When you read it, its real...
September 7, 2007
This is a mystery/detective series that takes place in San Antonio, my hometown. It was cool to read because I knew of all the locations, buildings, etc. that they were talking about. The characters in this book are classic. I really enjoyed the series.
February 7, 2017
Riordan ma świetny styl pisania - przyjazny, łatwy, połączenie akcji z humorem, co rzadko się zdarza. Widać, że potrafi pisać nie tylko dobre młodzieżówki. Bohater, którego wszyscy chcą zabić, a ty go polubisz (i jego kota) Sięgne po kolejne książki.
May 13, 2019
As a former Texas resident, I’ve made several trips to San Antonio; so I have a mental image of the location for this novel. However, that really isn’t necessary for enjoyment of the book. Tres Navarre is an interesting protagonist who returns to his native city to solve the mystery of his father’s death. He becomes embroiled with old friends as well as adversaries, some of whom don’t welcome his interference. Tres has a Ph.D, practices Tai Chi and is an unlicensed P.I. Lots of action and interesting characters. I plan to read more of Riordan’s books, but since this one is so completely involved in his personal history, I wonder what future story lines will entail.
December 24, 2023
So much fun!
July 6, 2009
The language is too much, it was really interesting, but I didn't finish it.
July 3, 2012
This book was a little disappointing. It's too long and frankly has too many characters to keep up with. Not a bad read, but I think I had higher expectations.
October 8, 2017
big disappointment, poorly written, plot is pretty boring and full of holes, only characters and humor keep this book from being total disaster
January 7, 2012
Rick Riordan sure can write. I don't know what I was thinking a few years ago when I dismissed Percy Jackson as being an unworthy read. I find myself choking down with karma because he's definitely become one of my favorite mainstream authors.
But just because I admire his writing it doesn't mean I have to like his stories or like his characters. As it was with Percy Jackson when he first appeared in the first book of that particular series, I didn't like Jackson 'Tres' Navarre - the protagonist of this adult detective series by Riordan, written long before Percy was born - either. He's such a guy and I say that with all the womanly contempt I can possibly muster and I don't know why anyone would find him attractive.
Lucky for them (Riordan and Navarre), then, that this isn't a romance. This is in fact a story about an investigation on a cold case that was possibly linked to the mob and the conspiracy between evil, rich people who surrounded the case.
There's a real gritty feel to the story. The cast of characters involved in it all stood in grey areas and it's not immediately apparent who's the truly evil and who's the truly good. The humor is dark and wry and you wonder if people who live in Texas are ever truly happy. Riordan also paints an exotic picture of Texas - or San Antonio, to be precise - and peppers his book with cultural notes on the location. I can always appreciate a book that features a place vividly, making great use of the geography to help enhance the story, and in this matter Riordan definitely succeeds in conveying what San Antonio looks like. But if you ask me, his version of San Antonio is not a place I want to visit. Ever.
While Riordan's depictions of people and places are superior in his writing, the number of people and places he featured in this book is less so. Wait. I might not have made myself clear. What I mean to say is that there are just too many people inhabiting too many places in Big Red Tequila. You know how sometimes a book can be overpopulated to the point that, if the author doesn't start killing off the characters, the book's inhabitants could just jump out of the pages and occupy the space you are at in real life? This book definitely feels that way. I felt like, "Oh there's Carlon. There's Ralph. There's Carl. There's Larry. And there's Garrett. Wait, who's Dan? What do you mean there's Dan Sr. and Dan Jr.? Who are these people?"
I think it's because this is the first book of the series and everyone has to be introduced. Some of them must be recurring characters in the stories and will probably show up again later on. So I tried to pay attention to who they are but, still, I couldn't help getting a little bit of a headache at the sheer number of personages. And they're not all of them familiar to me the way Chiron, Dionysius, Poseidon and the Medusa are...
It sounds like I'm complaining about the book. In a way, yes, I am. Again, I don't think I like this book all that much, although I'm now convinced of Riordan's quality as a good storyteller. As such, I'm going to keep on reading his books. Even if he writes exasperatingly confounding, long and intricate stories with too many people in it, at least he writes them interestingly. 'Boring' is not going to be a word I would associate with Rick Riordan. Ever.
But just because I admire his writing it doesn't mean I have to like his stories or like his characters. As it was with Percy Jackson when he first appeared in the first book of that particular series, I didn't like Jackson 'Tres' Navarre - the protagonist of this adult detective series by Riordan, written long before Percy was born - either. He's such a guy and I say that with all the womanly contempt I can possibly muster and I don't know why anyone would find him attractive.
Lucky for them (Riordan and Navarre), then, that this isn't a romance. This is in fact a story about an investigation on a cold case that was possibly linked to the mob and the conspiracy between evil, rich people who surrounded the case.
There's a real gritty feel to the story. The cast of characters involved in it all stood in grey areas and it's not immediately apparent who's the truly evil and who's the truly good. The humor is dark and wry and you wonder if people who live in Texas are ever truly happy. Riordan also paints an exotic picture of Texas - or San Antonio, to be precise - and peppers his book with cultural notes on the location. I can always appreciate a book that features a place vividly, making great use of the geography to help enhance the story, and in this matter Riordan definitely succeeds in conveying what San Antonio looks like. But if you ask me, his version of San Antonio is not a place I want to visit. Ever.
While Riordan's depictions of people and places are superior in his writing, the number of people and places he featured in this book is less so. Wait. I might not have made myself clear. What I mean to say is that there are just too many people inhabiting too many places in Big Red Tequila. You know how sometimes a book can be overpopulated to the point that, if the author doesn't start killing off the characters, the book's inhabitants could just jump out of the pages and occupy the space you are at in real life? This book definitely feels that way. I felt like, "Oh there's Carlon. There's Ralph. There's Carl. There's Larry. And there's Garrett. Wait, who's Dan? What do you mean there's Dan Sr. and Dan Jr.? Who are these people?"
I think it's because this is the first book of the series and everyone has to be introduced. Some of them must be recurring characters in the stories and will probably show up again later on. So I tried to pay attention to who they are but, still, I couldn't help getting a little bit of a headache at the sheer number of personages. And they're not all of them familiar to me the way Chiron, Dionysius, Poseidon and the Medusa are...
It sounds like I'm complaining about the book. In a way, yes, I am. Again, I don't think I like this book all that much, although I'm now convinced of Riordan's quality as a good storyteller. As such, I'm going to keep on reading his books. Even if he writes exasperatingly confounding, long and intricate stories with too many people in it, at least he writes them interestingly. 'Boring' is not going to be a word I would associate with Rick Riordan. Ever.
January 25, 2016
Jackson Navarre III (a/k/a “Tres” Nevarre) has returned to San Antonio after 10 years in California. He had left in the wake of his father’s murder, and now he wants answers, but mostly gets trouble.
Riordan’s book is populated with colorful characters. In addition to Tres, there’s Lillian Cambridge, a talented photographer and Tres’s high-school love. Ralph Arguello made his fortune with a series of pawn shops and is completely loyal to Tres. Beau Karnau is a fading artist who has been Lillian’s mentor and business partner in a small gallery. Guy White is a reputed mob boss, who insists he is just a businessman and philanthropist. Jay Rivas is a cop with secrets to protect and a seeming vendetta against Navarre. Dan Sheff is the scion of an old family, heir to their construction business, and was recently engaged to Lillian (until she gave the ring back and then phoned Tres and asked him to come back from California). Garrett – Tres’s half-brother – is a paraplegic who is a computer whiz and drives a van decorated with plastic fruit and paintings of Carmen Miranda on its sides. And let’s not forget Robert Johnson, Tres’s enchilada-eating coffee-drinking cat.
The plot is appropriately intricate, involving old vendettas, past loves, unfaithful spouses, greedy politicians, and crooked cops. But Tres has a stubborn desire to get to the truth, and his old friends (and his father’s) are still willing to help him.
Riordan’s writing gives just the right flavor of San Antonio (and made me hungry for GOOD Mexican food). In all, entertaining and engaging. I’ll read more.
Riordan’s book is populated with colorful characters. In addition to Tres, there’s Lillian Cambridge, a talented photographer and Tres’s high-school love. Ralph Arguello made his fortune with a series of pawn shops and is completely loyal to Tres. Beau Karnau is a fading artist who has been Lillian’s mentor and business partner in a small gallery. Guy White is a reputed mob boss, who insists he is just a businessman and philanthropist. Jay Rivas is a cop with secrets to protect and a seeming vendetta against Navarre. Dan Sheff is the scion of an old family, heir to their construction business, and was recently engaged to Lillian (until she gave the ring back and then phoned Tres and asked him to come back from California). Garrett – Tres’s half-brother – is a paraplegic who is a computer whiz and drives a van decorated with plastic fruit and paintings of Carmen Miranda on its sides. And let’s not forget Robert Johnson, Tres’s enchilada-eating coffee-drinking cat.
The plot is appropriately intricate, involving old vendettas, past loves, unfaithful spouses, greedy politicians, and crooked cops. But Tres has a stubborn desire to get to the truth, and his old friends (and his father’s) are still willing to help him.
Riordan’s writing gives just the right flavor of San Antonio (and made me hungry for GOOD Mexican food). In all, entertaining and engaging. I’ll read more.
June 29, 2013
Wow, I just discovered this fabulous crime series by Rick Riordan, that right the YA author who brought us Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, Heroes of Olympus series and the Kane Chronicles series. Turns out that back in the '90s Mr. Riordan was writing gumshoe fiction of the first order. This is the Tres Navarre series and it's about the son of a Texas sheriff who was gun downed in his front yard right in front of the then 20 something young man. Unable to deal with the death of his father he takes his PhD in English and heads to San Francisco leaving everything, including the young lady he was in love with, behind.
Ten years pass and he gets some letters from the young lady essentially asking him to come home and try to make a go of it again. He returns but in addition to trying to pick up where he left off with the girl, he has it in mind to try and find out exactly who killed his father. The ensuing investigation ten years later had blamed the murder on an ex-con who then turned up conveniently dead as well. No spoilers here other than to say that yes, he does ultimately find out who did it but along the way he stirs up a whole Texas sized hornets nest of bad cops, unscrupulous rich folk and a gardening mob boss to name a few.
I had somehow managed to get 4 books going at once when Dean Koontz came out with Deeply Odd so rather than leave them hanging I hurried up and finished all 4 of them. This was the last of the 4 and as soon as I finish the Odd book probably by Monday, I will be back at this series with a vengeance there are 7 of them in all and I can't wait to get back to the other 6.
Ten years pass and he gets some letters from the young lady essentially asking him to come home and try to make a go of it again. He returns but in addition to trying to pick up where he left off with the girl, he has it in mind to try and find out exactly who killed his father. The ensuing investigation ten years later had blamed the murder on an ex-con who then turned up conveniently dead as well. No spoilers here other than to say that yes, he does ultimately find out who did it but along the way he stirs up a whole Texas sized hornets nest of bad cops, unscrupulous rich folk and a gardening mob boss to name a few.
I had somehow managed to get 4 books going at once when Dean Koontz came out with Deeply Odd so rather than leave them hanging I hurried up and finished all 4 of them. This was the last of the 4 and as soon as I finish the Odd book probably by Monday, I will be back at this series with a vengeance there are 7 of them in all and I can't wait to get back to the other 6.
April 15, 2023
The reader does a good job with the various voices and accents.
The plot is twisty and kept me guessing. I guess you could call this Texas hardboiled with a large side of quirkiness. There were some things that made me chuckle. I know Riordan for his gods-and-halfbloods stories, and there's nothing wrong with the mechanics of how he tells a story.
I wanted to like the main character, Tres--he has an interesting assortment of qualities, including degrees in English, mad martial arts skills and no fondness for guns, and keen sarcasm--but he's kind of a jackass. And he's not the only one. The ridiculous amount of alcohol and marijuana consumed by the characters and all the driving under the influence drove me nuts. I suppose, given the title, I shouldn't have been that surprised? This is set in and was published in 1997, but even back then there was awareness of the dangers of DUI. That was around the time I worked down the hall from a M.A.D.D. branch. I've known 2 people who basically drank themselves to death and someone whose son was killed by a drunk driver, in addition to all the similarly tragic stories I've heard over the years; so I can't find substance-drenched plotlines charming or cute.
The plot is twisty and kept me guessing. I guess you could call this Texas hardboiled with a large side of quirkiness. There were some things that made me chuckle. I know Riordan for his gods-and-halfbloods stories, and there's nothing wrong with the mechanics of how he tells a story.
I wanted to like the main character, Tres--he has an interesting assortment of qualities, including degrees in English, mad martial arts skills and no fondness for guns, and keen sarcasm--but he's kind of a jackass. And he's not the only one. The ridiculous amount of alcohol and marijuana consumed by the characters and all the driving under the influence drove me nuts. I suppose, given the title, I shouldn't have been that surprised? This is set in and was published in 1997, but even back then there was awareness of the dangers of DUI. That was around the time I worked down the hall from a M.A.D.D. branch. I've known 2 people who basically drank themselves to death and someone whose son was killed by a drunk driver, in addition to all the similarly tragic stories I've heard over the years; so I can't find substance-drenched plotlines charming or cute.
May 20, 2012
So, the "YA" author writes a pretty mean mystery. But I can see where it might be harder to stand out in this field than in the YA field. I'll read more in this series, because I like the character, Tres Navarre, and I like the secondary characters because they feel real, not like cliched stereotypes of parents, businessmen, exgirlfriends and friends with shady ways of making a living.
A small aspect that I loved: when Tres was growing up in Texas, he didn't speak Spanish. He learned Spanish when he moved to San Diego. Now he's back home, and they make fun of the Spanish he uses, because the locals can tell he learned it somewhere else. It's a very small point, but used to such good effect.
A small aspect that I loved: when Tres was growing up in Texas, he didn't speak Spanish. He learned Spanish when he moved to San Diego. Now he's back home, and they make fun of the Spanish he uses, because the locals can tell he learned it somewhere else. It's a very small point, but used to such good effect.
December 8, 2021
eponymous sentence:
p15: I tried to remember the taste of Big Red tequilla.
cement:
p140: Tito was making his motor boat sound again, blowing red bubbles against the red cement.
p143: But when I closed my eyes I saw Tito's pulverized face, Lillian with a bloody eye, a red cement floor chipped and splattered on.
p171: The cement underside of the Congress Avenue Bridge echoed with chatters from a few million bats and only slightly fewer sightseers.
grammar:
p226: If he had been any more frail they would've had to weight him down to keep him from floating out of bed.
Serial cozy mysteries allow me to visit locales I wouldn't otherwise, never mind if they're as fictional as the story or not.
p15: I tried to remember the taste of Big Red tequilla.
cement:
p140: Tito was making his motor boat sound again, blowing red bubbles against the red cement.
p143: But when I closed my eyes I saw Tito's pulverized face, Lillian with a bloody eye, a red cement floor chipped and splattered on.
p171: The cement underside of the Congress Avenue Bridge echoed with chatters from a few million bats and only slightly fewer sightseers.
grammar:
p226: If he had been any more frail they would've had to weight him down to keep him from floating out of bed.
Serial cozy mysteries allow me to visit locales I wouldn't otherwise, never mind if they're as fictional as the story or not.
February 22, 2022
I never knew that Rick Riordan wrote adult novels until I was digging into all his books. And when I saw a review complaining about it having “too many swear words” I knew I had to read it. 😆. For it being the author’s first book, it’s not too bad, but it wasn’t an amazing story. Apparently there might be more books in the series, but I’m not sure I feel the need to read them. But it’s definitely not because there’s too much swearing. 😜
December 17, 2016
Ако не беше твърде характерният хумор на Рики, който на няколко пъти ме кара да се хиля с глас сам вкъщи, не знам дали щях да ѝ дам повече от 2,5 звезди. Нуарът в стил Чандлър е налице, но някак си ми липсваше сюжетната тръпка в приключенията на hard-boiled dick, тоест, главния герой. И все пак... заради майтапите и заради Робърт Джонсън - 4/5 :)
August 10, 2024
Interesting to read what the writer wrote before he was who he is today. Especially since it is set in my broader neighborhood of growing up going into San Antonio for shopping and cultural events. Well written, and the story was engaging enough to keep me reading, but I wouldn’t say it’s a must read.
September 26, 2025
I would give this 3.5 stars but had to round down ultimately. This is a solid who-done-it mystery book going into the backstory of Tres Navarre, the protagonist of Rick Riordan’s adult mystery series. I liked the characters and after reading some reviews I think the comments about too many curse words are hilarious. This is an adult book with adult content and I didn’t find it different than other adult mystery books. I guess maybe it is a little jarring if you read this right after Percy Jackson which is geared for middle grade kids. A highlight for me is that this novel takes place in the San Antonio/Austin area and mentions a lot of places I have been. It was also funny to read the “don’t California my Texas” bits of the book and realize that had been the sentiment since 1997. I also thought the ending had a good twist although overall I didn’t find this a crazy stand out mystery. I would continue reading the series though because Tres is a strong, interesting character and I think the first one held my attention pretty well.
October 2, 2025
Na początku ciężko mi było się wgryźć w tę ksiażkę, kompletnie nie spodziewałam się takiego klimatu. Nie wiedziałam ile ma lat główny bohater, ani o czym mówi. Przez całą książkę, pojawiło się dużo opisów Teksasu, miejsc, hiszpańskich słówek, określeń, które nic mi nie mówią. Ale to na bok, bo generalnie zakochałam się w Tresie i tylko kibicowałam mu pomyślności xD
Jeżeli chodzi o zagadkę, to trochę przestałam szukać rozwiązania, za dużo pojawiło się imion, nazwisk i wszelkich innych rzeczy, że nie czułam przyjemności z wymyślania, kto jest kim i co zrobił, więc pozwoliłam się płynąć z nurtem i doprowadziło to do rozwiązania, którego poniekąd się spodziewałam.
Sorry, ale Tres whump <3
Niby długo czytałam, ale tak naprawdę, przez koniec sierpnia i połowę września nie tykałam żadnych książek :D
Jeżeli chodzi o zagadkę, to trochę przestałam szukać rozwiązania, za dużo pojawiło się imion, nazwisk i wszelkich innych rzeczy, że nie czułam przyjemności z wymyślania, kto jest kim i co zrobił, więc pozwoliłam się płynąć z nurtem i doprowadziło to do rozwiązania, którego poniekąd się spodziewałam.
Sorry, ale Tres whump <3
Niby długo czytałam, ale tak naprawdę, przez koniec sierpnia i połowę września nie tykałam żadnych książek :D
November 6, 2018
I was looking for something a bit grittier than my normal read, and I wanted something funny. This was supposed to fit the bill. It was okay. There were a lot of people to keep track of, and I didn't really care about either mystery and how they got solved. And Riordan describes every move in the fights, which is pretty boring. However, I did sort of like Tres and his mom. So, maybe I'll move on to the 2nd in the series. I haven't yet decided. Just got the new Liane Moriarty book, so that's first, of course!
July 16, 2019
It was fun reading a book set in the city where I live. The author and his character Tres took readers on a journey all around the central part of San Antonio in the middle 1990s, from the Alamo Quarry Market (not yet finished in the book) down to around Hildebrand Street, with a couple of trips to the Dominion ("where your ordinary run-of-the-millionaire Texan dreams of going when he dies"), downtown and the Riverwalk, and to the south side of SA. The story developed slowly and was full of rich detail of places in San Antonio. The characters were well-developed, and the solution was not easy to figure out. The book very much deserved the awards it won.
August 21, 2019
FINALLY finished this book. Initially picked it up because in November 2017, we were going to my sister's house in San Antonio for Thanksgiving, and I like my travel reading to be based in the place I'm visiting. But I somehow misplaced the book and didn't find it again for a year or so, and then picked it up off and on. Finally told myself I was going to finish it. Like others have said, there are alot of characters to keep track of, and I don't think I did a good job of it. The pace did pick up at the end, and I'll probably pick up another one eventually. Maybe the next time I visit my sister in San Antonio.
May 20, 2018
I read the 3rd through 7th novels in Rick Riordan’s Tres Navarre PI series before I located Big Red Tequila, the first. It isn’t as good as the later, but, it shows how Riordan improved with each opportunity, leading to his status as the superstar author of the Percy Jackson YA novels. This book demonstrates Riordan’s witty dialogue and winsome description of the ugly side of San Antonio. It also shows some of the problems he overcame in later works.
In Big Red Tequila, Tres Navarre returns to San Antonio a decade after the unsolved murder of his father, then sheriff. Tres ran out on his high school sweetheart, but, an email exchange with her causes him to leave his adopted home of San Francisco to tackle the unfinished psychological business related to his father and to try to rekindle a relationship. But, she soon disappears under suspicious circumstances and most every criminal and crooked cop in town plants the unwelcome mat for Navarre, whose father left many enemies. He investigates his father’s death and finds the killer. This sets the stage for Tres’s PI business in future installments.
I sense Riordan is a nice, polite guy; he was a literature professor. I bet he let his inner demons made of testosterone live vicariously through character Tres Navarre. Hard-drinking Navarre is foolhardy, brave to the point of suicidal, profane, quick tempered, and has a comic hero ability to overcome any situation. In Big Red Tequila, an unarmed Navarre rushes the home of San Antonio’s leading mobster, overpowers the guard, and chats with the boss. He repeats dropping by without an appointment several more times. Navarre gets the ladies, even though he’s an unemployed and broke drunkard, impetuous, poorly groomed, and often nursing serious injuries from his fights.
Big Red Tequila has surplus supporting characters and many reviewers note it’s confusing tracking who’s who, especially when many are gruff white Texan males with common names. Many peripheral characters in the early novels are amusing, but, somewhat over-the-top, which dampens believability. Tres’s Parrothead brother Garrett is the world’s biggest Jimmy Buffet fan. Many of the baddies in this series- such as the squatter in Tres’s San Antonio apartment- are comically stupid. The dialogue can be so witty it doesn’t feel real.
The last two books in this series, Mission Road and Rebel Island are darker and much better. In them, Riordan dropped silly secondary characters, focusing on plot, making numbers six and seven thrilling reads. Big Red Tequila is for the Riordan/Navarre enthusiastic who wants to read them all. The other novels have enough backstory you can start at number three- or five- and enjoy those better novels.
In Big Red Tequila, Tres Navarre returns to San Antonio a decade after the unsolved murder of his father, then sheriff. Tres ran out on his high school sweetheart, but, an email exchange with her causes him to leave his adopted home of San Francisco to tackle the unfinished psychological business related to his father and to try to rekindle a relationship. But, she soon disappears under suspicious circumstances and most every criminal and crooked cop in town plants the unwelcome mat for Navarre, whose father left many enemies. He investigates his father’s death and finds the killer. This sets the stage for Tres’s PI business in future installments.
I sense Riordan is a nice, polite guy; he was a literature professor. I bet he let his inner demons made of testosterone live vicariously through character Tres Navarre. Hard-drinking Navarre is foolhardy, brave to the point of suicidal, profane, quick tempered, and has a comic hero ability to overcome any situation. In Big Red Tequila, an unarmed Navarre rushes the home of San Antonio’s leading mobster, overpowers the guard, and chats with the boss. He repeats dropping by without an appointment several more times. Navarre gets the ladies, even though he’s an unemployed and broke drunkard, impetuous, poorly groomed, and often nursing serious injuries from his fights.
Big Red Tequila has surplus supporting characters and many reviewers note it’s confusing tracking who’s who, especially when many are gruff white Texan males with common names. Many peripheral characters in the early novels are amusing, but, somewhat over-the-top, which dampens believability. Tres’s Parrothead brother Garrett is the world’s biggest Jimmy Buffet fan. Many of the baddies in this series- such as the squatter in Tres’s San Antonio apartment- are comically stupid. The dialogue can be so witty it doesn’t feel real.
The last two books in this series, Mission Road and Rebel Island are darker and much better. In them, Riordan dropped silly secondary characters, focusing on plot, making numbers six and seven thrilling reads. Big Red Tequila is for the Riordan/Navarre enthusiastic who wants to read them all. The other novels have enough backstory you can start at number three- or five- and enjoy those better novels.
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