Louisiana Burn

by Carl T. Smith

"Sam Larkin is drawn into an investigation of the judge who unjustly sent him to prison twelve years ago, propelling him on a difficult and increasingly dangerous quest for justice and personal retribution. A man with a cause wars against corruption and greed at the highest levels of politics"--Provided by publisher.

Hardcover

First published September 1, 2006

Reviews

[Greg Bascom · Rating 4 out of 5]

LOUISIANA BURN is a mystery but not in the "who-done-it," detective, private investigator or police procedural sub-genres. The protagonist, Sam Larkin, is an ex-con who was ensnared in a sham trial in Louisiana. The mystery is why he was framed and then released after serving only a few years of his sentence, given a large sum of money and all records of his trial and conviction expunged. One condition for his unexplained release is that he never returns to Louisiana. So Sam, having divorced his wife while in prison, buys a home on Mathews Island in the South Carolina lowcountry. All that is back story derived from the prequel novel, LOWCOUNTRY BOIL, which I did not read.

LOUISIANA BURN begins when Karen Chancy, a DEA agent and Sam's lover in LOWCOUNTRY BOIL, seduces him to return to the Gulf Coast to help her investigate Thornton Hunnycut, the judge at Sam's trial. Hunnycut, now a United States senator, is on the short list for vice presidential candidate.

Although there are a few puzzles and twists, the struggle in this story is how to get the villains, not to figure out who they are. The characters are well developed, three-dimensional folk, the writing clear and good, and the sensuous details on food and scenery are sufficient without being tedious.

Yet, I had some problems. Why would the FBI turn over the investigation of a senator to the DEA? The reunion between Sam and his former wife seemed unrealistic. And in the end, when you add up net gain to the villains, the reason for framing Sam in the first place is not convincingly explained.

Overall, a good read with plausibility problems.

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was definitely an apt sequel to Low Country Boil. The author continued to develop the main characters and introduced new ones as well. In fact, so many new ones, that at first it took a while to keep them straight. But as the story develops, I began to see the similarities among subsets of the characters and the differences as well. A very entertaining read. The jacket cover alludes to the fact that this is part of a trilogy; so I must pick up the final installment and see how everything is finally resolved.

[Kendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I've read by Carl T Smith, received as a gift from my most generous BOTNS secret Santa. I enjoyed this author's writing style very much, which actually "took" me to Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina. The characters were well developed, & the story was entertaining and kept me interested. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries. Now I need to read Mr Smith's earlier book "Low Country Boil"!!

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good read. Yes, in the beginning the characters were a little confusing but you soon become familiar. This was a good follow up to Lowcountry Boil. Am looking forward to the next on Mr. Smith's list.

[BJ King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the continuing story of Sam Larkin, the suspense that builds and the character of Sam as he meets the challenges head on. You will love Sam Larkin!

[Lyn Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can't wait to start the third of the trilogy.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought the dialogue was misrepresenting the Cajun and it irritated me. Good story though.