The Exiled by Christopher Charles

by Christopher Charles

Can anyone ever truly outrun his past?Back in the 1980s, Wes Raney was an ambitious New York City Narcotics Detective with a growing drug habit of his own. While working undercover on a high-risk case, he made decisions that ultimately cost him not only his career, but also his family. Disgraced, Raney fled-but history is finally catching up with him.Now in his early forties, Raney has been living in exile, the sole homicide investigator covering a two-hundred-mile stretch of desert in New Mexico. His solitude is his salvation-but it ends when a brutal drug deal gone wrong results in a triple murder. Staged in a locked underground bunker, the crime reawakens Raney's haunted and violent past.From the vast, unforgiving landscape of the American west to the mean streets of New York, The Exiled is at once a riveting murder mystery and a brilliant portrait of a man on the run from himself, an unforgettable thriller that is "impossible to put down" (Frank Bill).

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Suspense

Hardcover

First published April 19, 2016

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Author of THE EXILED, a thriller, and co-author with James Patterson of three BookShots, including the NIGHT SNIPER, which is anthologized in the recently published THE FAMILY LAWYER.

"[A] dark gem of a novel . . . Powered by relentless pacing and fully realized characters, this brutal narrative illuminates the harrowing realms of drug addiction and organized crime. Readers won't soon forget Raney's blood-soaked and coke-fueled journey through self-loathing to some semblance of salvation."―Publishers Weekly

"Edgy and satisfying. A sequel would be most welcome . . . The story isn't so much about solving the murders, though that gets taken care of. It's about Raney's personal journey--how he wants to be good but struggles against his weaknesses and might fail."―Kirkus Reviews

"Christopher Charles has written one of the most gripping novels to come my way in a long time. If you need sleep, don't pick it up, because you won't be putting it down anytime soon. Each scene convinces you that you just have to read one more, and pretty soon you've stayed up half the night. Charles is a spellbinding storyteller, and his characters are as vivid and real as they get. I rarely feel this enthusiastic about a novel. The Exiled is the work of an amazing writer."―Stephen Yarbrough, author of Visible Spirits and The Realm of Last Chances

"Son of a bitch! This is one dark and powerful story of a damaged man with a do or die attitude, a man who wants to succeed and never fail. Scribed with a bare-bones narrative, its one part detective, two parts noir with a strong mixture of literary craft and one twist following the next. It takes a lot for a book to hold my interest, even more to finish it, but with The Exiled, Christopher Charles's storytelling was so deeply rooted within the characters, it was impossible to put down."―Frank Bill, author of Crimes in Southern Indiana and Donnybrook

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Since he'd left New York, Raney's professional life consisted largely of cases that solved themselves: meth lab explosions, domestics so routine he couldn't remember which spouse went with which murderer. The past eighteen years were not the future he'd once imagined. He'd been exiled from the lives and the work he valued most, though exile wasn't the right word: he'd long stopped pretending he had no choice.".....

Detective Wes Raney has a new life. One far from the streets of New York where he lost his police career along with everything else. Now working in the middle of nowhere New Mexico, he's got a murder to solve of a rancher and two young people. They're found dead in a bunker on the ranchers land along with some drugs.

The story goes back and forth between Raney's life years ago in New York and the present. Working undercover led to his ultimate downfall. He did what he needed to do to keep his cover but at an awful cost. The things he did back then will tempt him again in his new life. Can he resist?

Raney dives into the lives of the dead rancher, Jack, and his wife Mavis. It's a small town and people know things. The dead teenagers have scary cartel connections. Their deaths aren't likely to be unnoticed. At times the story was shocking. Things turned up you don't see coming.

Is it a drug cartel connection or someone closer to home for Jack and the subsequent murders? Definitely a page turner. The kind of story that you have to know what happens next. This was a great book. Well written, interesting characters. Raney is forever haunted by his past. I'd like to know what happens to Raney in the future. I could see a whole series of this detective.

Thank you Christopher Charles, Netgalley, and Mulholland Books.

[Don Gorman · Rating 3 out of 5]

(2 1/2). This is a double barreled thriller. We have two really good stories going on at the same time. Of course, one is the precursor to the other as far as the main character goes. We have a great protagonist in Wes Raney, and his double life runs wild and crazy as we see him in his before and after states. This is a fast moving little book. A good diversion for a holiday weekend.

[Woody Chandler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shades of David Swinson's Frank Marr, our protagonist is another drug-addled detective who finds himself in over his head and eventually in exile. In this case, exile means New Mexico from NYC & our man still manages to step into an ugly drug-related murder! Told in alternating real-time and flashbacks, the two halves of the story & his life eventually mesh as secrets are revealed & the story comes to it inevitable end. It really worked as a bridge between the Swinson books & the next one that I read.

[Maureen DeLuca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the greatest book- but not the worst either. It did hold my interest, for a while- then at times my eyes glazed over.

A story of a undercover narcotics detective who falls into the trap of becoming hook on the drug itself. We learn about his past life, as a detective, husband, father- who left the department and now is a county homicide cop in New Mexico. The story goes back and forth- from his former narcotic days to current day in New Mexico.

What I didn't like about the book , was at times it really , really dragged on- giving lots of details- and at times I thought it was way too much-- But, having said that - I did finish this book and I would love to see a series with the main character Wes Raney.

[William Koon · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Exiled features a parallel back story that weakens and impedes the main story line and thwarts any attempt this work has to enjoyable crime fiction.  In fact there are two books strung together, first one then the other.  Some very trite elements further hinder any potential enjoyment of the work..  There's a daughter the main character has never seen, and a  near chick-lit romance with a local artist who has a"special" brother --or is that her son? Even as a summer read, this one is a clunker with no redeeming value.

[Diane Yonchuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVED this book! Wes Raney is a fascinating and complex character, and I would have hoped to see more of him in future books, but I don't see how that would be possible, given the ending, which is the one problem I had with the book. It was trite in light of the high intensity of the parallel stories, and the main character. It was nevertheless a crackerjack read and I would recommend it highly.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would like to thank Goodreads, Foundry Media, Chris Charles, and Mulholland books for sending me this Giveaway. In The Exiled, Christopher Charles offers weaves a crime narrative that keeps the reader engaged to the very end. Detective Raney, a man of limited words but great secrets, serves as the central character as he attempts to solve a particularly bloody homicide in the arid New Mexican desert while recounting his past stint as undercover police officer in a prolific New York gang. While the conclusion of the mystery came quickly, and the 'Eureka moment' a little lackluster, the book maintained a steady pace that kept me interested. I recommend this for any fan of crime or suspense.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway a while back and just got to it.

The story and the pacing are good. The characters are likeable. The only thing it didn't like was the toggling between 2 stories in 2 time periods

[Susan Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This mystery keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. I liked the flawed character of Wes Raney. This is not a predictable book so its easy to stay interested.

[Emily D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mike read: I would have liked it better, but it was like reading two books at a time.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wes Raney is called to investigate a triple murder in the desert of New Mexico. Called in by the local police chief he begins his investigation all the time thinking of the similarities between his current case and those he had investigated in his previous career as a New York City cop.

This book is actually 2 cracking good stories running parallel to each other. One, Wes' current investigation and the second, his former life as an undercover cop in new York, which led him to where he was now.

While this is a story of a police investigation it is also a story of one man's life including the mistakes he made and the regrets that he has. During the investigation Wes worked closely with the police Chief and the two men shared a lot of themselves with each other, in a way that men in stories seldom do and this added to the richness of the story. It wasn't done in a way that the reader would find soppy or offputting but it just naturally fitted in with the story and let the reader see the men underneath the uniforms.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would love to see how things went for Wes after this story ended. Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.

[Gareth Price · Rating 3 out of 5]

When homicide detective Wes Raney is called on to investigate a drug related triple murder, that has taken place in a locked underground bunker in New Mexico, his past comes back to haunt him.

Told as an ongoing investigation into the murders and interspersed with flashbacks into Raneys' past as a New York narcotics detective, this is a good, solid read. However, for me anyway, it didn't have that elusive spark that, say, Dennis Lehane or George Pelecanos have that would have made it totally compulsive. This is Charles Christophers' first crime novel (he has a novel called Jonah Men out under the name Christopher Narozny) and it bodes well for his next one.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Exiled is a solid, police procedural that follows the investigation of a multiple murder case where the elusive suspect seems to always be one step of the dogged investigator Wes Raney.

Wes Raney is a veteran police officer with a mysterious past of his own, that is revealed in alternating, flash back chapters.

The author does a decent job of building the lives of tertiary characters and my main problem with the novel was entirely a creation of my own - I read the book too slowly which caused me to lose track of the suspect and characters a bit.

Still, Christopher Narozny is an author to watch and his next novel will be anticipated.

[Larry]

Wes Raney, a county homicide cop in New Mexico, made a series of big mistakes eighteen years earlier when an undercover cop in New York. Those mistakes cost him his wife (soon-to-be) and daughter, and put him in exile to work out his demons. He's been a good cop, but most of his cases are meant to fill his days. Now he has a case that catches his professional interest, but also digs up his old demons. How he copes with both the crimes before him (brutal stuff) and his past (told in alternating chapters) makes for an excellent book. It is well plotted and well written.

[David Bridges · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The writing is smooth and straight forward which makes the reading effortless. The real strength is in the story. The characters are superbly developed and the tension builds to a satisfying payoff and heart breaking conclusion. I cannot recommend this one enough. Especially if you are a fan of writers like Richard Lange or William Boyle. Even if you are a fan of movies like The Departed and want something to read in that vein I would recommend The Exiled. I look forward to more books by this author.

[Tom Dooley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found out about this book through social media and started investigating. I went to my local book store and sat down and used my 50 page rule, read 50 pages and if you can't get into it then don't read anymore. This book definitely has twists and turns. You have one that has some skeletons in his closet and you have another character that's on verge of retirement. One of the characters carries two story lines, so you get a back story on him. I think the setting is captured amazingly. I only wondering if this will be a ongoing series, because I'd like to see more.

[Christine Zibas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once a promising undercover NYC cop, the wrong side of politics and an addiction to drugs sent Wes Raney deep into the bleak wastelands of New Mexico, where he must solve a triple murder case. As the case keeps evolving, readers are taken deeper and deeper into Raney's past.

With crisp, clear knife-edged writing, Author Christopher Charles offers mystery readers a tale worth telling, without a hint of sentimentality. You've got to be a pretty fine author to pull this off, and Charles does.

[Resalo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 1st book I have read by this author and it was pretty good. the author weaves two parallel plots involving the same police detective; 1 from his past and the other current. The detective stumbles upon a grisly murder scene in New Mexico that quickly spirals out of control claiming more victims. A drug connection links them all, but in a way the reader cannot easily discern.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good Goodreads win! Once I got past the time switching early on in the book (between 2002 and 1984), I got the jist of the mystery. Found it a fast read with some interesting developments along the way.

[Mickey Hoffman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book tells two stories, one in the protagonist's past in New York and one in "real" time New Mexico. The past is more suspenseful than the other, but both are interesting and emotionally engaging.

[Threasa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book on goodreads! Thank you very much. The book was very good and a fast-paced one also. It goes back and forth from the present to 1984. Read the book. I think you'll enjoy it too.

[Edward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, liked the characters Raney and Bay, but found the present-day mystery a lot more interesting than the back story. Will keep an eye out for future titles with these characters.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Brent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gotta be another one coming?

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The storyline switches from present tense to flashbacks. The flashback storyline is more interesting than the current situation.

[Kent · Rating 3 out of 5]

one of the Xmas 2017 books from JimBoffie