It’s Mardi Gras in Mechant Loup and a dog complaint pulls Clint Wolf away from the town’s yearly parade. Happy to be away from the bustling crowds, noise, and lights, he responds to the complaint and arrives just in time to stop a man from shooting a friendly German shepherd that posed no threat to anyone. After addressing the man heatedly, he attempts to return the dog to its home, but instead finds a seemingly empty house, an abandoned detective car, a set of keys on the ground, and a single drop of blood in the driveway.
It’s unclear if anyone is home, as nearly all of the townspeople are attending the parade and no one will answer his persistent knocking, but Clint is determined to find the source of the blood. Finally, his attention is drawn to the neighboring property, where he locates an off-duty officer bound and gagged and barely clinging to life.
As though things weren’t bad enough, Clint soon stumbles upon a ghastly murder scene that will shock even him to his core, and it will inject sheer terror into the hearts of the rest of the town’s citizens. The one person who might hold the key to the case is in a coma, leaving Clint to delve deep into the lives of the victims in hopes of finding the killer--or killers.
Clint’s biggest fear is not solving the case--it’s wondering what he might do once he comes face to face with the killer.
BJ Bourg is a twenty-seven-year veteran of law enforcement and has worked as a patrol cop, detective, police academy instructor, SWAT officer, sniper leader, and chief investigator for a district attorney's office. He is a former professional boxer and a lifelong martial artist.
He is the author of the London Carter Mystery Series, the Clint Wolf Mystery Series, two books featuring Detective Brandon Berger, and a stand-alone mountain mystery. Additionally, over 185 of his short stories and articles have appeared in magazines such as Woman's World, Boys' Life, Tactical Response, and LAW and ORDER.
He loves vacationing in the mountains and is especially drawn to hiking, climbing, photographing wild animals, and traversing wild rivers in anything that will float. Above all else, he is a father and husband, and the highlight of his life is spending time with his beautiful wife and wonderful kids. For more information, including a list of BJ's published works and info about new releases and upcoming events, visit his website (http://bjbourg.com/).
I have to say another god book in the series. Once again I liked the all the main characters, the location and the story moved at pretty good pace. It drives me nuts he still does the licking of the lips thing when someone is nervous lol. This was the darkest book of the series by far especially the first half. I thought there was a drop off in the second half of it and I thought maybe the ending was a little weak .I just thought it could have been a tighter book . I liked watching all the main characters grow in the series. I would give it around a 3.2 on the grading scale. I thought it was an average book for this series. I do say give this book a spin I say give the series a spin. As in every series I read you have to read them in order. I never understand people who read like the number 9 book in a series first does not make sense to me-as I said before this book is worth giving a spin.
I've read all the Clint Wolf books in order, beginning with the first one, where I wondered why on earth anyone would hire the guy, to this one, currently the last available in the series.
There are spoilers galore in this, so if you're of a mind to read this, you should bypass my review.
Ready?
The book opens with a Mardi Gras parade in Mechant Loup, and all hands are on deck for crowd control. Now, I don't know from Mardi Gras parades in tiny tiny towns, but hey, it's apparently the season and the book has to start somewhere, right?
Wolf's old flame, Jennifer Duval, is hurrying to her brother Carl's house because he needs her help. When she gets there, she's thumped on the head.
Meanwhile, neighbor dude calls the cops because of a loose dog. Side note here: I live in a fairly rural area, and there are dogs all over the place. Unless they're killing someone's chickens, nobody cares. Unless you're that asshole neighbor about to shoot the dog when Wolf arrives, I suppose.
Wolf & co. find Jennifer strapped to a chair, obviously in medical distress, so she gets whisked off to the hospital. They decide to go in and check on Carl, only to find the entire family dead, including the kids - all shot to death with a shotgun.
And so we begin Wolf's hunt to find the killer(s). I have to say that it's fairly interesting, with enough of the local color to give you a good visual of the town and its inhabitants. I was also perversely happy when Duval died, because damn, what an annoying bitch she's been through this series. I mean, it's sad that people die, but she's fictional, so who cares.
The mystery itself revolves around a treasure box with a single gold coin in it and a map that supposedly leads to the rest of the treasure hoard. Turns out, the map leads to some little island in the bayou. There's a gunfight, arrests, and the bad (wo)man getting killed in her cell by Jennifer and Carl's father.
I don't mind treasure tales, and I'm not one of those people who think kids never get killed so the setup in this book shouldn't include them. I read mysteries and thrillers. Innocent people, including kids are going to be killed, and in this book, they were used as leverage against Carl so the bad guys could get to the treasure.
Speaking of bad guys: what I am not a fan of is the bad guy(s) being someone only tangential to the story or who only makes an appearance at the very end. That's the case in this one, when we only get to the actual bad guys after chasing red herrings everywhere throughout the entire book until the last few chapters. I'm also not a fan of someone who just murders a family out of nowhere - there's no indication the woman who did the killing has ever not been a regular, nice person. But suddenly the thought of becoming rich beyond her wildest dreams turns her into a family annihilator, right down to leveling a shotgun at a kid's chest and pulling the trigger? Torturing another person and killing him as well? And by torture, I mean that: the poor guy had fingers cut off.
I've also noticed creeping godism in this series. I rolled my eyes the first time Wolf opined in a previous book that "homicide detectives work for god". If you're not a fan of authors tossing their religion into their character's mouths, you're not going to like this series as it goes along. We get it, Wolf is some kind of christian and thinks his boss is god instead of the woman who actually hired him, and god this and god that. There's more and more of this showing up in the last few books, and it's annoying (to me, anyhow).
Overall: it's okay enough to occupy a couple hours of time, and I'll probably read the next one, too. I wouldn't recommend it for people who have issues with kids getting killed in books.
Misleading cover art. Inside: Gruesome murder of a family, including two children
The plot has been discussed by other reviewers, so I’ll start by saying I’ve always liked BJ Bourg’s fully-realized characters in this Southern police procedural series. Plus, I always wondered what Bourg would do with his annoying (and long-hanging) thread—protagonist Clint Wolf’s once-girlfriend, who was obsessed with him.
The storyline is everything I expect from BJ Bourg: well-paced action with good twists—but gruesome murders of children. There are a few hints to help tick the mystery fan’s whodunnit-boxes, so I chose a suspect, but was disabused by the author . . . or so I thought. Then came another twist. Bravo, BJ Bourg!
Unfortunately, the ending wasn’t as clean as I’d like, but perhaps the hanging-thread-character will figure in another book. I do hope this character won’t hang out through a number of books. Hopefully it’s not ”like father, like child” or vice versa, in this case.
A heinous crime that looks very obviously like one thing but Clint warns the young detective with him not to make assumptions. From there things go down some strange paths.
I like the way this series emphasizes solid police work...keen observation skills, thorough processing of crime scenes and evidence, careful preservation of evidence. I also like the way it addresses questions of morality and justice. Clint does just a bit too much inner monologue pondering the universe for me (it gets a bit old) but it’s not a huge detracting point.
The case takes several twists and turns. Some of them the reader can predict and others come out of left field. The crime is ultimately solved and there is an interesting ending but the overriding mystery is never solved and that leaves me wondering and surprised that Clint isn’t more concerned about word getting out (bc it has to) and problems down the road.
Omg he killed her with an air embolism "he got the syringe from his wife's insulin stash". Why didn't he just shoot her with a mega dose of insulin instead? Much easier delivery and death. Also oes not require him to actually insert the needle into her vein which would be next to impossible through a jail cell and probably a struggling victim. Clint is almost omniscient and knows things he should not know. However, there are times when he makes critical mistakes or decides something is not important that I find difficult to believe. These mistakes usually advance the plot but they're improbable and lazy by the author. I liked this book overall but these things put me off reading any future installments. PS. they never read that women her rights. Just started questioning her and never though she could be involved. Very sexist an also poor police work.
Welcome to the Bayou! Bourg’s 11th offering in his Clint Wolf series has the detective responding to a call reporting a dog barking incessantly on Mardi Gras. Seeking to find the owner leads him to a cabin where he discovers a police officer severely injured and restrained. After ensuring that EMS is handling the situation, he moves on to the main house. There, he finds an entire family brutally murdered.
Clues to why and who did this terrible deed come slowly and Bourg offers up several red herrings along the way. No surprise—good old-fashioned greed answers the question of ‘Why?’ As for the ‘Who’, that takes a bit longer to answer and even involves tracking the culprit via boat in the swampy bayou inhabited by alligators and a 15-foot-long Burmese python.
Loved listening to Thomas Stone’s Louisiana accented narration! Enjoy!
Jennifer, Clint's one-time girlfriend for a brief period, is back in Mechant Loup to talk to her brother. He phoned to say that strange things have been happening and he's worried. When she finally gets to the house she's jumped from behind and left in a coma. Inside the home her brother, his wife, and their two children are all dead and, at first glance it appears to be murder suicide. It's the start of a particularly puzzling investigation for Homicide Detective Clint. It's a little off the beaten track in terms of the earlier books but I think the author just couldn't help himself - after all Travis Magee and Dirk Pitt often had the same thing happen to them :) The ending of "But Not Forewarned" isn't very strong but it's does the job. 3.5 Stars, raised to 4 Stars.
This book was a little darker than others in the series. While there isn’t excessive gore on the page, a reader can picture the carnage. I regret having a good imagination because the killings were both violent and tragic.
Fans of this genre will enjoy unraveling the clues with the protagonists. Twice I began to suspect a red herring then had to backtrack and only figured it out shortly before the climax.
After the action subsides, there are a couple more reveals. They’re expected, but even so, the second is satisfying.
Book eleven felt very different in terms of crime, investigation, and character development. It’s a combination of familiar people and surroundings with fresh crimes and plot progression that keeps this series compelling.
Recently started reading BJ Bourg novels. I'm always looking for new authors to read. I feel like I've hit the jackpot, with BJ Bourg books! I'm not going to tell you about the book. I'm assuming, you've already read some reviews and know what the book is about. I will say it's written very well and keeps you guessing, right up to the last page. If you're not surprised, I'll pay for your book! Get started now!. You're wasting time! Thank you BJ, for having your books, in Kindle Unlimited.
Secrets long hidden in an old shed, caused a heinous murder. Greed and thinking there more than just gossip at a bar, things turned deadly for a family. Even an old partner of Clint rushing to an urgent call from her brother was caught. The father wanted justice for losing his whole family which had the two young grandchildren, Clint has had a perfect record, after this trying case would it still be. Dark and more gruesome plot.
An entire family (parents, 2 children and their grandmother) are found murdered in Madrid Gras night plus three more deaths follow. As with all 9 previous books I have read of BJ Bourg, this one is also fast-moving and excellent from the very first page. The identity of the perpetrator of the six murders was a complete surprise. I am eager to read the next book.
'But Not Forwarned' completely blew me away with the story line. I was pulled in from the beginning and I had a hard time putting this book down. Well written and well played out. Full of mystery, action, scary situations and deceit. What. A. Ride. I loved the ending and how I really didn't see that coming. A great add to your tbr list.
A family of five and a mother in law are killed and it was made to look like a murder/suicide. The man's sister was also hit with a blunt object and died from her injuries. Clint and Susan started following leads. A gold coin and a map are found to have caused this carnage.
Quick read, this one had a lot of people and moving parts so it was hard to determine who the killer was. Nothing huge happened it was just a typical case and we saw how Clint and Susan are cooping with parenthood. Not as much lovey dovey talk in this one, but it could have just been who the victim was and they had murdered children. We will see.
This is a great series. I have read them all and this is a fantastic series. If you love good mystery books with lots of thrills this is a series you will definitely want to read. I highly recommend this book and series.This is a ten star series.
Both writes fascinating stories of police life in the Louisiana delta. The books are always full of action reflecting police procedures in an entrancing way.
Oh I hope this isn't the last book of the clint wolf series. These books were great, kept me reading one book after another. Very exciting, couldn't put them down once I started them. I do hope BJ Bourg continue s with this series.
B J is back with another winner. This is a superb series of books from a master writer, each one improves on the last. The characters keep developing as the series is progressing, to almost become real.
What an amazing story and writer. His skill at making so many twist and turns in this book was fantastic , had me holding my breath and the ending just as good.Thank you BJ Bourg!
This was good, but also disturbing. I didn’t know who the culprit was until close to the end. A great mystery. I have really enjoyed this series. I can’t wait until the next book.
Many suspects and many dead ends. This was a tough case to solve.
One suspect after another turns up either dead or a dead end . Seems very difficult to trace information. Even when it appears the case is solved, it's not. Great story.
This story line was very well developed and also it ties up loose ends as to the past of Jennifer and Clint. Hard read if you are a very sensitive person. I don't want to be spoiler. One tragedy spins other things into motion. Very Good Read.
The plot was fine; there were several unexpected twists. The rating was lowered primarily because of the author’s use of “explanations” of thoughts and actions that were repetitive and bordered on excessive.
During the local Madigrade parade, a whole family is brutally murdered including a Le Mort detective. Clint has to investigate, and it takes many turns before he is able to narrow it down
another excellent story! I highly recommend all of BJ Bourg’s books! They are immensely entertaining and each time I’m amazed at who the culprit is! Fantastic job!