THE PENANCE OF CHARLIE MCCOY

An ex-con returns to his old criminal ways to save his daughter in Wilsher’s thriller.

Houston medical resident Bebe Moore is in over her head. She’s been making and selling methylamine to a biker gang, which has attracted the interest of a rival cartel. When thugs abduct her girlfriend, Amy, Bebe calls in Amy’s father, Charlie McCoy, who did a six-year stint behind bars for robbery. He’s now in a witness protection program in Colorado after testifying against the mob; he sneaks into Texas to attempt to rescue the daughter he’s hardly seen through the years of his incarceration and time in WITSEC. Finding Amy isn’t easy, but crooked lawyer Daniel Spector is willing to help, so long as skilled lock-picker Charlie takes part in a bank heist—it’s the cartel’s bank, and sure to be stacked with millions. While Spector puts together a ragtag crew that’s not especially trustworthy, Charlie risks his life and his freedom to swipe a bundle from dangerous, well-armed gangsters. Wilsher delivers an enjoyable, swiftly paced tale; the characters are delightfully complex, from Bebe, whose feelings for Amy are hard to nail down (Bebe “doesn’t understand love, and she’ll freely admit that”), to some oafish brothers on the heist team who may not be as dense as they seem. They’re all unpredictable, likely to engineer a double-cross or two and driven by a variety of motives (money, revenge, or ensuring Amy’s safety). During the steady buildup to the heist, an imminent hurricane sets an ominous mood, reinforcing the glaring lack of trust among the crew, and portends the arrival of wrathful cartel members, vicious bikers, and a crooked cop. The latter half of the narrative rarely slows down as myriad people chase each other across Texas’ arid landscape. This exceedingly dark novel racks up a significant body count before it reaches its unforgettable ending.

A gleefully dubious cast headlines this grim, involving crime story.