THE MOONLIGHT RUNNER

In this second installment of a thriller series, a Mexican drug lord coerces a charter boat captain into smuggling a shipment of guns from Texas.

Drug trafficker Fausto “El Demonio” López wants Simon Donovan to work for him. In Panama, Donovan was a notorious smuggler who skirted but never outright broke the law. He now runs a charter business in the Mexican city of Campeche—Fausto’s neck of the woods. Fausto is currently planning to “seize control of the Campeche gangs.” But that requires guns, and after losing a cocaine shipment, Fausto has trouble securing more of the drug and consequently is short on funds. His henchman José Luis finally gets assistance from Houston associate Billy Chávez, and now all they need is a way to transfer the guns to Campeche. This seems like a perfect job for Donovan, who turned down Fausto’s previous offer of employment. So Fausto has his minions abduct Itzél Canek, a local minister’s wife with whom Donovan is undeniably in love. To ensure Itzél’s safety, Donovan sails his ship, the Siete Mares, to Texas to retrieve the guns. But with Fausto’s armed men onboard, Donovan has good reason to suspect the untrustworthy drug lord is plotting a double cross. Ballesteros (Run for the Devil, 2017) packs his story with riveting subplots, including a war with various drug cartels in Campeche and even a possible informant working with Billy in Texas. Unfortunately, this leads to narrative stretches without Donovan, whose situation isn’t quite as dire as those of some of the characters featured in the subplots. But by the final act, Donovan and others are in unmistakable peril. Moreover, there’s absorbing melodrama throughout. For example, Itzél’s husband, Benício, doesn’t cause his wife’s affair; he’s been good to her and raised her son, Poli, as his own. Complicating matters is the fact that Donovan’s still mourning the loss of his fiancee, Xóchitl, an apparent dead ringer for Itzél. In one scene, Donovan, while discussing Itzél, inadvertently calls her Xóchitl. Since this volume is part of a trilogy, the story ends on a juicy cliffhanger.

A laudable protagonist shares the spotlight with exemplary supporting characters in this enthralling gang tale.