#BookReview Texas Sicario by Harry Hunsicker @amazonpub

Texas Sicario by Harry Hunsicker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Former Texas Ranger Arlo Baines knows all about pain: how to bear it, how to avenge it, and how to inflict it.

Still mourning the murders of his wife and children, former Texas Ranger Arlo Baines now works security at a bazaar in Dallas. Grief-stricken, he’s invested his heart and hope in the welfare of Miguel—a street kid who’s become his surrogate son. But the wounds of a brutal past are hard to heal, especially when a new case threatens to rip them open all over again.

Approached by a colleague now working for the DEA to investigate the seemingly random murders of prominent Latino businessmen, Arlo works to expose the common link: an ultraviolent drug cartel pushing into northern Texas. As the vicious power struggle between the gangs turns the streets of Dallas into a war zone, Arlo’s investigation threatens everything he loves.

When grief, anger, and secrets stretch the bonds of loyalty to their breaking point, Arlo can trust no one—but must risk everything to protect what remains

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Texas Sicario is the sequel to The Devil's Country that I read two years ago. I really liked The Devil's Country and hoped that this book would be as good. Arlo Baines wife and children were murdered some time ago and even though the ones that did the deed has been punished can't Arlo move on. Now is he working with security at a bazaar in Dallas. A while back did he find a street kid Miguel that he's taken under his wings. However, a brutal killing will change everything for both Arlo and Miguel.

Texas Sicario is well written and fast-paced. I quite liked the book, the only drawback for me is that I just don't like stories about drugs and cartels. I liked reading about Arlo again, and I liked how he's protecting Miguel. As for the murders, the links they have to the cartels, well as I wrote before, I just don't find stories like that especially interesting no matter how well written the book is. I'm not saying the book is bad, the story is good. I just feel I was not as invested in this story as with the first book. Still, there are some good parts (Arlo bonding with Miguel) and I never felt the book bored me. Also, I was surprised by the identity of the killer although not at all surprised about who is behind the cartel.

This book is perfectly alright, I liked that the story was not bogged down with a lot of extra details or unnecessary side stories. Lately, I've felt that some books would have been better if they had been trimmed down. This one felt refreshingly fast-moving.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!

#BookReview The Devil's Country by Harry Hunsicker

The Devil's Country by Harry Hunsicker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Former Texas Ranger Arlo Baines didn’t come to the tiny West Texas town of Piedra Springs to cause trouble. After his wife and children were murdered, Arlo just wants to be left alone. Moving from place to place seems to be the only thing that eases the pain of his family’s violent end.

But a chance encounter outside a bar forces him to rescue a terrified woman and her children from mysterious attackers. When the woman turns up murdered the next day—her children missing—Arlo becomes the primary suspect in exactly the same type of crime he is trying desperately to forget.

Haunted by the fate of his family, and with the police questioning the existence of the dead woman’s children, Arlo decides it’s his duty to find them. The question is, just how deep will he have to sink into the dusty secrets of Piedra Springs to save them and clear his name?

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All Arlo wants is to be left alone. Since his family was murdered has he been drifting from place to place and now he has come to Piedro Springs. What he didn't anticipate were the woman begging him to help her and her children and neither did he anticipate everything that happens next. The woman ends up dead and the sheriff seems less than thrilled about having Arlo in his town. This is a town with secrets, secrets that they are hellbent on keeping, but Arlo will not give up his hunt for the woman's children's.

The Devil's Country is a thrilling book about a man with a tragic past. In many ways did Arlo Baines reminded remind me of Jack Reacher especially since the last Reacher book I read had a similar concept to this one. I quite liked Arlo. Arlo's life as a Texas Ranger ended when his family was murdered and we get the full story in this book in flashbacks to the past.

The missing kids and the woman that was killed belonged to a cult and there is something wrong with it. However, the cult basically owns half the town so it's hard to get anyone to talk. But, there is a journalist there whose sister joined the cult and together they try to find out what happened to the children as well as the journalist's niece. 

Lots of action, an interesting story, and a very tragic ending. I liked this book and I liked Arlo. I hope to read more books with him because he was such an interesting character and I would like to see some happiness in his life again.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!