The Man who Killed his Brother, by Stephen R. Donaldson
Originally written in 1980 and released under a pseudonym, this book is a thriller/detective story. The titular hero is a drunk who lost his PI license and managed to accidentally shoot his cop brother -- No Donaldson protagonist can avoid a fucked up backstory. It's set in the Southwest, and the gritty bilingual locale has a bit of the vibe of Lone Star about it.
Improbably, The Man's niece has been kidnapped, as has the daughter of another shamus in town. Investigation, directed by The Man's competent PI friend and love interest, uncovers these are only the latest in a long string of disappearances, suspicious deaths, and some very nasty business. As ever, Donaldson can sure write, but a few improbable and/or uncharacteristically unsubtle details make the detection/mystery part of the story a little unsatisfactory. Nevertheless, after I got into the story, I tore through the rest of the book pretty quickly.
I picked up the 2002 revised version, published under his own name.
Improbably, The Man's niece has been kidnapped, as has the daughter of another shamus in town. Investigation, directed by The Man's competent PI friend and love interest, uncovers these are only the latest in a long string of disappearances, suspicious deaths, and some very nasty business. As ever, Donaldson can sure write, but a few improbable and/or uncharacteristically unsubtle details make the detection/mystery part of the story a little unsatisfactory. Nevertheless, after I got into the story, I tore through the rest of the book pretty quickly.
I picked up the 2002 revised version, published under his own name.