Dead Game: A John Marquez Crime Novel (John Marquez Series, 3) - Softcover

Kirk Russell is the author of Shell Games and Night Game, the first two books in the John Marquez crime novel series. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

*Starred Review* Who knew that a Fish and Game undercover team could uncover so much menace? Or that an ecothriller could be wildly fun and solidly convincing without sliding into preachifying? Russell has been proving that an unlikely detective, John Marquez, a California Fish and Game warden, makes a marvelous focal point for plots that pit good, in the form of embattled environmentalists, against evil, in the form of wildlife profiteers. Each Game novel so far (Dead Game 's predecessors are Shell Games, 2003, and Night Game, 2004) is told from the point of view of Marquez, who is wounded enough and sardonic enough to make us want to watch how he'll cope with whatever life--or poachers--throw at him. This time, Marquez's team (reduced to three agents and threatened with extinction because of budget cutbacks) tries to muster enough buys and busts to get the goods on a sturgeon-poaching team that may be part of a Eurasian crime ring. Russell revs up the action by having Marquez, on the phone with a Russian informant, listen to the sounds of the woman being kidnapped. This series gives readers fascinating background into wildlife, compelling undercover procedure, well-drawn characters, and the kind of description--whether of action or scenery--that leaves one gasping. Russell is at the top of his game. Connie Fletcher
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