Publisher's Weekly Review
Early in Lyons's superior sequel to 2012's Ice Fire, federal judge Jock Boucher returns home from a meeting with the U.S. president in Washington, D.C., to post-Katrina New Orleans, where he's confronted by a mugger in the French Quarter. Skilled in the martial arts, Boucher fights back and inadvertently kills the man. Det. Roscoe Finch informs Boucher during their next day's fishing trip that the mugger's gun was a Soviet model that fires armor-piercing bullets. Later, they recover the body of a man floating near their boat who they learn worked for one of Louisiana's major industries-a company that's owned by Boucher's fellow French Quarter resident Ray Dumont. After Dumont's maid is killed by her boyfriend, Fitch investigates, discovering that cop-killing bullets identical to the ones in the mugger's gun were used. Boucher soon finds himself in the midst of a possible conspiracy involving arms dealers, drug runners, and a small group of individuals trying to set off a major international incident. A strong protagonist, unexpected plot twists, and smart dialogue make this a winner. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Jock Boucher, the Cajun federal judgeturnedunlikely action hero, returns for his second life-threatening adventure: investigating the smuggling of arms across the Mexican border by superpowerful New Orleans industrialist Ray Dumont. In Ice Fire (2012), the first installment in Lyons' series, Jock saved the world from an insidious plot by strangling two bad guys with his bare hands. Now, shaken by his propensity for killing people, he has decided to leave the bench. Then the president summons him to Washington for a personal talking-to. Temporarily relieved of trying cases, the well-off Jock is assigned to seek out and help victims of Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. But after he and his police detective buddy Fitch discover a floating body during a fishing outing and Jock is threatened on the street by a gunman he kills with one punch, the judge goes into investigative mode--once again putting himself at mortal risk by looking into Dumont's ties to Mexican terrorists and a brewing conflict over Mexican oil and gas deposits. Dumont, hoping to get a federal judge in his stable, sidles up to Boucher socially, charming him and widower Jock's brilliant, beautiful, Mumbai-born girlfriend, Malika, at his casino. Jock draws unlikely support from a down-and-out shrimper whom he bullies into cleaning up his act. The narrative is peppered with minilessons on past conflicts between the U.S. and Mexico and tourist-guidelike commentary on New Orleans culture, cuisine and physical landmarks (Jock lives in a historical house). Though not as winning or involving as Ice Fire, this is a solid, engaging thriller with a protagonist cut from a different cloth.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
After killing two men (Ice Fire, 2012), recently appointed federal judge Jock Boucher of New Orleans no longer feels fit to judge others. But when the president asks him not to resign, to protect future presidential appointments, he agrees to take only administrative duties. When an armed man tries to rob Boucher on the street in the French Quarter, and he retaliates, the case eventually leads to millionaire aristocrat Ray Dumont, who heads powerful Dumont Industries and takes a shine to Boucher. Included in Dumont's inner circle, Boucher learns of plans to incite war with Mexico, a scheme fueled by Dumont's quest to avenge his son's murder by a Mexican drug lord. Fortunately Boucher is as lucky as he is foolhardy, narrowly escaping death more than once and finding resources he needs, from a cell phone in a remote cemetery to an AK-47 on a Mexican farm. Lyons takes on issues of illegal arms trading and untapped energy resources, and he leaves Boucher facing a major life change in this fast-moving, action-packed thriller.--Leber, Michele Copyright 2010 Booklist