Monday, May 15, 2006

BOOK REVIEW

Title: A Venom Beneath the Skin: a Romilia Chacon Novel

Author: Marcos M. Villatoro

In ten words or less: FRI agent Romilia investigates the death of a fellow agent.

Review: FBI agent Chip Pierce is bludgeoned to death with his own prosthetic leg, only hours after fellow agent Romilia Chacon turns down his marriage proposal. The Los Angeles police and the FBI believe the killer is the elusive drug lord Tekun Uman. Only Romilia believes another is responsible, but the Bureau discounts her theory. The Feds accuse her of being personally involved with the Uman.
Several other books have featured female law enforcement officers, involved with criminals, including Elmore Leonard's "Out of Sight," and Thomas Harris' "Silence of the Lambs." Romilia's family life is what makes this book different; her mother Celia and Uncle Chepe came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic. Sergio, her son, read books and plays soccer.
Third in a series.
Why bother? A latina protagonist sets this mystery apart.

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