Double Barrel Bluff by Lou Berney

Published by William Morrow on November 5, 2024

Bjorn has a half-baked plan to kidnap a pretty American woman in Cambodia and hold her for ransom. Bjorn persuades French to carry out the kidnapping for half the $4 million ransom. French once wrote a successful novel and scored a gig as a professor of literature, but he was fired for engaging in sexual harassment. Now he complains that he lost the thread of his life, making it easy for Bjorn to convince him that he needs a new direction.

Bjorn tells French that the woman — Veronica Wagenseller — is wealthy. She is, but she isn’t a hedge fund manager, as French believes. Her real name is Alexandra “Lexy” Ilandryan and she is the boss of the Armenian Mafia in Los Angeles. She has a lifelong friend from Armenia named Dikran who is like a brother to her.

French enlists Ramos to assist in the kidnapping for half French’s share, although he claims his share will only be $1 million. French and Ramos pull off the kidnapping, although there is always a tension between them that Lexy exploits.

The novel’s protagonist is Charles Samuel “Shake” Bouchon. Shake is a former mob wheelman who has appeared in a couple of earlier novels. Shake also happens to be a reasonably good friend of Lexy, having proved his loyalty by doing three years in prison rather than diming her out.

When Lexy begins to miss her daily calls to Dikran, he decides to travel to Cambodia to search for her. Dikran insists that Shake accompany him to Cambodia. Shake’s loyalty to Lexy overcomes his good sense and he agrees.

Shake’s wife Gina is less enthused about Shake’s agreement, but unbeknownst to Shake, she’s pissed that he doesn’t invite her along. Shake and his wife decided to tone down the excitement in their lives by moving to Indiana, but maybe some excitement is what Gina needs.

Most of the story follows Shake’s adventures in Cambodia. He meets a half-Cambodian hippy chick named Mitch who critiques his aura, hooks up with a contact named Ouch who helps him search for Lexy, and enlists the uncertain support of Babikian, Lexy’s number two. Shake, Dikran, Ouch, and Babikian engage in a complicated dance that leaves the reader wondering where their loyalties really lie.

Lively prose keeps the plot moving, occasionally assisted by fights and killings, but Shake isn’t a boring action hero. He relies on wits rather than fists, as does Gina, who proves to be formidable when she makes an unexpected appearance in Cambodia. All the characters have rich personalities. Readers who appreciate strong female characters will like Gina, Lexy, and Mitch.

The plot turns and twists but never becomes confusing. Lou Berney seasons the story with humor, creating a nice balance that keeps the story from becoming too dark. Not every character survives, which adds realism to the story. The ending satisfies. I haven’t read the first two novels in the series, but I suspect they are worth checking out. Double Barrel Bluff certainly is.

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