Double Barrel Bluff
A Novel
Published on 2. January 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
320 pages
978-0-06-229248-3 (ISBN)
Description
Multi-award winning and USA Today bestselling crime writer Lou Berney returns to his critically acclaimed thriller series starring former mob wheelman Shake Bouchon, who finds himself dragged into a high-stakes hostage rescue, among the mighty temples and shadowy underground of Cambodia.
During his years as a wheelman for the Armenian mob in Los Angeles, Shake Bouchon didn't think of himself as the settling-down type. But now he's happily married to Gina, the love of his life-and former adversary-in Indiana, of all places.
The great thing about Bloomington, for two people with checkered pasts, is that everyone is nice and no one knows them. Until the day a brutal Armenian thug who has always hated Shake shows up in his backyard. He demands that Shake help him find his missing mob boss, the pakhan-the dangerous and beautiful Alexandra "Lexy" Ilandryan, who also happens to be Shake's ex-girlfriend.
Shake's got a lot of history with Lexy, so he reluctantly agrees to travel to Siem Reap, Cambodia, where she was last seen. Once there, he finds himself tangled in an underworld of Cambodian gangsters, mob politics, and opportunistic expats, where the stakes aren't clear and everyone is looking to score. With only the help of a clairvoyant hippie and the Armenian thug, Shake becomes involved in a high-stakes negotiation for Lexy-a kidnapping and ransom plot that might cost him his own life.
But perhaps most threatening of all is Gina's wrath when she arrives in Cambodia intent on saving Shake from himself-and from all the people trying to kill him.
With Lou Berney's trademark wit, flawless plotting, vibrant locale, and memorable characters, Double Barrel Bluff is another unputdownable action thriller and globe-trotting adventure.
During his years as a wheelman for the Armenian mob in Los Angeles, Shake Bouchon didn't think of himself as the settling-down type. But now he's happily married to Gina, the love of his life-and former adversary-in Indiana, of all places.
The great thing about Bloomington, for two people with checkered pasts, is that everyone is nice and no one knows them. Until the day a brutal Armenian thug who has always hated Shake shows up in his backyard. He demands that Shake help him find his missing mob boss, the pakhan-the dangerous and beautiful Alexandra "Lexy" Ilandryan, who also happens to be Shake's ex-girlfriend.
Shake's got a lot of history with Lexy, so he reluctantly agrees to travel to Siem Reap, Cambodia, where she was last seen. Once there, he finds himself tangled in an underworld of Cambodian gangsters, mob politics, and opportunistic expats, where the stakes aren't clear and everyone is looking to score. With only the help of a clairvoyant hippie and the Armenian thug, Shake becomes involved in a high-stakes negotiation for Lexy-a kidnapping and ransom plot that might cost him his own life.
But perhaps most threatening of all is Gina's wrath when she arrives in Cambodia intent on saving Shake from himself-and from all the people trying to kill him.
With Lou Berney's trademark wit, flawless plotting, vibrant locale, and memorable characters, Double Barrel Bluff is another unputdownable action thriller and globe-trotting adventure.
Reviews / Votes
"Berney's third Shake Bouchon novel (after Whiplash River) is as much fun as the others. Enthusiastically recommended for all crime fiction fans." - Library Journal"There is no shortage of action, clever jibes, rough-and-tumble fights, casual murders, or double-crosses in the novel; it moves smoothly and quickly, with Shake as the thoughtful, sympathetic, knowledgeable linchpin who keeps everything grounded just enough in logic and reality." - Kirkus
"Berney is a descendant of Elmore Leonard, but his sensibility and deadpan style are all his own." - Air Mail
"When people say they want to read a really good novel, the kind you just can't put down, this is the kind of book they mean. Exceptional." - Stephen King
"...[a] rip-roaring page-turner...Lou Berney continues to produce outstanding books that are funny, intelligent and entertaining." - Bookreporter.com
"Remarkable and unforgettable...Berney's artistry as a writer hits you in the heart and tugs hard at your soul. This tense and riveting thriller unfolds in the shadow of the assassination of JFK and is a deeply moving love story about people caught in moral dilemmas for which there are no easy answers and who together find hope against all odds. It will stay with you long after you read the final page. You will recommend it to friends. You will read it again. Berney is a writer to be read and admired...A staggeringly brilliant book and a flat-out terrific read." - Don Winslow
"Dark Ride is a remarkable book written by Lou Berney, a storyteller I admire as a writer and cherish as a reader. Dark Ride effortlessly grabs you and does not let you go until the final page. I didn't want this book to end and it stayed with me long after I finished reading it. Lou Berney is a magnificent writer with talent to burn." - Don Winslow
"A great book, full of nifty characters, with a story that builds the suspense until we're unable to stop reading." - Booklist
"Shake remains a lovable, wise-cracking hero, and Berney does him justice with a cast of memorable supporting characters and a gorgeously rendered Southeast Asian locale. This sterling neo-noir series continues to deliver." - Publisher's Weekly (starred)
"Berney's emotional, empathic writing keeps the dynamic between these two lost souls intriguing, and it resonates on a larger scale, placed as it is against such a vivid backdrop. In the tradition of great historical fiction, Berney finds within an exhaustively covered setting his own nooks and crannies. Do we need a conspiracy plot to keep this very human story humming? Probably not. But Berney's a skilled dramatist too, and there's no complaint from this reader on his keeping the pages turning." - Entertainment Weekly, "Required Reading," on November Road
"From its first frenetic pages to its wrenching final ones, Lou Berney takes us on the ride of a lifetime as two people collide, dangerously, with history in 1963 America. It's a crime story, a love story, a deeply American story. With November Road, Berney proves beyond doubt that he's one of the most talented crime novelists working today." - Megan Abbott
"Virtually every character is memorable, and the chemistry between Shake and Gina is brilliant. The plot turns are constant, and the dialogue is sharp. The bad guys are wonderfully scary, and the locales are vividly drawn. Elmore Leonard might be very pleased to call Gutshot Straight his own." - Booklist (starred review)
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 136 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
246 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-06-229248-3 (9780062292483)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Lou Berney is the multiple award-winning author of November Road, The Long and Faraway Gone, Double Barrel Bluff, Dark Ride, as well as Gutshot Straight and Whiplash River. His short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Ploughshares, and the Pushcart Prize anthology. He lives in Oklahoma City.