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Powder Burn

Review

Powder Burn



Chris Meadows is a successful young Miami architect on the fast
track. He is departing from a casual meeting with an old girlfriend
when she is accidentally struck and killed by a car full of drug
land hit men. Unfortunately for Chris, he sees the driver and the
driver sees him. Chris's quiet life takes an adventurous and
dangerous turn as he is tracked down and hunted by Colombian drug
lords who want him dead.

POWDER BURN is the first of novels co-authored by Hiaasen and
Montalbano. An investigative reporter at the Miami Herald at the
time they were written, Hiaasen's background knowledge of Miami's
drug problems provides for a richly plotted story line. His budding
ability for plot twists, fine ear for dialogue and the ability to
give us an ending with a wickedly satisfying twist are evident in
this early work. POWDER BURN is a more conventional mystery,
however, without the hilarity and ribald characters whom we've come
to enjoy and expect in his more recent mysteries.

Miami was under siege by Columbia drug runners and the human refuse
that flooded South Florida when Fidel Castro emptied his jails.
POWDER BURN harks of a period early in the drug wars that still
plague our country. It stands bravely on its own to first time
Hiaasen readers as a taut, fast paced mystery. It will be
especially enjoyable to fans to observe vintage Hiaasen at
work.

Reviewed by Roz Shea on January 22, 2011

Powder Burn
by Carl Hiaasen

  • Publication Date: June 30, 1998
  • Genres: Fiction, Mystery
  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage
  • ISBN-10: 0375700684
  • ISBN-13: 9780375700682