T. Jefferson Parker continues to be underrated (at least in my opinion) and L.A. Outlaws hopefully will bring him more into the spotlight. This time, a female outlaw named Allison Murrietta (who claims to be a descendant of a famous outlaw) is a sexy outlaw by night and has a different career by day. Her exploits are almost admired by the public, but an incident involving a lot of diamonds puts her square in the sights of some serious gang and ex-gang members who want the diamonds and don't care what it takes to get them from her.

In the meantime, a young sheriff (last name HOOD - interesting last name for a crime book, huh?) begins to fall in love with Murrietta's "other side" knowing (or not knowing?) that the woman he loves may be the bandit that everyone is after.

The book never really slows down. The plot and dialogue are excellent. The characters are unforgettable and the twists and turns keep coming until the end of the book.

This book would make a great movie. Maybe that will never happen, but reading the book is definitely worth your time. Outstanding book!

Smart fast story that probably could have been a few pages shorter. Thought from dustcover description that this would have been more about media frenzy.

Was hoping for something closer to 7 Days to Fame. 7 Days to Fame - Complete Series Pack (7 Days to Fame)

Anyway. Parker focuses on developing three truly interesting characters, which works out well because he manages to get you to care about them. Didnt really like the ending, but understood why he took it down that path.

One thing: This guys knows how to put together sentences. Not everyone will like the first person/third person shift, but Parker really knows how to control the language. If you're a writer, you'll want to read it just to see how he manages to pull it off.

Your beliefs and values will dictate whether you get past the first two pages. If you think that people who have managed to accumulate wealth are the equivalent of criminals in other thrillers, read on. If not, you may find the premise of the main character amoral, immature and annoying.

A female Robin Hood drives this page turner. Why does she do what she does? There's no time to wonder, as this turbo-charged story distracts the reader. Enjoy the ride.

I once had a very hard time catching a mouse. This book suggests a better way. Read it and see.

Of course, that's not the main point of L.A. Outlaws. It centers on Suzanne Jones/Allison Murietta. Suzanne is an eighth grade history teacher. She's the loving mother of three children by three different men. Don't worry. It's cool. Allison is a bandit who: uses a loaded gun to rob fast food joints, steals cars, and runs off with a backpack full of diamonds that she finds after a gangster shootout. (When will fictional characters learn that you can't steal from criminals and expect to stroll away?)

Allison is a good outlaw (oxymoron?) who gives a portion of her ill-gotten gains to charities.

The author weaves the story of Irag War veteran and L.A. County Deputy Sheriff Charlie Hood into the affair. He has a big secret. Suzanne has a lot of secrets. They fall in love and share secrets.

There's also a hit man whose best friend is a machete.

Certain implausibilities are easily outweighed by the general excitement.

Perhaps it's not fair to review a book you didn't finish, but since I've read from beginning to end everything else written by T. Jefferson Parker (I loved Silent Joe!), I'm giving it a shot. I couldn't finish L. A. Outlaws because A) I found nothing likeable or credible about Allison/Suzanne and couldn't get past her personal morality, her know-it-all-attitude about cars and everything else, her excuse that she robs the greedy and gives to charity--let her work for a living and give to charity like the rest of us do--and her victims: McDonald's? Burger King? lots of children go into those places and she carries a gun. Why not a Chucky Cheese, while she's at it? Can you tell I didn't like her?; B) Charlie Hood is not very credible, either; C) it's reminiscent but not as well done as No Country for Old Men (anti-hero comes across a stash of ill gotten goods, takes the loot, is identified by both the police and the bad guy, and is pursued by both), and D) I don't need to read another book about a patient with dementia, and E) it doesn't even feel like something written by T. Jefferson Parker.

I don't think Parker is very adept at creating women characters who serve as the heroine or anti-heroine of the story. He had a brief series about a woman detective (his books with a color in the title) and I found her uninteresting, too.

I'm happy for all those who liked it; personally I'll hope for better things in his next one.

I am always a tiny bit wary of female characters created by male authors. I don't know -- sometimes male authors don't seem to get into the mindset of the female character. That is NOT the case in T. Jefferson Parker's "LA Outlaws". Allison Murietta is an extremely dynamic and well realized character. What makes her even more exciting is that her chapters are told from the first-person point of view. T. Jefferson Parker depicts her femininity, sexuality, maternal instincts and power beautifully. She is a modern-day Robin Hood cutting a path of sensual destruction through Los Angeles. Her passion for the cop, Hood, who is chasing her is compelling. This book is a stunner. The setting is beautifully realized and all the characters rock. The killer chasing Allison, Lupercio, is one of the most frightening characters ever; a man with his own baggage and a set of complex moral principles. The scene where he pursues Allison on a crane is one of the most riveting action sequences I have ever read. Advisory: graphic violence suitable to the story. This book is highly recommended.

Suzanne Jones is not your usual heroine. An award-winning teacher turned exceptional, egotistical thief, she wasn't the most sympathetic of characters. But I'm not sure was meant to be. The writing, the action, and getting into Suzanne's head made L.A. Outlaws an exciting and thrilling ride.

Parker has written some terrific books, "Little Saigon", "Lie Down With Serpents" but this work is pure drivel. Absurd plot, sophmoric phrasing and just plain awful. His last endeavor, something about rain forcasting was pretty bad but this is to be avoided at all costs.

I have read several of T.Jefferson Parker's books and I think he is great writer. I enjoyed this book, up to a point. I knew there was no way this would end on an up note. I liked the main character Allison Murrieta, even though she is a thief; and a smart and seemingly thoughtful person as well (in her other career, she's a teacher). I thought Parker kept the action moving and the writing tight. It was a fast paced story with good believable characters who had very honest emotions. I agree with some of the other reviewers in that there are parts that are totally unbelievable. I am a lover of imperfect characters, who try to do the right thing. I think Allison, and deputy Charlie Hood (whose is working the case) are strong, but imperfect characters.

Oddly, the last T. Jefferson Parker novel I read was the "Storm Runners", which I panned for its outlandish (to me) plot. Now T. Jefferson Parker writes a true classic of Los Angles noir, "L. A. Outlaws". This one leaves grit between your teeth.

A young woman, thirtyish, arrives at an out-of-the-way auto body shop late at night in her yellow Corvette. She's here because the armed robbery she had planned to commit earlier, liberating $450,000 in diamonds from a dishonest broker. Instead, the woman who calls herself Allison Murrieta, great-great-great-great-great-great granddaughter of legendary 19th Century bandit Joaquin Murrieta. She stares down on ten bodies, killed in a bloody shootout between rival gangs - and takes off with the diamonds.

Not far down the road, Allison is stopped by Sheriff's Deputy Charlie Hood. There is immediate attraction between two. A menacingly black classic Lincoln Continental slowly drives by. It is driven by Lupercio Maygar, a ruthless murderer in the employ of a mysterious criminal baron.

Allison lives a dual life. Charlie Hood has a painful secret. And Lupercio wants to kill Allison and get the diamonds back.

This is noir at its finest. Allison the armed robber is also another woman, a loving mother of three, an honored schoolteacher. Charlie Hood is temporarily assigned to the homicide unit to solve the auto body shop massacre. The paths of Allison, Charlie Hood and the murderous Lupercio are intertwined.

There's love, honor, betrayal, unrelenting violence, tension, tragedy and a pulse-pounding pace that never lets up. Someday, in the right hands, this could be the basis of a great movie, like "Chinatown".

Allison and her other personna are beautifully crafted. Mother, teacher, lover, publicity seeking armed robber, thief . . . an impossible bundle, but Parker pulls it off.

Charlie Hood is definitely a secondary character and Parker plays him just about right.

Lupercio is a truly villainous character, who vies for evil honor with the best of those created by Lee Child and other masters of the craft.

All of the characters, even the minor ones have a some substance to them, a testament to Parker's skills.

The gloom of noir never lifts, every page has a tinge of sadness to it, disaster waiting right down the block, around the corner. Fittingly, much of the action takes place at night.

A truly terriffic read that fans of noir will love.

Jerry

This is my first novel by this author and it was fairly enjoyable. Not stay up 'til 2 AM enjoyable, but looking forward to it when I would pick it up everyday enjoyable. The main character is a hoot.

Suzanne Jones, a/k/a Allison Murrieta. She can hot wire any car after entering with a specially designed tool and she knows which ones not to bother with because of burglar proofing designs. She can play the con and she specializes in holding up KFC,s, Burger King's, etc. In disguise of course. Always leaving a card: "You have been robbed by Allison Murrieta." She also has a Robin Hood aspect to her character.

As Suzanne, she is a school teacher. A very good one. She has three children. They have three different fathers. One is still in residence although his days are numbered and he is cool with that.

Suzanne/Allison starts to get into trouble that is hard to get out of when she comes across a what was supposed to have been a payoff of a gambling debt. The gambler was paying off his debt in jewels. Some bad guys got wind of it. Everybody died in a hail of bullets. The jewels were still at the scene. That is until Allison tip toed in and took them.

As she is hastily departing the area, she is pulled over by a LA Deputy Sheriff. Charlie Hood. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Well, maybe not, but it brings these two together as they deal with some very bad people who are out to recover the jewels. Charlie at first thinks they are after Suzanne because she saw something while driving by the jewel massacre. Suzanne knows better.

You need to find out for yourself how it plays out and the only major problem I have with the book is the ending. Saying that gives nothing away and perhaps other readers will disagree. It is worth reading regardless, inspite of some minor problems I have with the over dwelling on the history of the ancestor outlaw, Joaquin Murrieta.

That's why it is four stars, rather than five.

There's a lot of good and bad in this story. It's a pretty fast-moving thriller, so there aren't a lot of slow spots to make it boring. There's a fairly satisfying resolution to the whole thing, though it's obvious Parker left it open for a "next chapter" of sorts (not a sequel, necessarily, but more story). The weakness of this book are the characters. Yes, I understand the motivation of all of them, but what attracts Susan to Charlie doesn't make sense...not the extent it goes. An initial attraction with a quick fling, sure, but not this continual romance that keeps them together then tears them apart then brings them together again. It doesn't make sense if Charlie is the straight-shooter they keep trying to paint him as.

While I'll definitely give Parker another try after reading this, I wouldn't count this as a must-read novel.

I'm a big fan of T. Jefferson Parker, but in his last two novels he seems to have changed his writing style for the worse. LA OUTLAWS is an entertaining, fast-paced romp of a book, but it isn't even remotely believable. While this short novel is certainly fun, it has a borderline silly quality, like a James Patterson potboiler.

Further, much of the nuanced characterization that Parker is well known for is absent here. The main character is more of a cartoon than a real person. She's amusing to read about, but I couldn't identify with her at all. As a result, I found this book less engaging than Parker's other work.

In short, LA OUTLAWS is worth reading, but it's far from Parker's best book. Personally, I strongly prefer Parker's earlier work, like SILENT JOE, THE FALLEN and CALIFORNIA GIRL, which had far more realistic plots and characters. Perhaps Parker is making some necessary concessions to the publishing marketplace, but I hope he returns to his earlier style of storytelling.

LA Sheriff's Deputy Charlie Hood has just made detective, a temporary assignment after he was first on the scene of a horrendous crime scene: ten men shot dead inside an auto body shop, apparently members of opposing street gangs, although one `civilian' is dead at the scene as well, a diamond merchant there to hand over nearly half a million dollars worth of diamonds to repay a large gambling debt. Charlie is included in the squad organized to investigate the murders. He is 28 years old, former NCIS, and filters everything through his experiences in Anbar province.

Another prominent player in this tale is Lupercio, a Salvadoran killer known as `the lone wolf" who, by the way, walks around with a machete strapped to his leg. The two men's lives cross when they both become focused, to the near exclusion of all else, on Suzanne Jones, 32, a beautiful LA history teacher who, in her other life, is self-styled Allison Murrieta--she is a direct descendant of a real-life infamous outlaw, Joaquin Murrieta, who was shot and beheaded in 1853. Among other things, over an eighteen-month period and wearing a mask and a wig, she has committed 34 armed robberies of various retail businesses, mostly fast-food chain stores, and stolen a couple of dozen high-end cars for sale on the illegal foreign market, literally leaving behind a calling card each time. Since she donates large amounts of money to various charities, she is known variously as Robin Hood, Bonnie Parker, or, as one cop says, "a delusionary babe with a death wish."

Thanks to the ubiquity of security, video and cell phone cameras, Allison's exploits have been shown on tv and in the newspapers. Charlie Hood meets Allison just after she has left the scene of the murders, where she came upon the gory scene after hoping to make off with the diamonds - which she does - having known of the planned meeting. He shortly suspects her dual identity. Lupercio, on the other hand, has been ordered to find her and gain possession of the diamonds. When he sees her, he wonders "why anyone with such beauty would choose to be a criminal." A valid question indeed. But she does know a helluva lot about expensive cars, stealing them often, since she gets "bored after five days of just about any car."

Allison is an original and obviously over-the-top creation. She has three sons, a baby and a ten- and nineteen-year-old, all by different men, and is presently living with the father of the youngest. She has become a local folk hero. Charlie thinks "Allison Murrieta was just brazen enough to think she could lift diamonds from gangsters and live to tell about it, as if the underworld was just another fast-food joint and all she needed to conquer it was an attitude and a gun." Charlie becomes obsessed with her, and the results are not good. But they make for an exciting and suspenseful read. This book is a bit of a change for Mr. Parker, being less grounded in reality than his previous novels, but no less well-written, and is recommended.

First Sentence: Here's the deal: I am a direct descendant of the outlaw Joaquin Murrieta.

Allison Murrieta is a mother of three; the father of the youngest is raising her three sons when she is away. Allison is also a thief who can hotwire a car, holds up convenience and fast-food stores and gives large amounts of the money to charity. Up to now, she has gotten away with it with no one hurt. But an easy score netting her a cache of diamonds has gone bad with ten dead and someone wanting to make her number 11.

Deputy Charlie Hood happened to pull a traffic stop on Allison and is not only now involved in the case, but in her life.

There is no question that Parker knows how to write fast-paced, high-action story with great characters. He also knows how to do sense of place, great dialogue and draw unique, fascinating, although not totally realistic, characters. This story grabbed me at the first sentence and kept me involved until the last sentence some four hours later.

But, for all that, it's not my favorite book of his. I am not a fan of the anti-hero, even one who does gives to charity, nor a protagonist who is irresponsible about her children and her relationships. The relationship between Allison and Hood may be possible, but it is certainly unethical.

I started to write this review, several days after reading the book and I did have to look at the inside flap to remind me of the story. It is exciting, well-plotted and a perfect airplane book.

I am, and have been, a T. Jefferson Parker fan, but that may end. I don't think he wrote L.A. Outlaws. I can't believe how drawn out and boring this book is. I bought the unabridged audio edition and it made a four hour plane ride seem like ten. Storm Runners, although very short, was quick moving and typical TJP writing. LA Outlaws wasn't. Skip this book.

I love reading T. Jefferson Parker and, while he has worked harder on previous books on topics he seems to know more about than Hispanic gangs (not that I know anything about them either), this was a kind-of-fun read.

Just after I read this book I saw a story about Joaquin Murietta on the History Channel and Parker's description of the events surrounding him and how he died were eerily close to the History Channel's. Hmmm.

That's one of the things I mean about working hard. If all the research you're going to do about gangs and the central historic figure is to watch TV, well, you're not going to come up with the best book ever.

The story itself, centering on Suzanne Jones, is okay. It won't keep you from being distracted in the airport/on the beach by probably anything at all. It won't keep you awake all night reading, probably the opposite (but there's a need for most of us to get more sleep anyway). It won't even be all that memorable. You know, as books are whose titles evoke not only the whole storyline but several word-for-word passages as well.

But how often do those books come around?

The most disappointing parts of the story are those that make police look inept, or that they don't have helicopters or warrants, and stings to uncover bad cops. I also didn't like the ease with which she defeated Lupercio and how Lupercio could be a heartless panther (WAR KITTEN?) with gang members and other well-armed and ruthless enemies but strangely inept with a schoolteacher and her young family, not once but several times. These episodes didn't exactly keep me on the edge of my seat.

Although he's one of my favorite authors, I'd recommend against buying this book in favor of his earlier ones. I did read the entire book which only meant that I must have been low on books.

There's a line in here about two tornadoes and a trailer park that is simply one of the most imaginative sentences I've read in a long time. I won't give away the meaning of the image or where it's used but it's a great indication that T. Jefferson Parker is still working hard at his game. This is a strong book--lots of plot, plenty of tense situations, and a fantastic dance of two well-developed characters. A bit over the top? Maybe. Just a hair. The bad guy, Lupercio, is crazy bad and crazy ruthless. The scene with the crane is just a bit hard to swallow, but so inventive I have to say, "well done." I enjoyed the ride, which is a definite reference to all the terrific car imagery and how easy it is to picture Suzanne Jones behind the wheel. Special note that the switch from first person to third was effortless and well-executed.

I hate it when someone gives a poor review to a novel that I like. Many here have given rave reviews to this work while some newspapers have joined in with others. First, let me say that the premise is terrific and the main character is engaging. Two things draw this novel down for me, way down. First off, she's an armed robber. Okay, the job of novelist is often to make the unusual or farfetched seem real. That's not a problem. But does she have to rob Burger King? Can't she have a little more ambition than that.

Secondly, the ending. I won't give it away, but it's completely uncalled for. This is not the type novel for that type ending. In many novels it works. In this one it's just lame.

As always, T. Jefferson Parker continued to write a fantastic read. This particular book is one of his best.

This book was very enjoyable and fast paced from start to finish. TJ's knowledge of the SoCal area is impressive and makes the book even more fun to read. Some parts are a little hard to believe but overall it is well done and definitely recommended reading. Way to go TJ!

This book again was a great one! Keep them comming! Lots of action and suspense!

TJP has the ability to make you want to see his characters return in another novel as soon as you are done with the present one. This book is no exception, very well done.

A school teacher and mother of three boys, Suzanne Jones leads a secret life as the dashing Robin Hood-like outlaw Allison Murrieta in Parker's latest fast and stylish thriller. Allison calls herself the descendant of legendary Mexican bandito Joaquin Murietta. Instead of stealing horses she steals flashy cars and robs fast food joints instead of wealthy aristos, giving the money to her favorite L.A. charities and posing for cell phone pictures during her crimes.

When she catches wind of a diamond deal about to go down, she can't resist waylaying the not-very-nice diamond dealer. But the diamond dealer has outsmarted himself in trying to double-cross everyone. Allison arrives at the meet to find ten dead gang-bangers, the gems still clutched in the cold dead hands of the diamond dealer. Allison takes them, of course, getting out just as the baddest gang-banger of them all comes in.

Allison narrowly escapes the utterly ruthless Lupercio but when she gets stopped for speeding, Lupercio gets a good look at her. Which shouldn't be enough to find her in her idyllic family hide-away, but Lupercio has inside help.

Meanwhile Charlie Hood, the cop who stopped her and subsequently discovered the nearby massacre, develops an interest in Suzanne. First as a possible witness, then as a lover. He also catches on to her Allison Murrieta alter ego. Which presents him with a dilemma.

As the body count mounts, and Lupercio tracks her wherever she goes, Allison/Suzanne has no idea who to trust. The action is clever and twisty, the characters smart and engaging, the villains vicious and relentless. Although the reader knows more than any of the characters, given the roving point of view, Parker will keep you guessing how he's going to wrap things up, right up to the last page. This is one of his best, which is saying something.

T. Jefferson Parker's trip through L.A. with some real outlaws and a L.A. County Deputy Sheriff is fast action, menacing evil and a nice moral twist. Let's hope that T. Jefferson Parker returns to L.A. very soon.

There is no such thing as a bad Jeff Parker novel. L.A. Outlaws is, however, quirky. Parker has been on a history kick lately. In L.A. Outlaws we meet a high school teacher by day/thief-Robin Hood by night, who is the descendant of a famous 19thc outlaw/Robin Hood. When she and police officer Charlie Hood meet, there is instant chemistry. The question then becomes--will Suzanne break Charlie's heart by playing femme fatale? Or will she break his heart by succumbing to the violence which she has successfully skirted so far? The one thing we can be sure of is that they are not going to settle down together in the suburbs. Meanwhile she's got the head of her famous ancestor in a jar out in the barn . . . and she's being chased by a machete-wielding baddie who's dispatched a large number of his former MS-13 pals. We're not short on plot here.

The book indicates the fertility of Parker's imagination. The characters are all interesting, but Suzanne carries the story. For me there was a certain degree of muddle in the ending, but like I said, there is no such thing as a bad Jeff Parker novel.

Parker is an excellent writer, and this book is proof. It's a fun, fast read from page one.

His characters are as vivid as they come: a female schoolteacher who may also be the local Robin Hood, and a cop, Hood, who was tempted by the outlaw life when he was young.

This one moves like a bullet. But what I especially liked was that Parker let the story run to its obvious conclusions. I won't spoil the end for you, but everything fits well together at the end and made me think about the choices we make and their consequences.

It's hard for me to pick a favorite T. Jefferson Parker book. I tend to favor his later novels, such as SILENT JOE and COLD PURSUIT. Yet occasionally I wonder if he'll ever top LAGUNA HEAT or LITTLE SAIGON. More often than not, however, my favorite Parker title is his latest one. Such is the case with L.A. OUTLAWS, a work that is --- dare I say it? --- perfect from beginning to end.

One is always just a bit off balance when reading a Parker novel. His method of eschewing series books for independent, stand-alone works leaves the reader with more-than-vague expectations as to what will take place. This has never been more true than in L.A. OUTLAWS, which matches a modern-day female bandit against --- and deliciously with --- Charlie Hood, a troubled L.A. County rookie deputy sheriff. The bandit, who calls herself Allison Murrieta, claims to be the direct descendent of a 19th-century California bandito who may or may not have existed, and is as self-assured as Hood is insecure.

An Iraqi war veteran who left the service with unfinished business, Hood is unknowingly drawn into Murrieta's world when he stumbles upon the aftermath of a gang transaction gone terribly wrong, which has left nine gang members and one civilian dead. It is Murrieta who comes in and picks up the spoils --- a small fortune in jewels --- and Hood who unknowingly and unwittingly stops her after the fact in her persona of Suzanne Jones, a history teacher who is as charismatic as she is enigmatic. Hood senses that Jones knows more than she's telling, and pursues her both professionally and romantically, even as he's aware that he's endangering his investigation on the one hand and risking heartbreak on the other. Jones/Murrieta, for her part, does a dangerous dance, pursued by Lupercio, a hit man, and The Bull, his enigmatic boss, relying on herself for protection even as she seduces Hood and gives herself over to the relationship.

From beginning to end, Parker keeps things moving in a number of different directions at once, though his story never gets muddled, bogged down or confused in any way. He somehow manages to keep the different plotlines equally interesting, switching among them at irregular intervals so that the reader does not --- cannot --- become bored even for a moment. And Parker, though two decades into his writing career, can still turn unforgettable phrases. Consider the simile he introduces a little less than one-third of the way into the book, the one dealing with the tornadoes (you'll know it when you read it). It is perfect, and sticks in the mind long after the last page is turned.

Parker could have ended the book in several different ways. He chose a bittersweet conclusion with a twist or two that, like the rest of the story, was somewhat unexpected and haunting. And I don't mind telling you that it was a day or two before I could read anything else. L.A. OUTLAWS is an outstanding novel from an author with a groaning shelf full of them.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

The Washington Post once described a Jeff Parker novel as a "thinking man's bestseller." Glossing over the whiff of anti-genre prejudice in that sentence, it's a hell of an apt comment. Everything Parker writes is relentlessly intelligent, and this may be his best.

While all the characters are beautifully rendered, the novel belongs to Allison Murietta, car thief cum media darling. A modern-day Robin Hood, she's as stylish as they come, and watching her swagger through Parker's Los Angeles is an unmitigated pleasure. Run don't walk to get this one--highly recommended.

In Los Angeles a woman claims to be Allison Murrieta, a descendant of the legendary some say notorious nineteenth century robber. Allison insists her relative was Robin Hood of the Wild West while his victims over a century ago insisted he was a cold-blooded killer. Allison emulates her ancestor by wearing a mask to hide her real identity of eighth-grade history teacher and mother of three boys, Suzanne Jones, when she robs from those she dubs as avaricious; giving part of her loot to charity.

A media and public darling who doe not want her secret identity exposed; her latest caper is to steal diamonds from Bull, a known criminal. This time however, she gets more than she wants when she observes Bull's prime killer Lupercio cold bloodedly murder gangland-style his boss' enemies. As she tries to flee the crime scene serendipitously, L.A. sheriff's deputy Charles Hood catches her and demands she testify that she witnessed Lupercio's murdering spree at the same time Bull wants his diamonds returned to him so he sends his top gun to retrieve them anyway he can.

This is an exciting single sitting read that grips the audience from Allison's first heist until the final confrontation when the thug, the cop, the media, and the heroine come together. The cast is deep and powerful enhancing a strong plot that will have readers rooting for this modern day female Robin Hood as she moonlights.

The paid book reviewers can do a better job of plot description than I can.

I will just say that this book does not disappoint. For those who are familiar with Parker's works, this is every bit as good as the other 14 or so. For those that are new to Parker, this is a good place to start. With the exception of a couple of his early works, he does not use recurring characters. Therefore, any book is a good place to jump in.

I have never been disappointed in his work and I am pretty sure new readers will find him enjoyable as well. All of his novels feature fully developed characters, without going overboard. There is very little wasted verbiage to wade through.

Sit down and be prepared to spend several hours in one sitting, enjoying the ride.

T. Jefferson Parker is an extraordinary writer. If you have not yet discovered his work, do yourself a favor and grab "Silent Joe", "California Girl", "Storm Runners", or start with "L.A. Outlaws"--I guarantee that you will not be disappointed. The rhythms of his writing are so subtly contagious that before you know it, time has melted away and you are 100 pages into the story.

Parker's work reflects spot-on character development and such stunning descriptions of Southern California locales that you immediately recognize the scenes if you have ever been there or feel like you are there even though you have never been there. He can certainly bring the gritty underbelly of LA to life while developing plotlines that never seem hackneyed or repeated. I always find refreshing nuances and new territory in a Parker novel.

In "L.A. Outlaws", the new territory includes a female protagonist who may or may not be a female Robin Hood character. Suzanne Jones is a school teacher and mother of three who lives near an indian reservation for her solitude, peace of mind, and privacy needed to cover her alter-ego, Allison Murietta. Suzanne claims to the media that she is a descendant of Joaquin Murrieta, a real life outlaw in California history who has been portrayed variously as a romantic Robin Hood character and as a murderous brigand.

In her Allison guise, replete with wig, deadly derringer, and fashionable mask, she holds up liquor stores, fast food establishments etc., and "boosts" high end automobiles for sale on the hot car international market. She is amassing quite a fortune but is quick to let the world know that she donates a significant part of her ill acquired gains to local charities. It seems Allison is bold enough to send filmed interviews and statements of her activities and plans to local media (and, by extension, to law enforcement). Additionally, she often "plays" to the security or bystander camera while being filmed in the commission of a crime. What is Suzanne's motivation for all this lawless behavior? Why does she tease the police and use the local media for her purposes?

Suzanne's games begin to falter when a planned diamond heist get sidetracked in a gun battle between rival L.A. gangs, the Asian Boyz and the deadly MS13. When Suzanne arrives at the scene, she finds 10 dead bodies and the missing diamonds. As she hurriedly escapes the area, she is spotted by Lupercio, a stone cold machete wielding killer who is the enforcer for his gangland boss, the Bull, who wants the stolen diamonds back. Lupercio gets a good look at Suzanne because she has been pulled over for speeding while leaving the scene of the massacre by sheriff's deputy Charlie Hood. Later, after discovering the grisly massacre, Charlie thinks she may be a witness to the crime.

This scenario sets in motion a chain of events that eventually sees Charlie and Suzanne engaged in a torrid affair, Lupercio closing in on Suzanne in his determined pursuit of the stolen diamonds, and Hood becoming more certain that Suzanne and Allison may be the same person. How does Charlie reconcile his passion for Suzanne with his deep sense of ethical behavior and honor? What does Suzanne ultimately want from Charlie?

Readers may initially be disconcerted by the multifaceted aspects of Suanne/Allison. She has never married, yet has 3 children by 3 different men...and lives with one of them while entering her intense affair with Charlie. She is a criminal, a tease, and not afraid to openly seduce Charlie. She flirts with her outlaw celebrity yet loves her family and does have principles. This reader fairly quickly warmed to her, however, and to the complex and tormented Charlie Hood. The fast paced action builds the suspense to an ultimately satisfying climax that leaves the reader breathless for more Parker.

T. Jefferson Parker has delivered another ripping good read with L.A. Outlaws. The customarily sharp prose, deft characterizations, gritty atmosphere and hairpin plot turns are all on impressive display here. These elements get woven into a thoroughly satisfying tale of misdeeds and malfeasance in the City of Angels. Charlie Hood is a believably complex protagonist who gets drawn into a seedy and scary side of L.A. that he's not entirely prepared to deal with. Readers who thrive on suspense and surprises will be delighted, and I'd also recommend Crimson Orgy by Austin Williams, another new thriller that gripped me from page one.