Burning Moon

✍ Scribed by Barre, Richard

• Publisher: Down and Out Books
• Year: 2012
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 209 KB
• Series: Wil Hardesty 5
• Category: Fiction

✦ Synopsis

The California Coast: Off San Miguel Island a fishing boat struggles in the battering-ram seas and blinding rain of a sudden squall

On the beach near his home, private investigator Wil Hardesty is approached by a Vietnamese fisherman. Vinh Tien is not convinced the disappearance at sea of his only son was the accident it was ruled. His son had fallen in with evil personified: a man who came to America the same time Vinh did, a Vietnamese boat person like himself

For once at peace with his dead, Wil resists digging up the ghosts of those he fought and bled with in-country. But he is moved by Vinh Tien's hardship and loss. For Wil, too, has lost a son to the ocean

What Wil discovers brings him into a shadowy world of Asian gangs--dragons that prey upon their own--contraband of the most insidious sort, corruption that reaches unexpected heightsplayed out against a background as exotic as the Vietnamese culture, as violent as the code of secrecy and prejudice that veils the truth Wil must find before a ghost-killer finds him.

Included in this edition are sample chapter from Lono Waiwaioles WILEYS LAMENT, Trey R. Barkers ROAD GIG: A NOVELLA and Bill Moodys CZECHMATE: THE SPY WHO PLAYED JAZZ.

**

Amazon.com Review

Richard Barre just won't let the past rest in peace. Like Ross Macdonald, one of his literary influences, he concocts modern detective tales in which the crimes are connected to, and disastrously complicated by, historical events.

Burning Moon finds Barre's Southern California surfer-turned-private eye, Wil Hardesty (introduced in the Shamus Award-winning The Innocents ), being hired by a Vietnamese refugee and fisherman, Vinh Tien. Vinh is sure that the disappearance at sea of his son, Jimmy, and Jimmy's pregnant girlfriend wasn't accidental, but can be blamed on their association with Vinh's younger brother, Luc, a "free-living, free-spending," and perpetually shadowy businessman. The case is convoluted enough on its surface, placing Hardesty in the middle of a family feud that may have contributed to Jimmy's death, and now threatens to propel Vinh's rebellious daughter into Luc's clutches, as well. Yet on top of all this are Luc's possible links with rivalrous Asian gangs; allegations that Jimmy cooperated with ATF agents against his uncle; and the revelation of Vinh's having once fought with the Viet Cong--a fact that, while troubling to Vietnam War vet Hardesty, positively enrages the local citizenry after Luc is murdered and Vinh becomes the prime suspect.

No less than the Tiens, Hardesty wears his history like a hair shirt. The surfing mishap that claimed his only son long ago, the dissolution of his 20-year marriage and a spiraling descent into the bottle--these things still weigh heavily on his mind, making him an easier target for clients in distress. "In a sense," the PI explains, "[saving people is] what I am. Depending on who you talk to, it may be all I am." Of course, not everybody wants to be saved, including Hardesty's accountant ex-wife and one of his oldest friends, who regular Barre's readers will recognize from an earlier series installment, The Ghosts of Morning. Burning Moon ignites slowly, as its underappreciated author outlines the cultural dynamics that are essential to this tale and reintroduces Hardesty (last seen in 1999's Blackheart Highway). However, Barre's vivid but economical prose and strong character development eventually make this Moon shine. --J. Kingston Pierce

From Booklist

Jimmy Tien and his pregnant girlfriend, Wen, were on a small boat that sank in rough weather off the Southern California coast. Jimmy's father, Vinh Tien, a former North Vietnamese soldier, doesn't believe that his son's death was an accident and hires private investigator Wil Hardesty to learn if there is a connection between Jimmy's death and his work for his crime boss uncle. Wil, a Vietnam vet, is reluctant to work for a man who was once his enemy, but when federal agents tell him that Jimmy was on their pad as an informer, he changes his mind. The case takes on broader, more dangerous implications for Wil when he's unwillingly drawn into a turf war between Vietnamese and Chinese gangsters. Shamus Award winner Barre is a direct descendant of the world-weary Ross McDonald school of detective fiction. Hardesty pushes ever forward while dogged by the shadowy burdens of his own life. A lyrical, melancholy glimpse into the soul of a man who attempts to solve others' burdens even as he succumbs to his own. Wes Lukowsky

ES Index : 5
All Identifiers : amazon:B008B11PR2
Number of Words in Auth: 2
Formats : EPUB
Number of Formats : 1
Has Cover : Yes
Test Text Series Index: Hardesty
Single Author : Richard Barre
Original Source : New_Files_Oatmeal_03_19
Sorted Author by LN, FN: Barre, Richard
Title Length : 012
Title Parm D : Burning Moon
Title Parm F : Burning Moon
Built Sort Key : >>>|Richard Barre|Wil Hardesty 5|Burning Moon||NIRC 2019-03|>>>
Num of Aut : 1
Title Parm B : (
ES Lib Name : NIRC 2019-03
Record ID : 2730
Template Work Area : Hardesty
ES Name : Wil Hardesty
Uncomma Author : Richard Barre
Title Parm A : Burning Moon