Good Junk. Cliff Saint James, #2

Critically-acclaimed author Ed Kovacs presents Book Two in his thrilling Cliff Saint James series of murder mystery crime novels set in New Orleans. Publisher's Weekly gave Good Junk the rare honor of a starred, boxed review, calling it "outstanding, " and saying that "powerful prose elevates this above most other contemporary PI novels." The New York Times Book Review said, "The scenes of New Orleans are rich and real." And Steve Berry called Kovacs a "vivid addition to the thriller genre."Cliff Saint James, like the city of New Orleans, has taken his share of hard knocks. First there was the killer Hurricane that destroyed his hometown, ruined his mixed-martial-arts dojo, and nearly bankrupted him. A former cop, he narrowly escaped assassination at the hands of ruthless gangs while solving his first murder case as a private eye.
Now after rebuilding his life, trouble has found him again. While wrestling with guilt over having accidentally killed a mixed-martial-arts opponent in a sparring session, Saint James finds himself assisting a police investigation into the apparent suicide of a U. S. government "black projects" engineer. He and his good friend Honey, now a homicide detective, quickly realize they have murder, not suicide on their hands, and that the victim was much more than just an engineer. As they track the killer through the brackish, steamy under belly of New Orleans, their allies become few, and their many opponents emerge as powerful international forces intent on doing anything-including killing Saint James-to maintain the status quo of a shocking conspiracy.
This revised and updated edition of Good Junk is in the time-honored tradition of works by Michael Connelly, James Patterson, Lee Child, Raymond Chandler, Dashiel Hammet, James Ellroy, and Dennis Lehane.