THE TROUBLESHOOTER

A Hannibal Jones Mystery

Austin S. Camacho

Intrigue Books

ISBN: 1-890158-63-1

August 2004

Mystery

Forget about the flashy political glamour of Washington, D.C. Instead, think of the urban, "forgotten" parts of the city. Envision an apartment building overrun with drug dealers, winos, prostitutes, and thieves. Now imagine you have purchased the building with the intent to provide low-income housing to the less fortunate. The dregs of society will not move from the building, which is known in the neighborhood as a crack house. The police don't have the time or manpower necessary to permanently remove the bad element from your property, and you are ready to give up all hope of ever taking control of the building. Dan Balor, high-powered attorney, finds a way of assuming control over his building with the help of Hannibal Jones, THE TROUBLESHOOTER.

Hannibal Jones, both a former policeman and secret service agent, calls himself a troubleshooter because he takes on problems most people don't know how to handle. The novel starts off with a bang when Hannibal arrives at the private office of Adolfo Espino, loan shark and probable crime boss, with the purpose of establishing a repayment schedule for a gambler's debt. Hannibal easily outmaneuvers Espino's security team, establishes the payment plan, and leaves without causing or receiving too much physical damage. Hannibal meets up with Ray Santiago's home, meets Ray's lovely attorney daughter, Cindy, and witnesses, via live news, the destruction of his apartment building by fire. Cindy persuades Hannibal to meet with her boss, Dan Balor, in order to help keep his business going.

Because Dan Balor has asked the police and two other detectives for assistance in clearing out his apartment building in the heart of the city and thus for seen no success, he is skeptical of Hannibal's ability to take over the situation. Hannibal explains clearly: he'll do whatever it takes to clear out the building, and he won't stop until the job is done. Dan hires Hannibal without too much hope of success. At first, Hannibal is not overly successful. He is able to clear out the apartment of the various squatters who have taken up residence, but he finds himself battling Sal Ronzini, a small time crime lord and drug-dealer unwilling to release the crack house. When Hannibal realizes that Sal is not going to give up that apartment building without a fight, he calls in six men to help maintain control over the building. The heart-pounding climax at the end of the novel will keep you reading late into the night!

Without a doubt, THE TROUBLESHOOTER is one of the most exciting and entertaining pieces of literature I have read in an extremely long time. Painful and heart-racing fight scenes are written with attention to detail without being gratuitous, and Mr. Camacho's characters are gritty, realistic, and fascinating. While a tiny bit of Hannibal's earlier life and upbringing are mentioned, he is by nature an enigma. For example, Hannibal's multi-racial ethnicity allows Hannibal to cross back and forth between Afro-American and Anglo-American barriers, but he maintains his privacy until people ask about or refer to his ethnicity. He wears black sunglasses and black gloves at most times, so people are taken by surprise when they are allowed to see his hazel eyes. Hannibal is anything but subtle in his dealings with criminals: he is willing to fight dirty, but he doesn't want to cross the line. Hannibal Jones walks to the beat of his own drummer, and most readers will love Hannibal for doing what he does best--eliminating problems that most people are unwilling to solve. THE TROUBLESHOOTER is the third in the Hannibal Jones Mystery Series, and I cannot wait to read the other two!

 

Reviewed by Angela Etheridge

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