The Bones of Wolfe: A Border Noir

At the start of Blake’s rollicking, if somewhat familiar, fifth Border Noir (after 2017’s The Ways of Wolfe), Eddie Gato Wolfe and a small crew aboard a boat in the Gulf of Mexico deliver a shipment of guns to members of the Mexican branch of the Wolfe clan for delivery to the Los Zetas cartel. The Mexican crew takes possession of the guns, only to be ambushed and slaughtered once ashore. The Wolfes quickly root out the culprit, an upstart rival gang member hoping to gain favor by giving the stolen guns to El Chubasco, the notorious head of the Sinaloan cartel. When the Wolfes recover the stolen guns from the rival gang member, they find a cache of upscale pornographic DVDs along with the guns. Kitty Quick, an actor in one of the flicks, bears an uncanny resemblance to 115-year-old Wolfe family matriarch Aunt Catalina’s long-lost sister, Sandra. Could Quick be a distant Wolfe relative? The grand dame thinks so, and sends a group of Wolfes to extricate her from the clutches of El Chubasco in a rescue operation that’s a bit of a retread from an earlier novel. Though it’s not up to Blake’s usual high standard, series fans will enjoy this entertaining adventure. Agent: Nat Sobel, Sobel Weber Assoc. (July)