Border Son

Appliance store owner Ed Kazmierski, the protagonist of this so-so crime novel from Parker (Purgatory Road), hasn’t seen or heard from his 26-year-old son, Tyler, in many years. After his wife abandoned the family, Ed withdrew from Tyler emotionally, and Tyler started down a path of bad habits and lawlessness. When Ed receives a call from Camilla Ibanez, who works at a restaurant in Hurtado, N.Mex., to say that Tyler needs his help, he travels from his home in rural Kansas to the border town. Tyler, who’s been involved in narcotics smuggling in Mexico, has ripped off Hector Salazar, the local drug lord. Salazar has marked Tyler for death, but Camilla’s son, Roberto, a gun for hire, helps Tyler escape execution because Tyler once saved his life in prison. A corrupt DEA agent complicates things as Ed struggles to get Tyler back to the U.S. and safety. The forced parallels between the two single parents with criminal sons who try to redeem themselves by doing good diminish the bloody plot’s impact. (Mar.)