For my money, Sam Hawken is one of the most underrated authors working in crime fiction today. His first novel, The Dead Women of Juárez, is a hard-hitting story which uses the real-life tragedy of female homicides in the Mexican city of Ciudad Juárez as its backdrop. It made my Top 10 Reads of 2012 and, more notably, was shortlisted by the Crime Writers’ Association for the John Creasy ‘New Blood’ Dagger.
Sam’s second novel, the equally stark Tequila Sunset, also set in Ciudad Juárez and its sister city, El Paso, Texas, was once again recognized by the Crime Writers’ Association, this time nominated for the Gold Dagger—aka best crime novel of the year! Despite the man’s obvious and undeniable skill, however, he remains criminally under the radar for most mainstream readers.
So when I had the opportunity to work with Sam—who has previously dropped by the blog for a guest post and whose self-published Juárez Dance I have reviewed—I jumped at the chance to edit his Camaro Espinoza omnibus, Full Throttle: The Collected Camaro.
Previously released as four separate novellas (Camaro Run, Crossfire, The Drum and Sisters in Arms), Full Throttle collects all the rollicking Camaro adventures to date in one edition. As always, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to actually review something I’ve worked on, so here’s what a few authors and publishers have had to say about the Camaro Espinoza stories:
“A perfect little tale of crime, action, violence, and death. Camaro Espinoza … is strong, brave, capable, wise, and intelligent, while at the same time being a cold killer and a thief.” — Mike Monson (Criminal Love and Other Stories)
“Somewhere in Hollywood there is a TV producer that needs to take a couple hours out of their day and read Camaro Run … and then tap Sam Hawken as show runner to write the series. [Camaro Espinoza] hits all the right notes for an enjoyable action packed adventure that promises to unveil a dramatic back story for its heroine, a woman on the run from her past, capable and trained to defend herself and her secrets.” — Ron Earl Phillips (editor, Shotgun Honey)
“…a female riposte to the lumbering male violence of Jack Reacher; a similarly haunted character fresh out the military, but with a humour and intelligence that lifts hers above Lee Child’s clunking revenge tales.” Gareth Spark (Half Past Nothing)
So, whether it’s with the newly released Full Throttle Camaro collection or with one of his earlier, critically-acclaimed Juárez novels, I strongly encourage you to explore what Sam Hawken has to offer and find out for yourself just how good he is…and then help spread the word!
No comments yet.