Soon, Hood begins to suspect Jones' double life, but the sap falls for her anyway, compromising his investigation. The plot unfolds with a lot of unpredictable twists and turns, and as usual, Parker's writing is tight and vivid. If you can suspend disbelief enough to accept Jones-Murrieta, "L.A. Outlaws" is a fast, exciting read.
'L.A. Outlaws' is a fast, exciting read
Suzanne Jones, an eighth-grade Los Angeles high school
teacher, thinks she is a descendant of Joaquin Murrieta, a Robin
Hood-like bandito who terrorized Anglos during the California Gold
Rush. So, she assumes the name Allison Murrieta and goes into the
family business.
Flashing an ivory-handled derringer that she calls
"Cannonita," she holds up fast food joints, heists luxury cars
and courts fame by leaving behind pink business cards reading:
"You've been robbed by Allison Murrieta. Have a nice day."
On his Web site, T. Jefferson Parker confides that he got the
idea for this new novel when he poked into the Murrieta legend and
discovered no one knows for sure how much of it is true. That got
his imagination revving.
"I asked myself . . . what if Joaquin had a descendant who was
alive today? . . . And what if his outlaw spirit still burned in
the heart of this modern-day descendant? . . . What if she were a
beautiful young schoolteacher? What if the opening lines of 'LA
Outlaws' were: 'Here's the deal. I'm a direct descendant of the
outlaw Joaquin Murrieta.' Would you believe her or not?"
Uh. Maybe not.
Over the last decade, Parker has excelled at creating
unconventional, yet believable, protagonists for his well-written
crime novels. For example, "The Fallen" (2006) introduced Robbie
Brownlaw, a homicide detective suffering from synesthesia, a
neurological disorder that causes him to "see" people's voices as
colors. "Silent Joe" (2001) featured young Joe Trona,
psychologically scared from being raised in an institution.
But this time Parker may have gone too far. Jones-Murrieta is a
little too slick, a little too brassy. And her self-destructive
behavior is so wildly unlikely that it is difficult to find her
credible.
As the novel begins, Allison Murrieta's crime spree hits a snag
when she tries for a big score and overreaches. Fleeing the scene
of a diamond heist, she leaves dead bodies in her wake. As the
story unfolds, dangerous people are looking for Allison, thinking
she has the diamonds. And LA police detective Charlie Hood, who
thinks Jones is a witness, wants to talk to her.
