The book opens with Johnson living in quiet anonymity in Costa Rica with his very pregnant wife, Marie, and a bunch of children they've added to their family, all of whom the pair rescued from abusive situations in America in previous books. That's also part of why Bruno is in Costa Rica, as he is wanted for kidnapping, murder, and a handful of other nasty crimes that happened as a result of domestic altercations with a murderous son-in-law. There's a lot of really sad backstory in this man's life and I barely know anything about it because it's just too much for the author to have to go over each book, I am sure.
Bruno gets a call at work from his dad, who is recovering from cancer, and much to his surprise, dear old dad is here in Costa Rica and needs help. In tow is Bruno's estranged con artist mother, Bea, who was in prison during Bruno's formative years, and abandoned the family as soon as she got out. Why is she here after all of these years? As it turns out, Dad wants Bruno to escort Mom back to the states so she can take care of some things. Dad is also sending her along with his life savings. Bruno is naturally suspicious, but Dad's mind is made up. Also, Marie is about to give birth and he can't leave her to walk into a dangerous situation which could land him in jail.
To make matters worse, good friends Dr. Aleck Vargas and his wife Alisa have come over to ask Bruno to help their daughter Layla in Los Angeles, who has a stalker. Of course, Bruno's reply is the same, he can't leave Marie. But then Marie goes into a very difficult labor and Dr. Vargas is right there to help, saving her and the baby's life, so Bruno is in a spot and he agrees to a very quick trip to help both Layla and Bea. He'll be in and out, only gone for a few hours. Marie will be sleeping, recovering from a difficult labor, and she won't even know he is gone. What could happen? Famous last words.
Let's just say that neither Bea nor Alisa Vargas have been truthful about their real reasons for the trip and they've only been on the ground for a few minutes before Bruno is ditched by both women. It turns out Bea is planning on gambling with his Dad's hard-earned money and Layla has actually been kidnapped, with Alisa running off to pay the ransom. Nothing is going according to plan.
Eventually, the real truth begins to unfold. Layla has an infant son with a gangster called Johnny Ef and he has taken the baby. She won't return to Costa Rica without the child, so Bruno must make a decision to help his friends and their idiot daughter or return to his own infant son, Tobias, and his wife Marie. He loops in old friend Karl Drago, a gigantic and violent former gang member who regularly visits abject violence on his old gang as retribution for their evil ways. He is volatile, but loyal to Bruno, and God help everyone, he has developed a crush on Layla, their current charge.
As Bruno and Karl start finding ways to pressure Johnny so they can locate the child, they discover that he is far more vile than they ever knew and runs a human trafficking ring. Is Layla's baby in far more trouble than she even realized? Let's just say that Bruno will have an intricate and deadly web of deceit to unravel if he is to find the child unharmed, and he and Karl will leave a vivid trail of blood and bone in their wake of discovery.
This book is in-depth, tangled and layered and I am barely scratching the surface, but I really don't want to reveal any more than I must. There are lots of interesting surprises to be found, but more so for those who have followed the series from the start. Throughout the book, Bruno reflects on losing several family members and boy, is his life a mess. I did appreciate the reflection since it clarified a few things for me, but again, to someone who has followed his story, I am sure it was all the better.
I have a hard time recommending this book to someone new to the series, because you will feel a bit lost, but it's still a good book. If the character of Bruno Johnson sounds even remotely interesting, you may want to check out the series as a whole. About half of the books are prequels covering Bruno's younger days, so the cost of admission doesn't have to be all 10 books. Overall, he's a cool character with some pretty colorful people in his posse.
