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Overview
"Joe Service and Helen Sedlacek find themselves in the middle of an international cat-and-mouse game beginning in Kosovo and stretching to the mountains of Montana." Ex-freelance contractor to the Mob, Joe Service is now in the employ of the Lucani, a cadre of rogue government agents who have recently lost an operative known only as Franko. Franko, last seen in a Kosovar mountain village in the path of a drug-smuggling ring, was from Montana - so Joe and his lover, Mafia princess Helen Sedlacek, head to Butte to see what they can learn. But they're not the only ones. A volatile mercenary nicknamed the Badger is also looking for Franko; and the Lucani have sent backup - to help Joe or contain him, he's not sure - in the form of a bombshell who rivals Lara Croft for sex appeal and dangerous moves. They are quickly caught up in a deadly hunt in the rough-hewn mountain landscape, culminating in a terrifying night in the tunnels of an abandoned mine.Synopsis
The latest from masterful mystery writer Jon A. Jackson, Badger Games is an international cat-and-mouse game beginning in Kosovo and stretching to the mountains of Montana. Ex-freelance contractor to the Mob, Joe Service is now in the employ of the Lucani, a cadre of rogue government agents who have recently lost an operative known only as Franko. Franko, last seen in the path of a drug-smuggling ring through a Kosovar mountain village, was from Montana — so Joe and his lover, Mafia princess Helen Sedlacek, head to Butte to see what they can learn. But they're not the only ones. A volatile mercenary nicknamed the Badger is also looking for Franko; and the Lucani have sent backup — to help Joe or contain him, he's not sure — in the form of a bombshell who rivals Lara Croft for sex appeal and dangerous moves. They are quickly caught up in a deadly game of hide-and-seek in the rough-hewn mountain landscape, culminating in a terrifying night in the tunnels of an abandoned mine. Badger Games is a taut, wicked thriller from a master of the genre.
Publishers Weekly
Detective Sergeant Mulheisen, titular hero of Jackson's freewheeling Mulheisen series (Man with an Axe, etc.), is all but absent from this ninth installment. Occupying center stage are his nemeses, freelance pistoleros Joe Service and Helen Sedlacek, this time caught in a web of double- and triple-crosses between secret U.S. intelligence cabals and deep-cover agents from the former Yugoslavia. Joe and Helen, once employed by the mob, are now working for a former American colonel who runs a vigilante group called the Lucani. Composed of intelligence and military personnel fed up with the sluggishness of governments and tribunals, the Lucani exact violent justice on international criminals. Following the disappearance of Lucani agent "Franko" (who recently penetrated a Serbian drug cartel), the colonel recruits Joe and Helen to chase the erstwhile agent from Kosovo to the Serbian community in Butte, Mont. Complicating matters is a trigger-happy Serbian-American thug named Bazok (the "Badger"), who may be a cartel assassin or a rival deep-cover agent. Joe is more interested in retiring to a quiet corner of bucolic Montana so that he and Helen can enjoy quality time together than in finding Franko, but he takes notice when the irrepressible Badger shows up and starts blasting his way through Butte, also on Franko's trail. Joe, Helen and their ilk have too much fun with sex, drugs, guns and clich d banter to really get down to the business of international crime fighting. Without the counterbalancing weight of Mulheisen, the larks overwhelm Jackson's intricate suspense plot. (June) Forecast: Jackson has built up a solid following, but the absence of Mulheisen may affect his numbers this time out. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.