paul_cornelius's review against another edition
5.0
With The Rules of Wolfe, James Carlos Blake takes up the continuing story of the Wolfe clan just about a century after he concluded the first novel in the series, Country of the Bad Wolfes. The connecting character is 109 year-old Catalina, who was last seen in the first novel, escaping a death squad sent to wipe out all the remaining Wolfes who had relocated from Mexico to Texas. The story fits right in with other Blake works. It's violent, fast paced yet, at the end, thought provoking.
Spaced only over a long weekend, The Rules of Wolfe explodes into a bloodbath all because of the rage induced in the Wolfe family's youngest member, Eddie Gato. Brought to work security at the remote ranch of a Mexican drug lord, Eddie meets up with one of the "girlfriends" brought in to service the cartel's management. Eddie cuts out Miranda from the rest, and she ends up being the abused girlfriend of the drug lord's brother and second in command. Out of a slight to her, Eddie goes to war against the entire cartel. Everything arises out of his outraged sense of dishonor.
That is typical of Blake's novels. Outraged honor, acted upon in a violent borderland between Texas and Mexico, that has consequences unimaginable when compared to their origins. Cartel and family members already have wealth beyond their needs, if not beyond their imagination. But there is never enough. Just as there never seems to be enough symbols of authority or dominance over other criminals or cartels. What Blake lifts the hood on is just how much greed and narcissism can dominate people's lives. Even to the point that it leads to their early deaths and torture. Nobody has the sense to retire from the field of combat. They all struggle to the end. And that includes the role assumed by 109 year old Catalina.
When reading Blake, most of the settings he describes seem familiar to me, whether in Mexico or Texas. I can easily see them, feel them. But while I am also aware of the violence that springs from this world, that part of it is still a secret to me. Blake uncovers these secrets. He animates the headlines common in newspapers and television, the headless corpses, the cartel wars, the seething violence that only needs someone giving you a wrong look that can get you killed. Life is tenuous. And it need not be so, but for primitive instincts of human beings.
Spaced only over a long weekend, The Rules of Wolfe explodes into a bloodbath all because of the rage induced in the Wolfe family's youngest member, Eddie Gato. Brought to work security at the remote ranch of a Mexican drug lord, Eddie meets up with one of the "girlfriends" brought in to service the cartel's management. Eddie cuts out Miranda from the rest, and she ends up being the abused girlfriend of the drug lord's brother and second in command. Out of a slight to her, Eddie goes to war against the entire cartel. Everything arises out of his outraged sense of dishonor.
That is typical of Blake's novels. Outraged honor, acted upon in a violent borderland between Texas and Mexico, that has consequences unimaginable when compared to their origins. Cartel and family members already have wealth beyond their needs, if not beyond their imagination. But there is never enough. Just as there never seems to be enough symbols of authority or dominance over other criminals or cartels. What Blake lifts the hood on is just how much greed and narcissism can dominate people's lives. Even to the point that it leads to their early deaths and torture. Nobody has the sense to retire from the field of combat. They all struggle to the end. And that includes the role assumed by 109 year old Catalina.
When reading Blake, most of the settings he describes seem familiar to me, whether in Mexico or Texas. I can easily see them, feel them. But while I am also aware of the violence that springs from this world, that part of it is still a secret to me. Blake uncovers these secrets. He animates the headlines common in newspapers and television, the headless corpses, the cartel wars, the seething violence that only needs someone giving you a wrong look that can get you killed. Life is tenuous. And it need not be so, but for primitive instincts of human beings.
t720psu's review against another edition
5.0
Fast paced and well written. I actually found myself cheering for and worrying about the main characters.
literateworld's review against another edition
4.0
Actually closer to five, but not quite there. Very similar to [b:No Country for Old Men|12497|No Country for Old Men|Cormac McCarthy|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1375288637s/12497.jpg|2996445], but not as many twists.
nikkibee's review against another edition
2.0
Enjoyable enough but not quite what i was expecting plot wise.
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