Big Red Tequila

Jackson Navarre III (a/k/a “Tres” Nevarre) has returned to San Antonio after 10 years in California. He had left in the wake of his father’s murder, and now he wants answers, but mostly gets trouble.

Riordan’s book is populated with colorful characters. In addition to Tres, there’s Lillian Cambridge, a talented photographer and Tres’s high-school love. Ralph Arguello made his fortune with a series of pawn shops and is completely loyal to Tres. Beau Karnau is a fading artist who has been Lillian’s mentor and business partner in a small gallery. Guy White is a reputed mob boss, who insists he is just a businessman and philanthropist. Jay Rivas is a cop with secrets to protect and a seeming vendetta against Navarre. Dan Sheff show more is the scion of an old family, heir to their construction business, and was recently engaged to Lillian (until she gave the ring back and then phoned Tres and asked him to come back from California). Garrett – Tres’s half-brother – is a paraplegic who is a computer whiz and drives a van decorated with plastic fruit and paintings of Carmen Miranda on its sides. And let’s not forget Robert Johnson, Tres’s enchilada-eating coffee-drinking cat.

The plot is appropriately intricate, involving old vendettas, past loves, unfaithful spouses, greedy politicians, and crooked cops. But Tres has a stubborn desire to get to the truth, and his old friends (and his father’s) are still willing to help him.

Riordan’s writing gives just the right flavor of San Antonio (and made me hungry for GOOD Mexican food). In all, entertaining and engaging. I’ll read more. show less

Tres is the kind of Noir hero I enjoy. His remarks to others make you cringe, but you enjoy him saying them. Sassy isn't the word for it, more like self-destruction, but somehow he comes out the other side of a beating. I've never been to San Antonio, but I felt as though I was there in the middle of the heat through Riordan's descriptions. I enjoyed this mystery right through to the end, and I didn't see it coming until the appropriate moment, but didn't feel cheated of clues at the end, either. Though not to be kept on the shelves forever, like Sayers or Stout, I will certainly look for more of Rick Riordan's mysteries. This was a fun read, more foul language than I enjoy, probably less than most people are used to these days. I also show more appreciated the way he described his hero's more intimate moments. Enough that I knew they were there, but I didn't feel like a voyeur after reading about it. show less

Overall the book is average, but at times it gets confusing with their being a lot of entangled plot lines. Rick Riordan is a good writer, though, and it really comes together with all the random plot lines making sense as necessary pieces in the end. For the most part the book is engaging and definitely hard to put down as everything starts to unravel and wrap up in the last quarter of the book. I think I'll give the rest of Tres Navarre series a miss.

Jackson “Tres” Navarre and his enchilada-eating cat, Robert Johnson, pull into San Antonio and find nothing waiting but trouble. Ten years ago Navarre left town and the memory of his father’s murder behind him. Now he’s back, looking for answers. Yet the more Tres digs, trying to put his suspicions to rest, the fresher the decade-old crime looks: Mafia connections, construction site payoffs, and slick politicians’ games all conspire to ruin his homecoming. It’s obvious Tres has stirred up a hornet’s nest of trouble. He gets attacked, shot at, run over by a big blue Thunderbird—and his old girlfriend, the one he wants back, is missing. Tres has to rescue the woman, nail his father’s murderer, and get the hell out of show more Dodge before mob-style Texas justice catches up to him. The chances of staying alive looked better for the defenders of the Alamo. show less

I've been a fan of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series since it began, so when I learned that prior to turning to YA novels, he had written a series of Texas private eye mysteries, I thought I'd give them a try. Big Red Tequila is the first in that series, featuring Jackson "Tres" Navarre, the son of Jackson Navarre Jr. who, ten years before the story begins, had been gunned down in front of his son and friend while returning home from his Sheriff's job in San Antonio. Tres fled to San Francisco and remained there for 10 years, learning tai chi and earning a Ph.D. in English literature, supporting himself with investigative work for a law office, among other things; but when his old flame Lillian contacts him, he show more returns to his native city in part to perhaps rekindle his old relationship and in part to finally work out who killed his father and why. But the answers are far from simple to find, and there are far more people willing to kill rather than let him discover the truth.... As with the YA books, this adult novel is full of memorable characters and high-energy action scenes, although neither are as refined as they become in Riordan's later work. I enjoyed the murky underworld of San Antonio and some of the individuals were well worth getting to know, but I'm not as enamoured of Texas as the author might like his readers to be. I would read more in the series if I stumbled across them, but wouldn't really go out of my way to find them; so, a lukewarm response from me. show less

I must admit that towards the end I lost track of the plot and was confused as to how the bad guys fit in to the beginning part of the book. But it was an enjoyable ride with Mr. Navarre as company and enough Texan accents to sink a ship. San Antonio was aptly portrayed warts and all. Also I must commend the narrator for making the novel come alive.

Returning to San Antonio ten years after his father’s death, Jackson "Tres" Navarre is determined to find the truth of his father’s death. But his investigation uncovers a conspiracy and reveals secrets causing him to wonder about people that he has known his entire life. And when his used-to-be girlfriend disappears, he finds himself in the middle of a kidnapping . . . and more.

Filled with lighthearted moments, delightful characters, and the clever antics of a cat that answers to the name of Robert Johnson, readers will find themselves drawn into this story with its strong sense of place, its humor, and its complex plot of big business and political machinations.

Recommended.