William Ungerman, The Devil’s Finger Review

The Devil's Finger

William Ungerman

Jove, Oct 2004, $6.99, 400 pp.

ISBN: 051513841X



Drug lord Esteban Rios runs the border town of Zapata. He controls the police chief, the city council, and the only bank. He builds clinics and playgrounds while running drugs across the border where he owns and operates brothels. His reign of terror extends to the monthly games; these events enable incarcerated Mexican men an improbable chance of freedom if they remain alive long enough. The only institution not controlled by Rios is the church where a priest has just answered an ad in New Breed magazine.



Lon Grainger and Myles Rawlings used to work for Uncle Sam as contract killers, but when the former missed a target the work dried up. They came to Zapata not knowing what is going on, but quickly learn about Rios' stranglehold on the town. They plan to start a mini-war with the objective being to kill Rios and his associates. Rios also prepares for battle because he will never give up his power without a fight.



Fans of action thrillers with plenty of gore will want to read THE DEVIL'S FINGER. At first Lon and Esteban seem like identical twins, but the American mercenary has a social conscience and even tries to keep collateral damage to a minimum while his adversary turns good things into evil and does not worry about innocents. Lon seeks redemption for the accidental death of a child and in Zapata he sees the way to do good. William Ungerman grips the reader's attention with this shoot-em-up magnificent two-crime thriller.



Harriet Klausner