Bag Limit

By: Steven F. Havill

Narrated by: Rusty Nelson

Bill Gastner, the reluctant sheriff of Posadas County, New Mexico, anticipates his last few days in office will be uneventful. That is, until local teen Matt Baca drives drunkenly into the back of Gastner's cruiser and flees into the night. His eventual capture turns tragic when the boy becomes irrationally violent and takes a fatal tumble into oncoming traffic. Adding to the tragedy, Matt's father is found dead in his tiny kitchen. Is this all a terrible coincidence, or is something more sinister afoot?

The dead teen's fake ID troubles Gastner. He suspects it's why Matt Baca was so intent on avoiding arrest for drunken driving. His theory leads him to the toughest, deadliest couple of days of his career. This is a case that proves small town life can deliver big trouble. Still, Sheriff Gastner proves his mettle, and resolves it by using the common sense of an old warhorse, and the soothing powers of a green chile burrito.

©2001 Steven F Havill (P)2004 Books in Motion

Solid consistent series, enjoyable & well plotted

Its hard to review one of this series, rather than the group. When I listened to the first one, I liked it, but wasn't addicted. These are not flashy action adventures. However I enjoyed the book, and went back for more; by the end, I was very bummed to run out of books. Over the series a few strengths in these books have struck me as part of their charm. The main protagonist is, yet again, an aging white policeman. In his case, however, he really is aging, not some fantasy of superhuman strength who can do anything and always gets the the sexy supergirl. Sometimes he makes mistakes, is clumsy, gets sick. He has chronic insomnia, implied PTSD. The series leaves out focus on sexuality in favor of the foibles and tragicomic behaviors of people in small town Posadas. In this New Mexico, the focus is on Latino/American culture and Native Americans don't seem to exist (a weakness perhaps, or the author avoiding writing about a culture he isn't familiar with). I will probably relisten to them again later, because they are pleasant, and plausible and I love hearing about New Mexico, its landscape, culture and food. Read them in sequence, because they do evolve. PS, Rusty Nelson is a perfect reader for this role and has amazing range.

Bag Limit

I love this series, one comment is that I need to have Rusty Nelson as the reader he makes the whole book come alive

So glad I found Steve Havell's books!

Really good books for me, so far away from New Mexico! They at a warm memory for me.