The Ways of Wolfe

Starred review from July 10, 2017
Blood loyalty, forgiveness, and the consequences of violence all figure in Blake’s outstanding fourth Border Noir featuring the Wolfes, a Texas clan of gunrunners and honorable thieves (after 2015’s House of Wolfe). Back in 1984, Axel Wolfe had a beautiful young wife, a baby daughter, and an assured place in his family’s law firm, but an ill-fated decision to take part in a Dallas jewelry store heist forever altered his promising future. When the robbery went bad, Wolfe took a bullet and his two partners left him to take the fall. More than two decades into his prison sentence, the now middle-aged Wolfe decides he has nothing to lose when a young convict named Cacho enlists him in an escape plot orchestrated by powerful cartel relatives. Blake amps up the suspense as the two men find themselves on a wild river ride down the Rio Grande in a desperate attempt to make it across the border. Wolfe dreams of seeing his estranged daughter, Jessie, for the first time in 20 years, if he can survive long enough. Tough, muscular prose complements Blake’s powerful storytelling. Agent: Nat Sobel, Sobel Weber Associates.