Last time we saw Billy Lafitte, he was on the run after messing with both terrorists and the FBI. That was back when he was a first-person narrator. Now he's back in the third person, and while the terrorists are in his past, Franklin Rome of the FBI still has it in for him. (No wonder, considering the beat-down Lafitte put on him in Yellow Medicine.)Lafitte's dropped off the grid. He's been hanging with a motorcycle gang ramrodded by a guy called Steel God, but Rome's using Lafitte's estranged and mentally unstable wife to put pressure on Lafitte, who takes off for the bayou country on a turquoise motorcycle. He stops off in Yellow Medicine County first, with unhappy results. It seems that even when Billy has decent impulses, things just never seem to work out. People are always dying. Which pisses off other people who now want to kill Bill(y).
This is Smith's most complex novel yet, and it's also his best controlled. He's clicking on all cylinders here, and while there's plenty of sex and violence, it never overwhelms the story or the characters, who, let's face it, aren't the kind of folks you'd want for your neighbors. They're interesting to read about, though. Smith doesn't flinch from anything, and if you do, you might want to look elsewhere for a relaxing read. If you're looking for a wild ride with the pedal to the metal from page one, though, this is just the book for you.
The question is, will Billy Lafitte return? After you reach the last page, you might be wondering, but since the book's subtitle is "The Next Chapter of the Billy Lafitte Saga," I'm sort of expecting to see him again. It doesn't say it's the last chapter, after all, so there's something to look forward to there.
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