Missouri Homegrown -- Jesse James Kennedy

The two opening chapters of Missouri Homegrown are as brutal as anything I've read, and Jesse James Kennedy is just getting warmed up.  So if you don't like a lot of violence in your reading, don't even think about this one.  If you do like violence, this is the one for you.

There aren't any heroes here.  The people we're supposed to root for are the McCrays, a family of druggie dope-dealing killers, who are up against a Mexican cartel, made up of killers who are even worse.  Okay, maybe not worse, but just as bad.  And then there are the FBI agents who are after both groups.  They're not quite as bad, but it's a close call.  Lots of drugs of various kinds are consumed.  Many people are killed and maimed or both.  Not that there's anything wrong with that, since Kennedy has strong storytelling chops, and he's a good hand with character.  Booklist compared this to the work of Don Winslow, and I suppose the reviewer was thinking of a book like The Power of the Dog.  Probably not an unfair comparison, so that should give you an idea.  Check it out.