“Willy” Wo Lap Ling is a 69-year-old Triad boss who personally oversees the exportation of billions of dollars of heroin and other drugs to the US, while ingratiating himself with generous contributions to the “Beltway” movers and shakers. These politicians are unable to provide the kidney transplant that he needs to stay alive.

Enter Chen Boda, arguably one of the most powerful men in the world, who is overseeing the Chinese plot to bankrupt America. Chen Boda has whole prisons full of potential kidney donors and offers a trade with Willy. For the price of one “insignificant protesting student” Willy indentures himself to Chen Boda, and is compelled to assign a greater goal to his activities than merely making money for the Triad.

It is interesting to watch 37-year-old dissolute country club bum Wheeler Cassidy emerge as one of the good guys. In his entire life, Wheeler has attempted two things: college (he flunked out) and the USMC (he was dishonorably discharged). He loves only one person and that is his younger brother, Preston.

When Preston dies of a so-called heart attack, Wheeler discovers that his brother’s secretary, Angie Wong, had not shown up for work on that fateful day. Wheeler goes to her house and finds her gruesomely murdered in the basement. She had been tortured in a ritual slaying. This Triad type killing immediately involves L.A. Detective Tanisha Williams.

Tisha has been exiled to the Asian crime post while she is the subject of an Internal Affairs investigation. The killing is immediately a high profile case and she fights to keep it. The joining of Wheeler and Tisha is unlikely, but their motivations are incredibly strong. Once the connection is made with Preston and Angie’s death, Wheeler is on a revenge mission, while Tisha is merely fighting for her career survival.

Cannell is a very gifted writer. His characters are superbly drawn and their interaction is natural and rivets the reader. Scenes change rapidly and seamlessly as the pace quickens in the sinuous path of a very complicated plot.

There is, however, one major caveat. Riding the Snake is definitely not for the squeamish, or even the not so squeamish. Cannell is incredibly creative with imagery -- the violence he details is so explicit that the descriptions linger weeks later. Not that the graphic nature is necessarily gratuitous, since it could reasonably be argued that it lends credibility to the action. Just be prepared.

--Thea Davis