Iron River refers to the 2,000 miles of U.S/Mexican border where more than 6700 gun dealers sell weapons which are transported illegally across the border into Mexico. LA Sheriff's Deputy Charlie Hood is now working for ATF in Operation Blowdown. Hood and his ATF colleagues are in the midst of a sting operation.

But when a wire is found on one of the agents, a chase  through the border town of Buenavista results in the death of gun-dealer Victor Davis and an innocent bystander who just happens to be the son of Benjamin Armenta, the leader of the Mexican Gulf Cartel (Zetas). Employing good police work, Hood and his colleagues find a storehouse of weapons at Davis's home and records which include four meetings with a man named Ron Pace.

Pace worked as a gun designer with his father and uncle at Pace Arms. The company is now bankrupt as a result of a flawed weapon which killed a young boy. Pace has kept the building operational hoping that he can strike a deal which will restart the once very successful business. Opportunity arrives when Bradley Jones, the son of Suzanne Jones/Allison Murietta (Hood's love interest in L.A. Outlaws) and a direct descendant of Joaquin Murietta, asks that he manufacture 1,000 weapons for the leader of Armenta's rival North Baja Cartel.

James Holdstock, the ATF agent who accidently shot Armenta's son, is kidnapped, taken across the border to Mexico and tortured. Hood and his ATF colleagues, with help from Mexican police officials, travel into Mexico, rescue Holdstock and bring him back to a hospital in Buenavista only to have the Zetas storm the hospital and kidnap him once again. Another patient at the hospital is Mike Finnegan who miraculously survived a hit and run. The police find Hood's name in Finnegan's pocket and call Hood to the hospital for an interview where he discovers that Finnegan seems to know much more about the events which are about to transpire than seems possible.

I usually enjoy T. Jefferson Parker's novels but the overwhelming combination of Mexican/American politics, gun smuggling, the wedding of Bradley Jones, and the strange Mike Finnegan just did not work. While Parker's descriptions of scenes and settings are done with his usual skill, he leaves a lot of loose ends. Parker utilizes letters from Charlie Hood to his mother and father (who has Alzheimer's) to express his feelings, but it still doesn't make him all that likable.

The series started well with L.A. Outlaws, slipped with Renegades and definitely disappoints with the rather strange and confusing Iron River. Here's hoping T. Jefferson Parker's next book will be a return to his strong standalone novels.

--Jerry Solot