The Gentlemen's Hour - Don Winslow

 The other day Don Winslow announced on Twitter that he's retiring after he completes his current City on Fire trilogy.  There will be no new novels published, but thankfully there are plenty of not-so-old novels just appearing on this side of the Atlantic.  Take this, for example, from 2010, the follow up to The Dawn Patrol.  The Gentlemen's Hour is what happens immediately after the Dawn Patrol on the surf off Pacific Beach, San Diego, California.  It is when the forty-somethings take over from the thirtyish surfer dudes.

Boone Daniels (brilliant name) is on the cusp.  A former cop turned PI, he is getting a little old for the Dawn Patrol.  A new generation is coming up.  Maturity calls - the need to do something with his life, to earn some money, perhaps even start a new relationship.  Since his longtime squeeze Sunny left to ride the pro surfer circuit Boone has been flirting with Petra (Pete) Hall an upmarket British attorney, though he can't quite bring himself to seal the deal on account of old loyalties and fiscal inequalities.

But then Petra offers him a job.  The prestigious practice she works for has taken on the case of Corey Blasingame, the racist skinhead who killed the San Diego surf guru Kelly Kuhio (K2) with a single superman punch.  Much against his better judgement Boone takes the gig.  After all, what can he do?  There are five eyewitnesses to the crime and Corey confessed straight away, no excuses, no explanation.  It's the refusal to explain that causes Boone the problem and sets him against his best bud Johnny Banzai, the cop who took the confession, and the rest of the Dawn Patrol.

Meanwhile Boone picks up another job courtesy of a regular at the Gentlemen's Hour, a millionaire who wants Boone to keep tabs on his wife who might be indulging in a little extramarital fun and games.  It's the sort of work Boone despises but, hey, he needs the money.  And this time it's not the Dawn Patrol he finds himself up against.  It's the Cartels, their expert torturer Jones, and the full weight of corporate California.

It's all pure Winslow - the modern master at his very best.  All present tense and taut as a tripwire.  I loved every second.