DANGEROUS ENDS
Alex Segura
Polis Books
April 11, 2017
In DANGEROUS ENDS by Alex Segura, Pete Fernandez has made a good life for himself in Miami. He’s working full time as a private investigator tracking down deadbeat dads for unpaid child support or catching people committing insurance fraud. The days are long and mundane, but the work is steady. Things have settled into a nice routine.
That all changes when Pete’s reporter friend, Kathy Bentley, comes to him looking for help.
Kathy has been hired to write a book about former Miami-Dade narcotics officer Gaspar Varela, who had been convicted ten years ago of stabbing his wife to death in their home. Varela’s daughter has hired Kathy in the hopes that she could uncover new evidence in the case and force a new trial because he has run out of appeals for his case. Kathy and Pete get help with their investigation from retired FBI agent Robert Harras. As the three delve deeper into the case, they uncover connections between the case and a deadly pro-Castro gang. This discovery sends them running for their lives as they search for the truth about Varela’s case.
DANGEROUS ENDS is Segura’s third novel. As Segura’s confidence as a writer grows, Pete’s confidence as a character seems to grow. When the series started, Pete was trying to find his way in the world: his fiancée broke up with him, his job with the newspaper was on the rocks, and his dad just passed away. He was also struggling with his alcohol addiction during this time. Now, Pete has committed to working as a PI and has found AA. He’s finding his way through life, just as Segura is finding his voice as a writer.
The book opens in 1959 in Cuba with Pete’s grandfather, Diego, being declared the head of Fidel Castro’s Department of Justice. One of Castro’s goons has brought Diego a list of names of men that were deemed to have “taken advantage of the government” and are to be executed. All Diego has to do is sign the order. Diego’s defiance and hatred for the country’s new leadership comes through clearly. The reader feels Diego’s desperation to leave his home when he attempts an escape from Castro’s men. Segura adds depth to the book, and to Pete, by including these flashbacks featuring Pete’s grandfather.
Even though Diego does escape from Havana, he’s never truly free from his past. Castro’s reign in Cuba looms large over the city of Miami. The dictator has both sympathizers and foes in the American city. Pete and Kathy end up in the middle of this long-simmering turmoil as these opposing forces come to a head in DANGEROUS ENDS.
Kate Malmon
