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Jack Burn served his country honorably and wanted nothing more than to run a business and raise a family in sunny California, but when his business began to buckle, he balked. He earned a little money on the side, gambled a little, and, when his luck ran out, found out that payback was a bitch. Burn went on the run with his pregnant wife and son, disappearing into a wealthy Cape Town neighborhood, where he probably could have remained forever, except for, well, karma. A completely random visit from a couple of smalltime gangbangers turns Burns well planned exile inside out, and starts a domino effect of local crime.

Mixed Blood author Roger Smith is a screenwriter, which one would assume gives him an understanding of forward momentum in a story–which he does well–but might also risk empty characters; not so here. Smith’s debut novel is full of enjoyably scuzzy characters, with enough dialect to give it color, but not so much that it’s annoying or difficult to follow.

Mark your Amazon Wish List, Mixed Blood will be released in February 2009.

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