Stephen Mack Jones is an excellent writer of action crime novels. His August Snow series captivates readers familiar with the tension and complexity of Detroit. I thought I posted a review earlier, but here it is now. From the publisher:
Detroit ex-cop August Snow takes up vigilante justice when his beloved neighborhood of Mexicantown is caught in the crosshairs of a human trafficking scheme. When the body of an unidentified young Hispanic woman is dredged from the Detroit River, the Wayne County coroner gives her photo to ex-police detective August Snow, insisting August ask around his native Mexicantown to see if anyone recognizes her. August’s good friend Elena, an advocate for undocumented immigrants, immediately pinpoints the girl as local teenager Isadora del Torres. It turns out Izzy isn’t the only young woman to have disappeared during an ICE raid only to turn up dead a few weeks later. Preyed upon by the law itself, the people of Mexicantown have no one to turn to but August. In a guns-blazing wild ride across Detroit, he will put his own life on the line to protect the community he loves. I enjoy this series and intend to continue reading new August Snow stories as they are released.

Lives Laid Away is the second book featuring August Snow, a former cop in Detroit. I haven't read the first book but had no trouble following this one; Jones summarizes what we need to know. Snow gets involved in a case after undocumented women start getting murdered, and all signs lead to ICE and some local neo Nazis. Snow doesn't necessarily do a whole lot of detective work per se; more like he finds some info out and then goes somewhere and starts shooting people. There were a few threads in the book that I felt were not fully explained or dropped too quickly, and there was a lot of violence (it felt like there was a shootout every few pages). That being said, I was really invested in the story and was eager to see where it was going. This book is important in our current xenophobic political climate, and I hope a lot of people read it. I'm definitely interested to see where the next book takes Snow, and I'm planning on reading the first to see what I missed.

August Snow is a former detective who went after the wrong person (apparently in the first of the series) and lost his job but gained millions in a settlement with the city. Now he flips houses and gets involved in ICE raids and secret conspiracies. While the politics are timely and I have no problem with the sentiments, the way the characters often interact seemed forced.

I often love action but this one never caught on for me. I had trouble with the motivations of many of the characters. Some seemed on the stereotype side and there seemed to be a lacking balance to this book that I couldn't put my finger on. I know others may enjoy the action, guns, etc. It just missed the mark for me in many ways. I wanted to solve the mystery, but found myself skimming.