The first novel in the Camaro Espinoza series.

A fantastic start to a new crime series, featuring an excellent female protagonist who strives to live her life doing the good and right thing (even if the means are on the wrong side of the law).
Excellent writing, engaging and gripping plot. Definitely recommended. Looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Sam Hawken delivers a perfectly serviceable crime thriller in The Night Charter which introduces the character of Camaro Espinoza, a former combat medic turned charter boat captain in Miami. Apparently there were a few other Espinoza short stories or novellas prior to her debut in long-form writing, but it seems those have gone out of print and have otherwise disappeared into the ether.

When we meet Camaro, she’s hired to make a run to Cuba to pick up an anti-communist revolutionary and deliver him back to Miami. The people that have hired her aren’t exactly the trustworthy sort and so, naturally, things go awry. As expected, there’s a fair amount of double-crossing involved, but Hawken sweetens the pot by mixing in a Cuban intelligence agent aiming to put down the pro-democracy terrorists based in Miami and anyone who has been helping them, along with a sadistic ex-con who has developed a grudge against Espinoza, and a homicide detective caught up in the middle and trying to make ends meet.

Hawken’s writing is pretty straightforward and largely unexciting, and his plot doesn’t leave a lot of room for surprises or sense of discovery, but, man, does this book ever move. The chapters are short and punchy, making you think, “OK, just one more chapter...” until you realize you’ve flown through damn near half the book in one sitting.

Espinoza herself is an intriguing character, and as a strong, kick-ass heroine she’s a welcome relief from the Jack Reacher-type men that typically populate novels of this sort. I had a lot of fun seeing her outsmart and outgun the men of The Night Charter, and I’m certainly game to see how future books develop her character. Here, she’s pretty close-mouthed and standoffish, putting a big, thick wall between herself and the world around her, and we only get a few, small glimpses at the past that has informed her present bearing. I’d really like to learn more about her history, particularly the events that drove her out of New York and to the shores and marinas of Miami, and what’s estranged her from her family.

The Night Charter is a fleet of foot thriller that chugs along as quick as Camaro’s Harley and serves as a fine introduction to a new heroine, even if it never quite goes beyond the usual thriller tropes nor provides enough depth to make it stand out from an already-crowded genre. Still, it’s fine read and it kept my interest the whole way through. It may have felt awfully familiar, but it never outstayed its welcome, and the grand finale sure was satisfying!