I really liked Daniel Jose Older’s Half-Resurrection Blues, so I got the two sequels as they came out, but then as usual didn’t read them immediately because Dreaded TBR Pile. I am currently trying to work through some of the ebooks that are already on my reader instead of buying still more, so I dove into the second in the Bone Street Rumba series, Midnight Taxi Tango, and I loved it way more than the first one. It was a lot more upbeat, for one thing, and introduced more characters, and deepened those that carried over. A couple of the female characters turned corners that made me happy. Also, it was neat seeing Carlos from more outside points of view. I think you could pretty easily start with this one if you wanted to give the series a try. Here’s a bit from one of the point of view characters, who’s listening to a (fictional) rap artist:

Come chaos, come from the barrel of the gun / Fuck the path fuck the way fuck the method fuck the sun.

She just said “fuck the sun.” I know it’s coming; I still smile every time.

Find me in the fire line / Floatin’ like a satellite / Fucking mothafuckas in the face with a Cadillac.

Like . . . How does one go about fucking a mothafucka in the face with a Cadillac? I don’t care. She doesn’t care. We don’t care together. Anyone who cares can fuck off.