Legacy of Evil

James Peyton does a great job of keeping readers entertained in Legacy of Evil. This was a gripping thriller that kept me turning pages until the very end.

I was overall pretty interested in this book and the characters. It's the first in a series revolving around the main character, Artemis Salcido. The book is about a Mexican police officer and Harvard graduate) who is sent to a small town due to his meddling in the Mexican Justice system. I liked him because he's smart and dedicated to justice! My idea of a good crime book! I love a story where there's one person who's out for justice and will risk everything to solve the crime. There are elements about vampires and some romance, which is also a bonus for me! The things I didn't like were that I didn't feel like everything was wrapped up in the end and some scenes felt rushed. There were some parts where I wondered why the main character didn't respond in a certain way or seemed to not care about helping the love interest when she was in danger. Like he would just go home and act like there was nothing he could do.

James Peyton 's Legacy of Evil is a multi-layered story that delves deep into the human psyche, forcing readers to take a hard look at not only themselves but their local and international communities as well.

Legacy of Evil tells of the legend of vampires, and how they originated, giving a history of Renfield's disease, which is the clinical term for vampirism. Mr. Peyton focuses on one major family broken into three separate branches as the antagonists, each with different characteristics of vampirism and the lore of vampires. The patriarch of the main branch even physically resembled a vampire without outright stating he was one, and his sons performed ritualistic murders, drinking the blood of the victims.

The other two branches of the family however, have been fighting with the main branch for decades, until finally jealousy led them to join together and hatch a plan to kill a couple if visiting gringas (white girls) from Texas, trying to get some photos of a cave for a research paper. Only one of the girls didn't complete the hike to the caves and made it to la policia (the police), telling them her friend is missing, which led to an instant search and rescue,, and finally notifying a US Senator his daughter was murdered. Because it was a Senator's daughter who was murdered, the President stepped and asked the Mexican President and the Attorney General for an investigation into the death of the Senator's daughter.

In Bustamante, Mexico, the chief of police was sent there because he had been creating problems for many people by trying to clean up the Mexican justice system. He was trying to make sure the police, judges, lawyers and so forth all did their jobs equally and fairly for everyone, and they weren't able to accept bribes and when they did, they were held accountable.

The Attorney General sent two men to lead the the investigations going on: one into a ritualistic killing of a young man and the other into the Senator's daughter. They quickly had the sons of the main antagonists family branch confess and sign the confession even for a murder they did not commit because it was convenient and suited their goals. However, the Chief, kept investigating and found financial paperwork about a secret group that deals in fraud, extortion, blackmail, drugs, sex trafficking, and human trafficking, and those involved (including the Attorney General and his own father) were receiving millions of dollars.

During the off the record investigation, five more people are murdered and one killed in self defense. The Chief is accused of killing the one in self defense in cold blooded murder and becomes Mexico's #1 most wanted but his father gets him help from an unlikely source, the candidate for Mexico's next President who is a sure win if there isn't enough fraud and election tampering to keep him out.

When the new President wins the Office, he kicks the Attorney General out and promotes the Chief, sending him back to Mexico City, but before he leaves for the city he goes back to Bustamante to finish up the case. There, he and his old partner go to arrest the heads of the other two branches of the antagonist's family for all but two murders but find they're already dead.

Legacy of Evil is full of who did what, when, where, why, and how. As soon as the readers starts to get a grasp on one question, another immediately pops up to throw them off balance.

While there is no gruesome horror, the horror in this. book can be considered nearly just as bad if not worse for it happens everyday in real life. The corruption in the justice system (particularly in many foreign countries: i.e. Mexico, Mid East, and Africa are among some of the worst), the beatings once inside the jails or prisons by the guards being much more common, the lack of food or personal hygiene which helps cause all sorts sickness, and the psychological torture many of the prisoners go through just because the guards think it's fun.

Mr. Peyton doesn't go into detail about all of what happens down in Mexico, but he gives a good enough overview the readers are aware that some of these problems exist and are going on. If Mr.Peyton has other mystery novels out besides Legacy of Evil it would worth the readers time to seek out his books and give them a chance.