In Dodging Bullets, Joe McKinney presents a very fast moving and violent story about a small-time dealer, Peto Hurst, who works for the Mexican Mafia in San Antonio. Peto and his girlfriend thought they would be free from the drug-dealing life and the Mexican Mafia when Peto stole eighty thousand dollars, three bricks of heroin, and the accounting books that detailed the fortune that his girlfriend’s father, a criminal defense attorney who worked for the Mexican Mafia, had embezzled from the Mafia. However, they very quickly learned that you do not steal from the Mexican Mafia, without horrible consequences. Their theft resulted in an all-out reign of terror that Peto and his girlfriend, and several others with whom they associated, tried to endure. Unfortunately, some did not survive. At the beginning, I thought this book would be a quick read and provide lots of entertaining action. That turned out to be true, but I was also pleasantly surprised that the book is very well written. I found the characters in this novel to be very interesting and, as far as I could tell, they seemed to be an accurate depictions of a drug-dealing community. I found Peto to be an especially interesting and complex character that engendered my sympathy. I enjoyed Dodging Bullets very much and I intend to read some of McKinney’s other novels. ( )

Vicious crime novel involving a stolen red duffle bag and the Eme (Mexican Mafia) in San Antonio, Texas. Another great publication from the little-known publishers at Gutter Books. ( )