The Ignorance of Blood

As the last of a quartet of police procedurals, Ignorance of Blood ties up a lot of story lines and loose ends, not the least of which is Inspector Jefe Javier Falcon's own story. Not having read the first three Falcon novels, I gather that the relationship between Falcon and his ex-wife Ines, her subsequent murder for which her current husband, a prominent judge was tried and convicted, provided much plot material for the first three books, as does Falcon's complex history and relationship with his friend Yacoub Diouri. I think that reading those three books first would add immensely to enjoyment of this one, but I found this one compelling reading even without the backstories. Falcon's developing romance with the restauranteur Consuelo, and the kidnapping of her son, apparently related to the murders of two Russian bad guys, provides much of the meat of this book. Dario's kidnapping also proves to have links to Yacoub Diouri, who's been acting a little odd lately, and everything seems to be related to the Seville bombing of 2004. The threads of this ambitious story stretch wide; municipal corruption, the Russian mob and the Saudi royal family. After much suspense, oceans of blood and plenty of surprises, all is neatly wrapped up in a way that miraculously never seemed contrived. Mr. Wilson's novel is filled with tormented characters acting out their dramas against backdrops ranging from enchanting Seville, to Madrid, to London and finally to exotic Morocco. Emotionally much deeper than a run of the mill thriller, all the characters are damaged and Mr. Wilson does not shy away from delving into the cause and effect of this damage. What saves it from grimness are the charming and passionate characters who still manage to express humor, joy and hope despite the swathes of blood and gore festooning the pages of this book. This is that unusual bird--a guy type thriller that will appeal to women.

Author Robert Wilson take the reader through the under world of the Russian mob working throughout Spain and other countries, to who caused the 6th June Seville bombing, as Falcon deals with the lost of his wife and how they all may be connected to each other in one form or anther. Twists and turns throughout the novel will leave the reader spell bound.

"The Ignorance of Blood" is the fourth in the excellent Inspector Jefe Javier Falcon series and, according to author Robert Wilson, the last. A pity if true, as this latest installment in the saga of the masterfully written Seville homicide detective stories represents an upward growth curve in his writing (in my opinion). Hard to accept that there's not more there to be mined from Falcon, Seville and Spain. "Ignorance.." opens with the violent but accidental death of a Russian mafioso on the Costa del Sol-Seville highway. The thug is found to be carrying a huge packet of Euros and a number of CDs that turn out to be videos of local Spanish officials and visiting VIPs disporting with prostitutes. It quickly becomes clear that a schism has developed in the Russian crime family that has become ensconced on the Costa del Sol, and a small criminal civil war is about to begin. Falcon has meanwhile been trying to wrap up a major terrorist bombing case that apparently has a Russian mafia connection. That investigation has involved the Inspector Jefe with several international crime and intelligence services and complicated his close relationship with a Moroccan businessman who has become Falcon's source within a Morocco-based terrorist group. Add to this, Falcon's growing preoccupation with his complicated girlfriend, Consuelo Jimenez and the kidnapping of her youngest son. Author Wilson has concocted an intricate and totally engaging story in this book. The considerable violence is credible within the story, particularly when it relates to the Russian gangs. The tension that is built into the relationship with the terrorirst-linked Moroccan friend is palpable. There is no telegraphed ending here. The reader is left hanging on to every plot development until the last page. This is a wonderful international crime/spy story. The Spanish and Moroccan settlings for the book are highly interesting and well described. Let's hope that Robert Wilson changes his mind about terminating the series. Highly recommended.

The final novel of the Inspector Jefe Javier Falcon series begins with a spectacular car crash, resulting in a coup for law enforcement: one dead Russian gangster, a trunk full of cash and computer disks with explosive images. Absorbed by an ongoing investigation into a terrorist bombing three months ago in Seville, Falcon appreciates the ramifications of the material on the disks. Organized crime has escalated since the arrival of the Russian mafia, a level of brutality never before seen in this city, where the new enforcers inject themselves into every faction, prostitution, drugs, human trafficking. This accident may finally provide the critical, if obscure link to the terrorist bombing, only one ingredient in an elaborate operation. With each successive Falcon novel, Wilson's has protagonist confronts shifting circumstances, the death of his ex-wife at the hands of her husband, the terrorist bombing, the street-fighting tactics of the Russian mob. The senseless bombing has outraged Falcon, strengthened his resolve. Without doubt, the Russian domination of organized crime in Seville has contributed to the expansion of Falcon's investigation, the escalating violence in his city reflecting a world seething with geopolitical conflicts fueled by abundant drug money and the making of strange bedfellows. As is his habit, Falcon ruminates, shuffles facts and insights, ever alert to connections. What he discovers through the car accident is a tenuous thread between two worlds, a confluence of agendas from the unpredictable and deadly landscape of organized crime to the bloody scenes of brutal murders, a pervasive corruption of the judicial system and the perpetrators of the bombing that shattered Seville's innocence. From A Small Death in Lisbon and The Company of Strangers to the Falcon series, Wilson adapts his novels to the changing face of criminal enterprise, a world beset by terrorism and the deterioration of society. Once begun, this novel accelerates, explosive, riddled with outrageous acts and the corruption of elected officials. A confrontation with a judge in the June bombing, the Russian mob's internal conflict, a meeting with an old friend who shares terrible secrets and Javier painstakingly assembles a picture that will provide the answers he seeks, but bring him to his knees in grief. Even the love he has finally embraced is filled with barbs. A policeman to his core, Wilson's Javier Falcon is a man who faces an abyss, heart-breaking choices and a great personal reckoning. Wilson doesn't settle for a dynamic plot with nail-biting action; he delves into the deepest territory of Falcon's psyche, where truth and pain reside in equal measure, where each thing worth having carries a terrible price, where Seville is forever scarred by the imprint of terrorism. Luan Gaines/2009.