The Righteous Cut: A Wesley Farrell Novel (2007) - Plot & Excerpts
RATING: 3.25New Orleans is often presented as a steamy, sultry kind of town where sins of the flesh are to be expected among its redolent residents. The Wes Farrell series by Robert Skinner has a distinctly different tone than that stereotype; there is racial unrest, political machinations and crimes committed in dark and hidden corners. The Righteous Cut is the sixth book in the series featuring Wes Farrell, who is a Creole restaurateur who passes for white. Set in December of 1941, the book opens with a prominent citizen found murdered in a flop house, ostensibly killed by a hooker. A veritable crime wave ensues; and a clear pattern emerges. Someone appears to be trying to destroy the political stronghold of Councilman Whitman Richards, who has his corrupt finger in every business enterprise in the city. The one act that brings him to his knees is the kidnapping of his daughter, Jessica. He’s ready to deal with whoever is decimating his empire, but that person has a thirst for vengeance that is difficult to satisfy. As a matter of fact, there is more than one person who is anxious to settle up with Richards. And they do so in very violent ways, leaving a trail of dead bodies behind them.Wes Farrell has just recently returned from a long getaway to Havana and gets pulled into the picture by Richards’ wife, Georgia, who is unhappy about the fact that her husband has kicked the police off the case. Twenty years earlier, he and Georgia had been involved. Georgia had walked away to settle down with Richards. She presents some compelling reasons for Farrell to help find Jessica. Farrell works closely with police captain Frank Casey, who has been revealed earlier to have a special connection to Wes. When the narrative begins, the reader is introduced to a plethora of characters; and it is difficult to remember who they are and where they fit in the story. It doesn’t really matter since most of them end up dead anyway. The majority of them are more evil than good, so it’s no great loss. There were a few stand-out characters: the hit man who has lost his zeal for killing, the young Lothario who wakes up to what is important in life and Georgia, who has more of a spine than one would expect in her situation. The book had an atmospheric feeling of a black night in a dark alley, and Skinner excelled at maintaining that tone throughout the book. The death count was pretty high. Skinner did a fine job of plotting. However, I found the resolution less than satisfactory. The reason for Wes’ passion to free Jessica felt bogus and manipulative. The person revealed to be the real mastermind behind many of the acts against Richard was not credible, and the motivation for those acts was weak. That was unfortunate, because the book on the whole was well written and plotted. The last 50 pages didn’t feel as smoothly written and had a few too many areas that stretched the reader's credulity, particularly the treatment of the ultimate villain.
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