Arrrghhh, Eden Winters, I may never forgive you. I want the whole Lucky Lucklighter saga right now, in full, I don't care if it's two thousand pages!
There are few other authors whose work resonates with me like Ms. Winters'. She is absolutely brilliant at creating compelling, complex characters, characters you identify with, root for and bleed for. Lucky and Bo are two such characters. This is book four in the "Diversion" series, and (improbably enough), each one gets better and better.
We left them, at the end of the last book, standing exposed as a long-term undercover drug investigation goes bad. Our heroes are OK, but who know where it goes from there. "Manipulation" takes the story up just a few moments after the end of the previous one, with more explanation and even more mysteries. There's lovemaking (hot), a maturing relationship (Lucky actually goes looking for a house for both of them - a huge step), truly evil, demented drug lords and a laboratory/factory south of the border brewing up yet more death and insanity for Americans forever looking for the next thrill.
Bo is revealed a little bit more in each book. He started out, in the first one, as a bumbling and prissy rookie, partnered up with Lucky - who who hates having any partner. Lucky was once the lover of the powerful (and surprisingly ethical) drug dealer, Victor Mangiardi, and kept in a lifestyle to which he had not been accustomed as a youngster on his father's farm. Lucky was raided, arrested and forced to testify against his lover, Victor, who apparently, killed himself in prison. After two years behind bars, Lucky is released to an anti-drug agency in Atlanta to bring his knowledge of the drug dealing world to bear on the other side of the law. By the time "Manipulation" happens, Victor has completed his sentence (two years ago, actually) and voluntarily remains with the drug bureau and his now-lover, Bo.
Both men's back stories appear to be ephemeral. Bo, the vegetarian and former pharmacist, turns out to have been a decorated marine who has seen combat and can more than take care of himself. He also turns out to be a brilliant undercover operative who takes on entire personnas at will - his most recent as the enforcer for a biker drug gang.
Victor, on the other hand, may not be dead, as an almost forgotten voice reassures Lucky, who is tied up in the trunk of a car, and a message appears on his bathroom mirror: "Did you miss me?". The voice and the message turn out not to be from Victor, but from his nephew Stephan, who has taken over Victor's business, mannerisms, voice and mode of dress to try to leverage Victor's reputation with his own crew and competitors into a position of power and control for himself. Stephan kidnaps Lucky and spirits him down to his drug plant in Mexico where Lucky finds Bo still working undercover as "Cyrus", the enforcer.
All hell breaks loose. There's lots of action, conflict, death and destruction dealt with the sure hand of a master author. In fact, the scene and action are so cinematic that this book would make a great gay-themed action/adventure movie.
And there are secrets yet to be revealed. Lucky always thought he was just a boy-toy to Victor when, in fact, Victor had already planned to retire from the business and leave the country with Lucky as his companion. The true depth of the relationship is revealed in "Manipulation" and it comes as a heart-warming surprise to Lucky - not that he'd ever leave Bo - but that the man he was so deeply involved with cared so much about him and his future.
And, Ms. Winters leaves several tantalizing hints about what his future might be, including several references to "the will". Did he leave his fortune and properties to Lucky? We won't know until the next installment, which I, for one, await with bated breath.
Ms. Winters is, quite simply, a great writer. Not good, great. From the very first line of every single book, she holds me captive. It's hard to put any of her books down. They are propulsive and eloquent with economical descriptions that paint surprisingly vivid scenes and action.
Don't miss this book, no matter what you do. But if you haven't read the previous books in this series, by all means, go back and start with the very first one. This can certainly be read as a stand-alone, but if you skip the previous books, you will miss the sheer delight in experiencing the colorful, believable and moving unfolding of the characters and the story.
But no matter where you start. Don't miss any of this wonderful series.
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