In the Heat

By Ian Vasquez

Boxer Miles Young thinks he's got one more shot in him before it's time to hang up the gloves for good. He may be the only one who thinks so. The truth is, he enjoys the recognition his career has brought him at home, in the small Latin American country of Belize, and he's worried about how he'll support his daughter once it's over. So when his promoter comes to him with a proposition that includes one last big fight, he listens. Isabelle Gilmore wants Miles to find her daughter, who's run off with some of her mother's money and her no-good boyfriend. Isabelle's afraid Rian's going to marry the kid, the only son of corrupt ex--police chief Marlon Tablada, and she wants Rian---and the money---found. In return, Miles gets put on a fight card with a $30,000 payday. He's reluctant, but Isabelle thinks a hometown hero can get people to talk in ways a private investigator can't. Trouble is, before he can find Rian, he learns that there's much more to Isabelle, her daughter, and Marlon than Isabelle let on. Clearly at home in the world of hardboiled crime writing, debut novelist Ian Vasquez is a bright new talent who infuses In the Heat with a steamy, exotic voice all his own.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312378092
• ISBN13: 9780312378097
• Release Date: June 2008
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.1" x 1.0" x 6.2"

Customer Reviews

HOT HOT HOT!

This book is crafted to pull you in from the start! The characters were great and the storyline was exciting! A MUST READ! PS....I felt like I was transported to BELIZE...Vasquez uses real street names and real places to make you feel like you are there!

Great opener....Looking forward to more

Hello, A few thoughts on "In the heat". I enjoyed the basic plot and more importantly the development of the characters and backdrop for the storyline. I found the lead to be a damaged, compellingly interesting character who made me want to read more. Belize really came to life for me in this book. I am looking forward to more from this author..................

Recommended 5-Star Mystery from New Author

In the Heat is a mystery by newcomer Ian Vasquez that is set in Belize. Miles Young is a boxer who has just lost a come back match. He is offered a job that will not only pay well, but give him an opportunity for another try at a come back. He is asked to find seventeen-year-old Rian Gilmore, who has run off with Joey Tablada. It doesn't sound like too hard a task and the pay off is good. Miles wants a solid pay day so he can care for his daughter. Nothing in this case is quite what it seems. Trying to find this missing girl has made waves- and people are looking for him. Miles finds himself stuck between a rock and a hard place. Yet this boxer is not ready to go down for the count. I enjoyed the rhythm of the this story with its well-crafted dialog and interesting people. Miles is a single father who is trying to find time to train and look for Rian without taking precious time from his daughter. While we follow Miles through his days, we also learn a great deal about Belize, which is almost another character in the story. The resolution of the story is satisfying without being too easy. This book is well worth picking up even if it is for the sole purpose of meeting the complex character of Miles, who as a boxer is always hoping for that one more fight, and yet still raises his daughter with love and compassion.. Armchair Interviews says: Good storytelling with a main character who really cares about his daughter.

JUST THE WAY I LIKE IT!

I loved reading In the Heat. Ian Vasquez is truly a master of precise language. Personally, I love a book with lots of dialog, and I wasn't disappointed. Best of all, the dialog was so easy to read and believable that I felt I was right there ... just the way I like it! Vasquez put some very funny expressions in the story, too... I laughed out loud. This book is a perfect balance of action and dialog. I feel certain that this is just the first in a long line of Ian Vasquez books. Just think, if you get this first one, you can join me in being able to say, "Yes, I remember reading Vasquez's first book, way back in 2008."

Fun, compelling mystery set in Central America with boxing gumshoe

I love Graham Greene's novels not just because of their psychological depth but mostly because he knows how to evoke a setting and a time -- you feel the heat, hear the mosquitos, and taste the gin and bitters his characters drink in Panama, Africa, Europe. Ian Vasquez -- tho this is his first novel -- has that gift for setting, and in this case it is in Belize, strangely enough an english-speaking Central American country, but with all the heat and atmospherics of a Greene novel. It has as well some of the same engaging, rich desperation of a character at the end of his useful career, struggling to manage a broken family and a failing boxing career by taking on one more big fight that he may or may not be able to handle, and an investigation into a missing person that he is probably unprepared for. So it is a rich and compelling story that reads easily and successfully mixes the hot sweat of a training gym and the cold sweat of fear. Hard not to like this gem from a first-time writer, I hope he comes back with another.