Synopsis: 'Iago “Jimmy” Paz is no longer a policeman. He’s a cook in his mother’s popular restaurant, happily married to zaftig psychologist Lola Wise, now a med student, and the father of a gorgeous seven-year-old daughter. Jimmy’s domestic bliss is disturbed by gruesome crimes that will prove in time to have a family connection. Moie, a spunky, indigenous, Colombian medicine man, tipped off to international skullduggery aiming to wipe out the local mahogany forest, has paddled his canoe a thousand miles, hopped a freighter and landed in Miami, where he routinely transforms into a 300-plus-pound jaguar in order to devour the evil businessmen. Also on the scene are a mismatched gang of environmental activists, whose number include a beautiful redhead with a sad past and the potential to pull off some magic of her own. When the local cops have to admit that they have no idea who is eating the livers of well known businessmen, they ask Jimmy to do the civic thing and give them a little help. But Jimmy’s got his own problems. Everyone in his little family has been having deeply symbolic and very frightening dreams about a jaguar hungry for little girls. Jimmy’s solution involves a reluctant immersion in Santería, his mother’s Afro-Caribbean religion.'
Review: This book isn't quite the page turner as the two previous book. Throughout I rooted for the medicine man and was sorry when he was hurt. I was also sorry to see the British professor die. I was rather glad that he didn't use the trope of someone writing in a journal. ( )

Gruber's book seem to always have a lot of 'detail' relating to the context of the story; and i generally like that about his writing. In this book, the whole Cuban under-world culture/psuedo-religion-voodoo was an interesting backdrop. However, because of this type of added detail, my sense is that this book simply had 'too-much-going-on! I kept wanting him to advance the story a bit quicker. That's why I only gave it two stars. ( )

Gruber is interesting. His books are clearly genre, but sometimes it's hard to tell exactly which genre. It's several years since we've last seen Jimmy Paz, who has left the Miami PD for a nice quiet life running his Santeria devotee mother's Cuban restaurant as well as marriage and young daughter. But of course he gets sucked back in by a series of atypical (as in impossible, and mystical) murders to which he is personally connected. The book starts out in the Colombian rainforest with a witch doctor (for lack of a better term) determined to travel to Miami to stop the men planning on looting his tribe's paradise for its mahogany. I mean, that's a story in itself. There's so much in this book, and it's not so much a mystery because you know who's doing the killings, but there is a lot of suspense, and action, and metaphysical musing.... Highly recommended. ( )

After a rough start with the first Paz novel, I think I’ve got him now. The mystical side of things doesn’t really bother me anymore. It’s a schtick and I enjoy watching Paz try and reconcile his rational and his spiritual. Each installment is different in its approach, the last one followed Gruber’s then interest in multi-POV narratives and old sects/documents/secrets while this one sticks to the present and grinds the axe of environmentalism, but not annoyingly so. Paz’s domestication is predictably weakening, but the kid is the least annoying kid I can imagine and so doesn’t grate enough to make me stop reading. Hopefully he’ll get his balls back soon and rejoin the force instead of being a nursemaid.

The mystery in this one is never fully resolved for the cops who get a frame job. But it’s a saleable frame job so they accept it and our true culprit goes to his just reward. He is a figure of sympathy so we never really expect anything bad to happen to him. There are plenty of other characters to revile and they do get what they have coming.

Jennifer’s characterization was really interesting. Both Moie and Cooksey saw something deeper in her that no one else was able to see; instead writing her off as simple and controllable. I liked how they, in their individual ways, encouraged this side of her and I’d like Gruber to write about her journey and arrival in Colombia. That would be fun. ( )

Really good yarn. Keeps the story flowing and easy to follow. A bit to 'other worldly' in parts but overall verry good.