M.I.A. Hunter #13 - L.A. Gang War

About a year before his death, author Stephen Mertz mailed me the paperback of M.I.A. Hunter #13 – L.A. Gang War. He wrote the book for Jove in 1990 as Jack Buchanan. Mertz, aware of my love for the series, inscribed the book to me and wrote that this installment was his favorite. The series was originally published between 1985 and 1991, consisting of sixteen books. In 2019, Mertz contributed one additional book to the series. Historically, these books were authored by Mertz, Mike Newton, Joe R. Lansdale, William Fieldhouse, Arthur Moore, and Bill Crider. Wolfpack Publishing issued the series in digital editions in 2018. 

L.A. Gang War is one of only three volumes that features the heroic trio – Stone, Loughlin, Wiley – in domestic affairs (#10 in Miami, #17 in Texas). Traditionally, this team of mercenaries operates in Asia and Europe, rescuing prisoners-of-war and hostages either independently or, in later books, as a secret squad for the U.S. military. 

The book begins with a flashback to Stone's first days in Vietnam as an Army Green Beret. During a mission, Stone's team is attacked by a shadowy guerrilla team led by a former U.S. Army official named Conte. During the firefight, Stone is injured along with two of his fellow soldiers, Chavez and Brown. What these four characters experienced thrust them into a conflict that would escalate years later.

In the present, the M.I.A. Hunter trio is contacted by Brown, now a deputy chief of L.A.'s Tactical Gang Squad. He wants Stone to penetrate a gang fortress that's holding Chavez, now a successful, leading journalist on gang activities and street crimes in the city. Brown feels that Chavez has stumbled on a robust drug exchange between Columbia and two notorious gangs – Bloods and Crips. During the obligatory crash 'n dash firefight, Stone gets a glimpse of a face that has haunted him for years – Conte. 

Stephen Mertz elevates this installment of the M.I.A. Hunter series into a mesmerizing crime-fiction novel that blends a riveting police-procedural narrative with this team-based combat formula. Deep in the trenches, the story spirals into these effective twists and turns that reveal Conte's criminal history, Chavez's relationship with Brown's daughter, and the drug trade that is ensnaring all of these eccentric characters. Mertz injects plenty of action – gunfire, stealth, fisticuffs, fiery liberation – which is the series formula, but he creates interlocking storylines from different perspectives that are wholly different than the prior installments. In many ways, this could have been a standalone novel with a different character name for Stone. 

There is a reason that Mertz deemed this novel as his favorite of the series – it's the best one I've read thus far. If you want something a little more than the typical Middle East and Southeast Asia adventures, then this is the one series installment you can't miss. I'd also venture to say that if you love Mertz's treatment of the Mack Bolan material, then you will love what he has accomplished here. Highest possible recommendation.

Get a vintage copy of the book HERE or a digital edition HERE.