Stateline by Dave Stanton

When a tycoon's son is murdered the night before his wedding, the enraged and grief-stricken father offers investigator Dan Reno (that's Reno, as in no problemo), a life-changing bounty to find the killer.  Reno, nearly broke, figures he's finally landed in the right place at the right time.  It's a nice thought, but when a band of crooked cops get involved Reno finds himself not only earning every penny of his paycheck, but also fighting for his life.

Who committed the murder, and why?  And what of the dark sexual deviations that keep surfacing?  Haunted by his murdered father and a violent, hard drinking past, Reno wants no more blood on his hands.  But a man's got to make a living, and backing off is not in his DNA.  Traversing the snowy alpine winter in the Sierras and the lonely deserts of Nevada, Reno must revert to his old ways to survive.  Because the fat bounty won't do him much good if he's dead... (taken from the back of the book)

This book was so full of action that I breezed right through.  Though Reno may not be the most moral of people, he has a charisma that just keeps you coming back for more.  You can't wait to see what he does next and the odd situations he finds himself in only add to the fun.  He's that friend that we all have where we don't understand how he could possibly live the way he does, but we still want to hear all of his horrid and naughty stories.  He's not us, but he sure is fascinating.  In this book, we get a few hours to live vicariously through him and at the same time, remind ourselves why we're not like him.

Each character is so well created.  The only way I can describe it is that you're watching a black and white movie and a character in full color comes out.  They really stand out from everything else.  Each and every character in this book has that feeling about them.  And even though they're all in full color, they don't blend.  They're so distinct and realistic that you feel like you really know these people.