KILL THE MESSENGER by Tami Hoag

Finished very early on the morning of Su 10/11/20

This is a hardback that Janny loaned me. She is also a fan of Tami Hoag and so am I.

Her books are plot driven and a fast and satisfying read.

This was one of my favorite books by the author, although I didn't like the ending. The very last part of the book so lame that it reminded me of an Agatha Christie novel. It seemed like a random person was behind the murder, but not the kidnapping so I guess this is a little bit more interesting.

Jace Damon (JC) is a bike messenger in contemporary LA. He is living beneath the radar because he is slightly underage and supporting his ten year old brother, Tyler. If they become known to the authorities Tyler will end up in foster care and JC made a promise to his dead mother that he would always be there for Tyler. 

JC is called after hours to pick up a package for a lawyer. When he goes to the address to drop the material he is attacked and almost killed. 

So JC must uncover what's going on and do it without anyone's help because he would risk loving Tyler.

However, both boys do have a kind of mother in Mrs. Chen. She is a matriarch and runs a fish store in Chinatown. This is where the boys live.

A better synopsis than mine from Goodreads:

"With this new thriller, The New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag delivers her own message to suspense fans everywhere: Don't turn off the lights, and keep reading if you dare. From the gritty streets of Los Angeles to its most protected enclaves of prestige and power to the ruthless glamour of Hollywood, a killer stalks his prey. A killer so merciless no one in his way is safe—not even the innocent.

At the end of a long day battling street traffic, bike messenger Jace Damon has one last drop to make. But en route to delivering a package for one of L.A.'s sleaziest defense attorneys, he's nearly run down by a car, chased through back alleys, and shot at. Only the instincts acquired while growing up on the streets of L.A. allow him to escape with his life—and with the package someone wants badly enough to kill for.

Jace returns to Lenny Lowell's office only to find the cops there, the lawyer dead, and Jace himself considered the prime suspect in the savage murder. Suddenly he's on the run from both the cops and a killer, and the key to saving himself and his ten-year-old brother is the envelope he still has—which holds a message no one wants delivered: the truth.

In a city fueled by money, celebrity, and sensationalism, the murder of a bottom-feeding mouthpiece like Lenny Lowell won't make the headlines. So when detectives from the LAPD's elite robbery/homicide division show up, homicide detective Kev Parker wants to know why. Parker is on the downhill slide of a once-promising career, and he doesn't want to be reminded that he used to be one of the hotshots, working cases that made instant celebrities of everyone involved. Like the case of fading pretty-boy actor Rob Cole, accused of the brutal murder of his wife, Tricia Crowne-Cole, daughter of one of the most powerful men in the city, L.A.'s latest "crime of the century."

Robbery/Homicide has no reason to be looking at a dead small-time scumbag lawyer or chasing a bike messenger...unless there's something in it for them. Maybe Lenny Lowell had a connection to something big enough to be killed for. Parker begins a search for answers that will lead him to a killer—or the end of his career. Because if there's one lesson he's learned over the years, it's that in a town built on fantasy and fame, delivering the truth can be deadly."