Can’t make my way through this series fast enough. Strong Justice is just as good as Strong Enough to Die, the first book in the series. Caitlin Strong is as tough and as fascinating as ever. Relationships and characters introduced in the first book are continued or satisfactorily wrapped up with enough hints to whet your appetite for future books. Crimes and investigations are topical, fast-paced, and often downright scary. I great series that I will continue to read. ( )

A step-up from the first Caitlin Strong book, Land manages to weave his many plot elements and timeshifts with skill. He keeps the pace up to the action-packed finale but also allows his characters room to breathe and resonate. A highly polished effort that leaves you wanting more. ( )

If you love a blend of frontier history into the realities of our lives along the Mexican border, as well as drama and thrilling action, you will love Jon Land’s most recent adventure of Caitlin Strong. She is a Texas Ranger descended from three generations of Rangers.

On the face of it, our protagonist is determined to put a stop to the cross-border trafficking in innocent young women kidnapped from their homes and sold into sexual slavery. This was an effort of her legendary father as well.

But the story is much deeper. On the emotional front, Caitlin is in a relationship with an infamous former underworld enforcer who has emerged from prison just in time for his wife to be murdered in front of her two sons. Caitlin saves the remainder of that day and the boys. She struggles with commitment in relationship, as her dreams remind her of ambiguity in her own past. This tough Texas Ranger, who can tames all kinds of situations, is needful in her soul. The evolution of Caitlin in this story is a joy read and think about. Even hardened Rangers have emotional trauma buried within their tough hides. Her murderous lover does as well, as he learns how to be a father.

The brown slave business is just one element of what Caitlin has to deal with. There is the resurgence into Texas of a mafia gang kicked into Louisiana as well as a rich Texan trying to corner new sources of water, which he believes will replace oil as the most valuable commodity from the ground. A potentially devastating discovery is made.

South of the border, an army has been assembled by a Mayan descendant who is fed up with perceived second class status and determined to wage war on America to restore the rightful primacy of the Mayans. One of two brothers is a nightmarish murdering machine, laying a trial of the blood of some four hundred young women along his determined boundary between Mexico and the U.S. When devastating bombings spread across the country, Americans will never dare to tread over the line.

Who will save the day? Our hero, on the same streets as her antecedents.

Strong Justice is a wonderfully good read. It is a compelling story that reads like honey dripping on a hot biscuit. I kept saying to myself “Damn this is good!”

As Caitlin moves on her life, I hope that she tackles the immigration problem on the border that is all too real. All of the arrows in her ample quiver will need to be ready to find where to attack this monster. ( )

In Strong Justice, Land returns to three key figures of Strong Enough To Die a few months later: Guillermo Paz, Cort Wesley, and Caitlan Strong.

Touched by Caitlin Strong's example, Guillermo Paz has returned to Mexico and tries to make amends for his past. Paz's willingness to protect the downtrodden won him a reputation that's part myth and part legend in his new town. Paz's admiration for Caitlin leads him to head North when he starts to suspect that she might be in grave danger.

Caitlin has been busy investigating the kidnapping of young women along the border between Texas and Mexico. While it first appears that the victims are young women entering illegally from Mexico and being forced into white slavery. As Caitlin traces the first disappearances to a particular small town, a disturbing pattern slowly emerges.

Meanwhile, Cort Wesley has been struggling to keep his family together. While Wesley's real and well deserved reputation for toughness has kept him safe, his reputation may cost him his sons. The social worker assigned to his case has been threatening to take away his children. Cort tries to convince Social Services that he should retain custody and that he is, in fact, a good father. Against his better judgment, circumstances force Cort to reach out to his former employers for the money he needs to raise his children.

When Cort's teenage son Dylan stumbles into trouble, he calls on Caitlin for help. Somehow Dylan, Cort, and Caitlin (and eventually Paz) find themselves facing unexpected and unnatural evils together.

Also, while on his way to help Caitlin, Paz researches Caitlin's grandfather, the legendary Earl Strong. Through flashbacks, correspondence, Texas Rangers archives, the memories of survivors and their descendants, and Caitlin's recollections, Land tells us the story of Earl Strong and Texas in the 1930s. Through Earl Strong, we can picture what life was like when Texas Rangers were given the mandate to keep the peace in isolated and lawless towns. Though things haven't changed that much in Caitlin's time, the stories of Sweetwater, Texas in the 1930s tell us much about Texas's history and Caitlin's legacy.

Caitlin Strong is one of my favorite heroines, so I knew that I'd enjoy Strong Justice: A Caitlin Strong Novel. Land also builds on Cort Wesley's personality and history -- he's another hero of sorts who deserves more from the world. The introduction of Earl Strong and the events in the 1930s also give Strong Justice another important story and treat us to a glimpse into the Strong legacy. The book is about the trying to do what is right against desperate odds, just as it is about working to keep the peace and the Texas Rangers but it does this in two time periods and it does so with top notch action and fighting. In Strong Justice, Jon Land gives us heroes to root for and a fun, satisfying, action packed read!

ISBN-10: 0765323362- Hardcover $24.99
Publisher: Forge Books; 1 edition (June 22, 2010), 352 pages.
Review copy provided by the author. ( )