Triggerfish

by Dietrich Kalteis

You know you’re in deep water when you can’t tell cop from criminal

Rene Beckman is a dishonoured ex-cop with only two things on his mind: his new boat, the Triggerfish, and his hot date, an environmentalist named Vicki. When the two unknowingly dock the boat in the same secluded cove as a Mexican cartel’s drug submarine, the date ends with a bang.

With the cartel’s coke-for-guns deal with local bikers torched by Beckman, he’s forced to go on the run with half the underworld chasing him through the streets of Vancouver and the waters surrounding it. While he tries to stay alive, a woman from Beckman’s past — currently on the run from CSIS and the anti-terror squad — comes back to settle an old score.

When the gangs start to go after his friends, the ex-cop stops running and turns the tables. With a ragtag crew of his own, Beckman faces the cartel and bikers head on. Fast, vicious, and thrilling, Triggerfish delivers a story where all the criminals are in conflict and no one is certain who will come out on top.

264 pages, Paperback

First published June 7, 2016

About the author

Dietrich Kalteis is the winner of the 2022 Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence for Best Crime Novel for Under an Outlaw Moon and a nominee for the 2024 Dashiell Hammett Prize for Literary Excellence for Crooked. He is also a two-time Independent Publisher Book Award winner for Ride the Lightning and House of Blazes, and a finalist in the Los Angeles Screenplay Festival. Acclaimed by critics and readers in Canada and abroad, he is the prolific author of fourteen novels. Kalteis enjoys life with his family on Canada’s beautiful West Coast.

Visit his website: http://www.dietrichkalteis.com/
He regularly contributes at Criminal Minds:
http://www.7criminalminds.blogspot.ca/

You can also find him on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/dietrich.kalt...

and Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dietrichkalteis/

Reviews

[Dave]

Top-Notch Canadian Crime Fiction

If there was any doubt whether the Canadians could write hard nasty crime fiction, Kalteis has put those doubts to rest. Ex-cops running charter boats out of Vancouver, women who step out for an evening boat ride in heels and shorty shorts, Mexican cartels running dope in mini-subs, biker clubs trading Chinese guns for Mexican dope, environmentalists out to save the whales, and one mean terrorist lady who keeps dropping in. It's a non-stop action-packed attitude-filled festival of crime fiction. Kalteis delivers a fine piece of work, well-balanced, well-plotted, well-played, although at times you do need a scorecard to keep the players straight.

[Roger]

An entertaining and enjoyable book to read, I would recommend. Found Brazoria Freading app.

[John Johnstone]

Triggerfish is a boat owned by an ex cop Rene Beckman, renting it out for fishing days is how he is spending his retirement, however on one trip with a girlfriend he stubbles upon a drug gang smuggling high value narcotics. This of course means they are immediate targets because of what they have seen. The story is a good one however I personally found some of the writing difficult to read as the author used a lot of descriptive narrative that was not essential to the plot - "Shoes scraped on the pavement, a handwritten sign by Market Seafood said they had wild sockeye, just in" That aside it has plenty of action and thrills and entertains throughout. The author needs to concentrate on entertaining without the flowery text which for me would make this a much better book.

[Jane Tims]

Not my usual reading genre, but a solid plot and diverse characters. Lots of fast paced action, rather dark at times but also with humorous patches to give the reader a rest. Found the writing style a little hard to get used to: short sentences and lots of 'ing' forms of verbs resulted in the sense that tenses were constantly changing. However, the characters and the fact that I cared what happened to them made this a satisfying read. People who like gritty writing and a fast pace will like this book. For a full review, see www.janetims.com

[Ron S]

An Elmore Leonardesque crime novel set in BC's Lower Mainland, revolving around a retired cop, sub piloting Columbian drug smugglers, bikers and environmentalists. Kalteis does dialogue exceptionally well, and anyone familiar with Vancouver and area will enjoy the wealth of recognizable landmarks that bring the setting home.

[Steve Stanton]

This is a gritty, dark, and violent novel about smuggling cocaine on the Vancouver coast, written with the author's trademark flaunting of the rules of grammar. The pace is fast and choppy, rapidly switching POV among multiple characters.

[Diogenes]

A gritty Canadian escapade with cartel drug runners, a submarine without a toilet, a horny womanterrorist and some IQ-lacking bikers. The author has been called a Canadian Elmore Leonard, and this book (although not all of his books) comes close enough to earn the comparison. A fun read.

[John Eldridge]

I thought Dietrich Kalteis wrote a good story and I really liked it being set in and around Vancouver. The narco submarine idea made good use of the sea and waterways near Vancouver.

[Patrick R.]

A delightfully thrilling book that read like a paperback version of one of the many 1970's action packed crime dramas.