The Hot Country is an epic tale of war, love, and espionage.
Christopher Marlowe Cobb is an American newspaper war correspondent who
travels to Mexico in 1914 to report on the country's civil war, the
invasion of Vera Cruz, and the controversial presidency of Victoriano
Huerta, El Chacal (The Jackal). Covering the war in enemy territory and
sweltering heat, Cobb falls in love with Luisa, a beautiful Mexican
laundress, who is not as innocent as she seems.
Upon investigating a German ammunition ship docked in the marina, Cobb
finds himself fired upon by unknown assailants, then witnesses a priest
being shot with marksman-like precision. Cobb employs a young pickpocket
to help him find out the identity of the sniper and, more importantly,
why important German officials are coming into the city in the middle of
the night from that very ship docked in the port. Soon Cobb finds
himself wrapped up in a web of secrets that could change the the fate of
the fate of myriad world leaders, redefine the destiny of two
continents, and end his life at any moment. An action-packed chronicle
of passion and war, Butler's powerful crime-fiction debut is a thriller
not to be missed.