Title: Treacherous Estate
Author: Behcet Kaya
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN-13: 978-1722829698
Pages: 314
Genre: Fiction / Crime

Reviewed by: Gary Sorkin

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In the ever popular genre of detective stories is a subgroup referred to as Hard-Boiled; personified by the characters including Sam Spade by Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe Jacques Ludefance, or Jack for short, in his novel Treacherous Estate, and Mickey Spillane’s infamous Mike Hammer. These guy were tough, fearless and gals were hanging on them like Spanish Moss in the swamps. Award-winning author Behcet Kaya now introduces us to the real swamp detective, Jacques Ludefance, or Jack for short, in his novel Treacherous Estate.

Along Florida’s panhandle from Pensacola towards the west all the way to New Orleans, Jack has made this area his home. A man knowing his limitations and honest enough to divulge them; such as failing the F-18 Hornet pilot test while in the Navy, and making the biggest mistake of his life by having a one-night-stand with a woman while married, Jack often is mistaken by others. Unlucky in love and sometimes a bit awkward with women, he has the outward scar on his face obtained when bitten by an alligator as a kid and the inward scar of the loss of his loved wife to divorce. Jack is seeking to find himself while all the while bringing forth the frailties of a real man; when he is drawn into a new case. It seems the wife of a very powerful businessman dies right before him while at a restaurant, just a moment after handing Jack an envelope containing cash, passports and photographs of murdered Asian women.

Behcet Kaya brings readers in at ground zero – that is, knowing nothing about the woman, the photos or why she was giving Jack $20K in cash; but Jack took this as a presumptuous contract and began to investigate whatever leads he could muster. Along the way he finds out the dark culture of sex slavery, drugs, pornography, gold smuggling and corruption with military contractors by the husband of the deceased woman. Kaya masterfully weaves the threads of Jacque Ludefance’s life into a tapestry of credible events displaying the entire spectrum of a man seeking to find himself as he settles a personal vengeance with his investigation.

Jack’s character development is truly the key to this story, as readers will be intrigued with such a daring and cunning protagonist; a Private Investigator, willing to break the rules to find out what he needs to know. The dampness and beauty of the coastal regions, once devastated by hurricane Katrina, are reinstated to their inherent beauty by the vivid descriptions of the area with its beautiful beaches, restaurants and unbreakable will of the inhabitants. The challenges Jack faces solving this case are credible, believable and humble in their realistic sequence of events. There is more than one climax, so to speak, as Jack uncovers human sex trafficking from Vietnam and Malaysia along with the corruption, money laundering and murder that comes with the territory.

This book is very fast paced, gripping readers from the first page; with dynamic quick chapters, each leaving the reader with a bit of wit or a significant reveal. The entertainment value of this book won’t disappoint. The synergy of the people, events and emotions, resulting in the whole being greater than the sum of the many subplots, makes Treacherous Estate an excellent introductory novel of a PI, Jacques Ludefance, who will win the respect of all readers. A character worthy of the mystery genre, and one we certainly hope to see again.