MR. HOOLIGAN

Mr. Hooligan is a gripping, hardboiled story of a man fighting to escape to a new life - or die trying.

Riley James hasn't exactly led the life of an upstanding citizen. Then again, if you got yourself into serious trouble as a kid and were bailed out by the Monsantos, the family at the very top of the criminal food chain in Belize, what choice do you have? Besides, it's not as if Riley has ever killed anybody - he just runs the odd shipment of drugs into Mexico on his boat, the Hooligan. The money the Monsantos pay him isn't huge, but it's allowed Riley to become co-owner of a bar, and the bar is doing well enough that Riley has decided it's time to leave the criminal life for good. That he's fallen head over heels for Candice, a woman who's as mysterious as she is beautiful, may have something to do with it as well. There's just one more run to do for the Monsantos, and then Riley will have paid his debt of gratitude. But then a corrupt politician decides to put the squeeze on Riley and his buddy Harvey, and suddenly the future is uncertain. Riley has to ask the Monsantos for help once again - and as always, it comes at a price. Raised in Belize, Ian Vasquez works for the St. Petersburg Times in Florida. He received his M.F.A. from Florida International University while working on a psychiatric ward and counseling at-risk high school students. He now lives near Tampa Bay with his family.