To escape a life of hard time, a hapless petty criminal agrees to impersonate a legendary drug lord as part of a government scheme to rescue an federal agent, only to find himself prey to cops and killers alike. Reprint. 12,500 first printing FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE CARTEL.When Tim Kearney, a small-time criminal, slits the throat of a Hell's Angel and draws a life sentence in a prison full of gang members, he knows he's pretty much a dead man. That's until the DEA makes Kearney an offer: impersonate the late, legendary dope smuggler Bobby Z so that the agency can trade him for one of their own, who was captured by a Mexican drug kingpin. Knowing his chances of survival are a little better than in prison, Kearney accepts, and he winds up in the middle of a desert at the notorious drug lord's lavish compound. To his surprise he meets Bobby Z's old flame, Elizabeth, and her son. At first, it's a short vacation by the pool, but when things turn bloody, the three of them begin the most desperate flight of their lives, with drug lords, bikers, Indians, and cops furiously chasing after them. Whether he pulls it off, whether he can keep the kid and the girl and his life, makes this compelling novel a hilarious, fast-paced thriller about a con caught in a devil's bargain.