‘The Lion Hunt’ crime drama author to sign books June 23

Novelist Richard Zappa will be signing copies of his latest crime drama thriller, “The Lion Hunt,” from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Sunday, June 23, at Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach.

The fentanyl crisis just got a lot worse. Drug lord Diego “El Leon” Garcia, head of the infamous Chiapas Cartel, has begun trafficking “white gold,” a new fentanyl-laced pill that has doubled overdose deaths in Nevada and California. DEA Special Agent Antonio Vega has a plan to capture Garcia and shut down his criminal enterprise before his designer drug goes nationwide and kills thousands of unsuspecting Americans from accidental overdoses.

This is Zappa’s fourth novel featuring gritty, unconventional homicide detective Jo Crowder, and the stakes couldn’t be higher for the Louisiana cop. Crowder finds herself on the wrong side of the law, and she is asked to help Elena Sanchez, the drug kingpin’s wife, escape from a Louisiana prison. Incarcerated for drug trafficking and attempted murder, Sanchez becomes the target of an assassination attempt in prison. Her only hope is to escape and travel through Mexico to her husband, who is hiding away in a heavily guarded, secret mountain retreat.

Sanchez recruits fellow inmate Crowder, who is promised the protection of El Leon, a new identity and a new life. The two plan their escape, knowing that what lies ahead is a perilous 1,300-mile journey through the most dangerous parts of Mexico evading the Mexican authorities, and rival cartels and street gangs who will pursue them every step of the way. “The Lion Hunt” is a story about a culture of violence, crime and corruption, and two women, opposites in so many ways, who are drawn together with a common purpose – survival.

Zappa’s other Jo Crowder novels are “Identical Misfortune,” The Easter Murders” and “Double Indemnity.”

For more, go to browseaboutbooks.com and richardzappa.com.