Busted
Impacted by the recession, twenty-four-year-old artist Gina McKenna is down to her last few dollars and days away from living in her car when a successful businessman buys a painting and commissions another. As their relationship evolves, she’s seduced by his charm and mesmerized by his luxurious lifestyle until she discovers he’s a drug kingpin. As her world turns upside down, she struggles to survive vicious brutality.
Miguel Lopez is a cocaine supplier with a weightlifter’s physique and ‘the rules do not apply to me’ attitude. Maniacal and ruthless, he has no qualms about killing anyone who interferes with his distribution network, including Gina.
Dedicated to eradicating illegal drugs, DEA Special Agent Bobby Garcia spent months and hundreds of thousands of dollars working undercover to buy his way up a dealer chain to identify the moneyman. When his fourteen-year-old daughter overdoses on cocaine, he traces the blow to Lopez. As Bobby’s mission becomes personal, he makes emotional decisions, which negatively impact civilians and his job. Unable to let go, he risks his career to orchestrate the biggest drug sting in Southern California. What happens isn’t what he expected.
When a deputy district attorney meets Gina at a party, he is smitten. As his attraction grows, so does Gina’s involvement with the DEA’s case, of which he is the designated prosecutor. Mindful of his professional ethics, he tries to stifle his feelings.
Sex and violence permeate the twists and turns of this cautionary tale about choosing one’s friends well.
“Busted,” by Michele I. Khoury, is a well-written and exceedingly heartfelt debut novel about cocaine and its abuse. What separates Khoury’s work from other similarly-themed volumes are found in her characters’ thoughts and exploits when it comes to legalization. Never a simple issue, Khoury’s characters are human and conceived as though the author is personally familiar with each. As such, the answers to the related, difficult, and interconnected journeys of her three main characters will have readers questioning their own biases. This is a brave work, part “Traffic,” part “Magnolia,” all original. Kudos to this author for a gutsy, profound effort. “Busted” heralds the arrival of a bold new voice. ” –Joel Eisenberg, Hollywood Producer and Award-winning Author