The Perpetrators — Gary Phillips

With the clock ticking, the story jumps off in the border town of Tijuana, Mexico. A smooth cat who labels himself an expeditor must survive a gauntlet of hitters and freaks to deliver his client alive to their destination. She's a high maintenance drug queen who's made a deal with the top cop in California's state capitol, Sacramento. By all means of transportation and dodging devastation, and busting some heads themselves, the two make their way north while behind-the-scenes machinations go down. Battered but not out, our man completes his assignment only to find out all ain't what it seems -- but then, he's not getting two million just to look good. And handling fools, no matter how they trip, comes with the territory.