Southern Cross — Grant Patterson

There are worse places to be a washed up, gringo ex-cop than Brazil. Still, Will Bryant isn't very good at sitting behind a desk, and teaching English barely pays the bills. When his wife's lawyer offers him a PI job, it seems like an easy score, but Will soon finds it's anything but. The rules in Brazil aren't exactly as clear-cut as they were in his native Canada.

With the help of Brazilian cop Edilson-who carries a hidden agenda of his own-Will embarks on a fight to the finish against a ruthless, powerful businessman with secrets worth murdering for. Oscar Stumpf has mastered the scheme of using underage girls to blackmail corrupt businessmen and politicians, to cover an even darker truth.

From Sao Paulo to the Paraguayan border, from 1970s battlefields to the gang-ruled slums of today, Will Bryant needs every skill he ever learned, and friends he never knew he had, to survive this melee down south.

This may be Brazil. But it's no Carnival.