David Corbett. The Devil’s Redhead (2002) 373 pp.
In 1982, wildcat smuggler Dan Abatangelo is busted by the DEA after trying to make one last run of marijuana before going straight. Having served his full ten-year term after plea-bargaining to lighten his crew’s sentences, Dan returns to San Francisco, determined to get back together with Shel Beaudry, the love of his life, despite his probation guidelines and the fact that she is involved with an underling in a ruthless eastern Contra Costa County crime ring that controls the local methamphetamine trade. Dan, with the help of a reporter who covered his trial, tries to get Shel away before she becomes a casualty of the ever-escalating war with a rival gang. A violent love story filled with revenge, murder, and redemption.