Caught Stealing: A Novel
by Charlie Huston
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Book Reviews of Caught Stealing: A Novel
Book Review: Do not read this if you're an animal lover...
Summary: 1 Stars
I first saw this book in the store and thought it might be interesting. 30 pages into the book, I was held captive; the prose and dialogue flowed well and kept my rapt attention. Though this book can be quite violent, I kept reading, my attention being held by the gripping story. But boy was I surprised at one part in the book where the main character Hank is attacked in his apartment by some thugs looking for his neighbor who he just happened to be cat-sitting for. The violence at this part of the book was pretty bad, describing how the attackers would rip out the staples from Hank's recent operation (having a kidney removed) and how they kept stuffing a blood and vomit-soaked sock in his mouth but not until they described the beating of the poor cat did I feel offended and disgusted. I willed myself to keep reading, hoping that the violence against the kitty would end, but it did not. Finally it got to the point where I could not take any more torture and I threw the book across my bedroom and wiped the tears from my eyes, not even realizing how much this had affected me. This part of the book was completely unnecessary and I found it almost to be gratuitous. If the author wanted to show the grittiness of the story, he had plenty of other times, but didn't have t bring the cat into it. If you're an animal lover like I am, don't read this book.Book Review: Blood, Thunder, A Good Man Gone Bad
Summary: 5 Stars
Hank Thompson, protagonist of Charlie Huston's slam-bang neo-noir, has not had an easy life. From a baseball accident that ended a promising career to a car crash that left him unable to drive to the bottles of booze that fill his apartment, this strangely gentle man never really caught a break. He was doing OK, though, until his neighbor left town and gave Hank his cat to watch... and the key hidden at the bottom of the cat's litter box. Various people come looking for the key, and that's when the fun begins.
The novel stands up next to James Ellroy's The Black Dahlia or Scott Smith's A Simple Plan, in both the dark settings and the violence. The seedy world of the characters includes beatings, shootings, robbery, torture, and worse yet. In this environment, it's not a question of whether a good man will go bad, but the manner in which it will happen, and how bad he'll go. Huston's narration and use of the first-person viewpoint is gripping, conveying the thoughts and fears of Hank Thompson very well. The plot twists and turns to some extent, but the action and violence of this story are what will keep you reading until 2 a.m.
Book Review: Hot Money
Summary: 4 Stars
Another novel about money causing trouble. Everyone wants the money, and it gets people killed. Some people think $4.5 million is worth killing for.
Hank is an alcoholic bartender in New York City with few prospects. He is still a Giants fan, and the story is wound aroung the end of the baseball season as the Giants struggle to come from behind.
His neighbor, Russ, had to make a sudden trip, and asked Hank to look after his cat, and that gets Hank involved in murderous activities as very rough people look for something that Russ had. Russ has been a bad boy, and tried to run away with money that had been laundered with his help. Now it has hit the fan, and Hank blunders about trying to save himself while he causes other people's deaths. It is not a good thing to know Hank.
It all comes down to who will get the money, and what will happen to the cat. Hank is getting some cuts and bruises, even losing a kidney, but he keeps on truckin.' Some events may seem unlikely, but the reader will stay interested to see what becomes of Hank, the cat, the money, Russ, and the various bad guys. The story is written in a narrative form.
The reader might also try "Walking Money" by James O. Born, and "Windfall" by James Magnuson.
Book Review: North By Northwest Meets Die Hard
Summary: 5 Stars
In Caught Stealing, Charlie Huston's electrifying debut, readers are introduced to Hank Thompson, a washed up former baseball player who seems content to drink until his kidneys throw in the bar towel. When Hank agrees to watch his neighbor's cat, he unwittingly inherits a highly sought after item that threatens to tear apart his already fragile existence. Chased through the streets of New York City by a colorful cast of villains, including two Russian gangsters in matching track suits, a Samoan enforcer named Bolo, and one seriously corrupt cop, Thompson must stay alive long enough to find out what they want and how to deliver it before time runs out.
Despite the story's relentless pace and excessive violence, the author infuses his hero with enough humanity to keep the reader fully engaged. A rising star in the hard-boiled crime genre, Charlie Huston writes uncensored, rapid-fire dialogue that positively jumps off the page. Caught Stealing is the first installment in an outstanding trilogy that is already a cult phenomenon in literary circles. It is truly an absolute gem of a thriller that will leave readers breathless and begging for more.
Book Review: Whoa Nelly!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
If you like action -- and gun fights, profanity, alcohol and drug abuse, black humor, torture and a cat with a broken leg don't bother you -- this is your book.
Hank Thompson is a thirtysomething ex-Californian with a checkered past biding his time tending bar and turning himself into an alcoholic in a gin mill in Manhattan's Lower East Side. A neighbor asks him to babysit his cat and Hank agrees. Then all hell breaks loose.
Before he knows it, he's on the run, stitched up and missing a kidney, pursued by both a gang led by a dirty cop and two demented brothers, all of whom want a key taped inside the cat's travel box, which is a ticket to millions in cash.
As the bodies pile up and Hank makes one narrow escape after another, he manages to find time to call his parents in California to assure them he is OK, take care of the cat and follow the progress of his beloved Giants on various newspapers and TV sets he encounters.
Charlie Huston's dialogue-writing is impressive. Each character has his own voice.
I can't wait to get to the other two books in the trilogy.