Caught Stealing: A Novel
by Charlie Huston
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Book Reviews of Caught Stealing: A Novel
Book Review: Glad I found this book
Summary: 4 Stars
I recently wrote a review of a book (The Traveler), and expressed how frustrated I was to find out at the end it is the first in a trilogy. It left me hanging, and I didn't like it enough to get the next book.
I have to say, it's the opposite with Caught Stealing. I finished this book and just found out in these very reviews there is a sequel, which I can't wait to read. This one wraps up nicely on its own if you don't want to make the trilogy commitment.
Caught Stealing is a raw, visceral story of a wrongly (and violently) targeted everyman and his transformation into someone different. How a guy who loves baseball and his Mom and Dad believably makes this transformation through a violent journey is a testament to Huston's writing. Hank, the main character, takes his abuse (and it's a LOT of abuse) relatively in stride, and with a certain calm that I found laced with a dark humor. A few of the situations are truly gruesome (staples, anyone?), but Huston doesn't get gratuitous with his violence.
Caught Stealing is a quick read, and hard to put down. I can't wait to read Six Bad Things.
Book Review: Tarantino without style or wit
Summary: 1 Stars
I'm not the biggest fan of genre fiction and find most blockbuster best sellers completely dreadful. But having thoroughly enjoyed Michael Connelly's The Lincoln Lawyer (a legal thriller I'd never heard of before Nicholson Baker praised it in his recent New Yorker article about the Kindle) I decided to try my luck with "Caught Steeling" based on recommendations found here. I wish I'd downloaded more Connelly instead.
The Kindle excerpt sucked me in but after paying $10 to download the rest, I soon enough realized I had a real clunker on my hands. Huston's idea of a clever plot twist is to have his wooden protagonist escape from one flamboyantly colorful villain only to be caught and roughed up by another flamboyantly colorful villain. Rinse and repeat until it all ends in a bloodbath. Tedious in the extreme. Like quenching your thirst with warm Coca Cola then having to go ahead and drink the whole two liter.
If you like genre fiction but your standards tend to be a bit more literary, skip this book and check out Jonathan Lethem's early stuff and Jess Walter's "Citizen Vince."
Book Review: Good reading - unique approach to narrating the whole story from the main character perspective.
Summary: 4 Stars
I have just finished reading the book in my Kindle. I liked it. I didn't have any expectations because I didn't know the author. At first I was surprised by the narrative. The author chose to tell the history from the main character perspective. The whole book is narrated by the main character in the story. After the first few pages I got accostumed to this and actually enjoyed being inside his head. It helped understand what was happening from his point of view.
The narrative was quick and full of surprises. At some points a little too gruesome. I didn't care much for the baseboll backdrop - I am not a baseboll fan and I don't even understand the game. However I those parts were not too long and I was able to read through them quickly to get back to the main plot.
I am looking forward to reading the 2 other books in this series and maybe other title from the author. I hope he can keep my interest up.
Overall, I would recommend it to a friend. Good reading!
Book Review: It doesn't get better than this!
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the best novels I have ever read. The main character becomes involved accidentally. He is a flawed hero, who has character traits/failing and physical skills/inabilities that are believable. The tie-in with baseball is wonderfully engaging. The author even includes a "soundrack" by having certain tunes playing in the background. The villians are rotten, scary as hell, and multidimentional. They hinged on being comic book-like, but didn't quite cross over into unbelievable. The book left me wondering what will happen up until the very last page.
The only objection I had was on one page, when the author described a series of photographs of the Durante brothers and their mother, each one of them showing the family drifting apart. Come on...as great an author of Huston didn't have to include such a silly metaphor.
But when there's a whole big book with only one obvious error, you know it's a winner (even if the Giants weren't).
Read it!
Book Review: Completely unexpected and underrated!
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this book based on an "Amazon Recommends" posting. I love John Sandford, Patricia Cornwell (well, used to anyway), Dean Koontz and others and the book was recommended due to my previous Amazon purchases.
"Caught Stealing" is not at all like my usual favorites but I am so glad that I tried it. I have since read the other 2 books in the trilogy and am about to start on Mr. Huston's next series.
The book is raw - lots of violence, vivid imagery, rough language. Don't read it if this will offend you. If, however, you are not easily offended, the "hero", Hank, will pull you in and have you by the throat as he tries to survive one deadly confrontation after another.
Mr. Huston also writes the "Moon Knight" comics and that fits with the style of writing you find in his book. Overall, this is a true find if you are looking for a new voice that doesn't write formulaic mysteries or thrillers.
Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.