A blurb from Ken Bruen cites Elmore Leonard, but I think Steven M. Thomas’s Criminal Paradise has a greater resemblance to, and many of the virtues of, John D. MacDonald’s writing, particularly in the way the action is fixed to its setting: in this case, the sunny, palmy, moneyed neighborhoods along the coast of southern California.
The narrator is one of the rats that live in the palms -- a smart, but hardly ruthless, career criminal. As the story commences, he sees his careful existence quickly unravel, thanks, in equal measures, to his own basic decency and his impulsive lust for swag.
More of the old virtues: the book starts with a robbery in progress -- you have to start in the middle of the action these days; that’s the rule -- but the real menace builds slowly, at the periphery, in a manner similar to what John D. used to do: fix the scoundrel Travis McGee was chasing in the reader’s mind as the Devil in Flesh, before he even made an appearance.
It’s a real pleasure to choose a book off the bookstore shelf, with no knowledge of it beforehand, and find you’ve chosen a solid, immersive read. I’m glad to know, at the start of a new decade, that it’s still possible.
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4 comments:
Criminal Paradise. Will remember that title.
John D. I never grow tired of reading his work. And now, I hear they are going to try another run at making a movie.
Studio heads will probably want Zach Galifinakis (sp) from The Hangover cast as Meyer, because he wears a beard, and the kids like him.
I've gotten to the point with films that until I hear something is good-then I'll give it a check. I hate wasting my time and especially hate wasting my time when they are destroying beloved characters.
I wish I had your resolve, David. Instead I'm like one of Pavlov's dogs when it comes to the movies.
Films adapted from books are the easiest for me to resist, though.
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