Crashed by Timothy Hallinan
Review by Cheryl R. (Spuddie)
Main Character: Junior Bender, a thief who works in the LA area.
Series order: #1
It took me awhile to warm up to Junior Bender. Like, maybe fifteen minutes. Tops. We’re introduced to him in the act of burgling a house, and while it may seem odd, I dislike thieves in general more than I dislike killers. Killers often have a good reason—or at least a plausible reason—for killing their victim. Thieves…well, they’re just too lazy to get what they want the hard way—by working for a living, and they “work” by taking something that doesn’t belong to them, that someone else HAS worked for…and that gets my goat. I started the book with a bit of trepidation, as Timothy Hallinan is the author of one of my favorite mystery series (Poke Rafferty) and I was afraid Junior would be a sorry comparison. I mean…he’s a thief! But it wasn’t long before I was laughing and finding that Junior is not your garden variety thief. He’s really one of the good guys, even if he’s got an odd way of making a living.
Divorced, with a teenage daughter who is the apple of his eye, Junior moves around from one long-term hotel to another in an attempt to stay ahead of the police. He tempers everything he does by asking himself what his daughter would think if she found out. The art heist he’s in the middle of at the beginning of the book ends up being a trap, and he finds himself in a cage with a nasty blackmailer holding the key. This notorious crime boss wants him to essentially babysit a former child star who is now about to star in her first porn movie, produced by none other than the blackmailer. Junior is obviously reluctant, but if he doesn’t cooperate, the tape of him burgling the house goes to the cops. The problem is, Thistle Downing is so strung out on drugs she doesn’t know if she’s on foot or horseback, and isn’t really even aware of just what she’s gotten herself into. Junior ends up being more of a protective father figure for her and tries to scheme a way to keep her from doing the movie.
Meanwhile, an old friend of Junior’s whom he’s hired to watch Thistle when he’s busy (or sleeping) ends up dead—murdered–in his surveillance car near her apartment—and then it becomes personal. Junior plots some devious steps to not only save Thistle from herself, but to discover his friend’s killer and get back at his blackmailer as well. And, he hopes, to come out looking good in his daughter’s eyes too….if she ever finds out.
The book is written in Hallinan’s usual likable and easy-to-read style. There’s plenty of humor but always a certain seriousness and poignancy behind the story that shines through at just the right time. By the time the book is finished, Junior feels like an old friend, and the cast of characters that come with him are very well fleshed and realistic too. Hallinan definitely has a second winner series here, I think—and I’ve already purchased Little Elvises, the second in the series. Hats off, Tim!
