An explosive read that demands a soundtrack. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrwjiO...Here we go!Henry--Hank, to his friends--is just chilling in New York City, working his bartender gig, working his way up at the bar, and slowly pickling his liver. Hank is a genuinely nice guy: he gets along with his neighbors, does the odd job for the super, calls his California parents regularly, lends money to his friends and even--and this is astonishing--doesn't ask for it back.I've been caught stealingonce when I was 5I enjoy stealingIt's just as simple as thatWell, it's just a simple fact.When I want something, manI don't want to pay for it.Hank stole for a brief period in his youth, after a tragic accident ruined his golden boy status. Now he's just a guy getting by. All that changes after neighbor Russ prevails upon Hank to watch his cat while Russ goes back to Minnesota to visit his dying father. Hank reluctantly agrees, becomes temporary owner of Bud, and everything starts to shift into overdrive.I walk right through the door And I walk right through the door. Hey all right! If I get by, it's mine. Mine all mine!Strangely, it's not long after that a couple of Russian-like thugs beat Hank nearly senseless. Nearly, because he actually finishes the "senseless" part of it by drinking away the night after the thugs take off. He wakes up peeing blood, but knows from experience that his kidney is probably just bruised. Luckily, he has a doctor's appointment scheduled (his feet are just killing him), so when he passes out from shock, the doctor quickly gets him to the hospital and to surgery. Shortly after, he's minus one kidney and heading home, vowing to change his life--no more booze, no more bartending. Although it's hard to go cold-turkey, so he calls his dealer to get a little grass to smooth the transition. Even though the kidney-shaped hole in his side is just killing him, he heads out to do his laundry. Being the nice guy that he is, decides to toss in the cat's blanket as well (see how nice he is?).My girl, she's one too.She'll go and get her a skirtStick it under her shirt.She grabbed a razor for meAnd she did it just like that.When she wants something,She don't want to pay for it.Returning from the laundromat, he sees the thugs that beat him having a pizza across the street from his place. Sliding up the stairs, he then notes strangers outside his apartment door. Perhaps they are connected? His missing kidney urges him on. He really wants to call the police, but he's got that big bag of dope sitting on his table, so he employs skills developed as a teenage thief to sneak down the fire escape and into his apartment. Stuff happens, and if you aren't in the mood for violence, you need to put the book down right now because it's about to get physical. For me, the level of casual violence and death was a detractor. She'll walk right through the doorWalk right through the door.Hey all right! If I get by, it's mine.Mine all mine!What follows is pretty much The Fugitive only with an alcoholic almost-baseball star instead of a doctor, and with gangsters instead of marshals. But you get the idea. I have to applaud Huston, he actually makes the plot seem plausible, with a protagonist that essentially wants to do right, only right isn't very clear when the bad guys change the rules all the time. Still, Hank gamely keeps trying, even when the curveballs come fast and loose.We sat around the pileWe sat and laughedWe sat and laughed andWaved it into the air!And we did it just like thatWhen we want something,We don't want to pay for it.Huston has a gift for writing, no doubt. But ultimately, the book feels like a movie script for a wry, post-modern heist. Crystal clear visuals. Fast paced. Characters out of casting 101, even with their oh-so-clever quirkiness (Russians in track suits! Black guys wearing cowboy gear!) A protagonist trying to save his skin--and a cat--gets a pass for almost any behavior. Hell, I'd probably even watch that movie. But I missed Huston's subtle humor, his pokes at cultural mores, his vivid sense of place and character--everything I loved in the Joe Pitt books.We walk right through the doorWalk right through the doorHey, all right! If I get by, it's mine,Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine... The best parts for me were the subway scenes, and Hank's clever use of New York culture. But honestly, the song is a lot more fun.Three (stolen) stars, not four, because I have a decent anti-theft system.In parting, a couple of quotes with trademark Hudson humor:"There's one beer left and it keeps staring at me. I get tired of trying not to stare back so I put it in the john where I won't see it or hear it.""They cram into the elevator, making cracks in French about drunk Americans. Fucking French classes. I wish I'd taken Spanish."Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2013/0...
4 starsThis is my first Charlie Huston book and I am already sold. This is a straight up noir type thriller that starts fast and ends even quicker. It a story about a young man that thanks to some bad luck and bad timing gets involved with things that will change him forever. Hank is somewhat likable but easy to identify with as we all know people who seem to have everything going their way until fate reaches up and smacks them in their face and down into humble town. I thoroughly enjoyed the gritty first person narration that gives this novel the wonderful noir feel that it has. Like most noir, this book is filled with violence, darkness, tragedy, and a lot of unresolved issues to be worked out. Huston uses a peppering of humor and wit to give his story a more complete feel."I start with the beer, pouring it in the sink, but the smell backs up in there and my mouth starts watering, so I change my plan.I take the whole load into the bathroom and start pouring it all into the toilet. It works great and I feel very efficient: instead of drinkingall this and pissing it back out, I've cut out the middleman. "I loved how we the reader could feel the helplessness of Hank as he tries to deal with the out of control situations that continually ramp up the stakes and threat of death and failure. By the end of this book fate and some really bad luck has changed Hank forever...backing him into making decisions that just a short time ago that he would never dream of. Damn I found that I totally empathized with him and could see myself making such sickening choices...Great short read in a genre that I cannot seem to get enough of. Although, I generally read sci-fi type noir books this thriller was a blast to read. I highly recommend it. On to book 2!
What do You think about Caught Stealing (2005)?
I found this book to be boring, repetitive and clichéd. Neither the plot nor characters were original.First, the premise is overused. The protagonist, a bartender, is beaten one night for unknown reasons by two guys who are obviously Russian Mob. Despite the fact that we later learn they do know who he is and do want something from him they never initially ask him any questions. Why?The first half of the book is the bartender being beaten. 100 pages of the main character being beaten, trying to mend his wounds, being beaten, going to a drugstore to get supplies, being beaten, getting his friends killed or hurt, being beaten, going to a doctor then a drugstore etc. etc. The story does not advance, all we know is that the villains want something he has but in all 100 pages we are never given any hints as to why.The second half of the book is a little better with less repetition. But any well-read reader will be writing the book along with the author because the action and the characters are so clichéd.Too much of the book is filler: memories, dreams, conversations that do not advance the plot and do very little to round out the main character. They tell the reader nothing of what's going to happen next. There is no foreshadowing. The scenes and conversations are too long and pointless.It felt as if the author sat down and made a list of what he thought belonged in a "cool" story and came up with a series of clichéd elements:The villains: Russian mob, an Asian who dies his hair bright red, two black hoodlums and a corrupt cop.The language: the same overused “urban drug-world hipster” lingo we hear in every second/third generation script or novel.The violence: violence for violence sake.The music: too many scenes are defined by what's on the CD player.The present tense: why do writers think this makes the action edgy? Only TV journalists and documentarians talk in the present tense. Past tense is always a better choice because it gives the reader the feel that the events of the story might really have happened.A blurb on the back of the book compares this novel to THE MALTESE FALCON. That’s like comparing TWILIGHT to DRACULA.
—Ghostsoup1313
I was pleasantly surprised by how good this book was. Charlie Huston (who also happens to be a screenwriter) did a great job of moving this "wrong-man" story along and painting a vivid picture. He kept it interesting and put in some good twists and turns. Hank Thompson is a bartender on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. His life has been a bit of a disappointment in that he was slated to become a major league baseball player until he broke his leg. His humdrum existence comes to an abrupt end when Russ, a neighbor, leaves his cat with him while he visits his sick father for a few days or a few weeks. That night Hank gets so severely beaten up in a bar by two thugs that he requires surgery to remove a damaged kidney. This is just the beginning as Hank is chased, beaten, tortured reasons unknown to him. As the body count rises, Hank realizes he must get to the bottom of the problem as his life depends on it.Let me make this clear right off; this book is not for the faint-hearted or individuals who cannot handle strong language, blood, and gore. Huston's writings are very vivid and he does paint a really gory picture.
—Thomas Ranous
CAUGHT STEALING (Amateur Sleuth) – G+Charlie Huston – 1st bookBallantine Books, 2004 – HardcoverBartender Hank Thompson agrees to look after his neighbor’s cat, Bud, for a few days and, as a result, is beaten so badly he loses a kidney. He is chased, beaten, tortured, and friends murdered by a pair of Russians, a red-headed Asian, two brothers, and a dirty cop all because of a key found in the bottom of Bud’s carrier. *** Many of likened this book to a Tarantino movie and I can see why. The profanity, violence and pace are unrelenting. But Hank loves his parents and does everything he can to protect Bud and it’s those bits of humanity that balance the rest. I am not a Tarantino fan, or I’m certain I’d have rated it higher, but found I couldn’t but this book down.
—LJ
