So I forgot about Charlie Huston.
Then I started hearing murmurs about the books he had written being pretty darn cool. Apparently he'd written a crime series about vampires. Well, I like me some vampires. Who doesn't?
So I head over to the ol' Barnes and Noble and pick up a little book called Caught Stealing.
I keep waiting for the vampires to show up. They never do. But guess what? I don't give a good goddamn. This book is so fucking great I can't even tell you. This is possibly the best hard-boiled crime novel I've ever read (and I've read a few. Spillane, Lehane, Chandler, Westlake, make room for Huston). So brutal. So hilarious. So completely feasible. The best part is, the main guy, Hank Thompson, is so terribly relatable. He could be me, he could be you, he could be one of my old drinking buddies gone bad. I recognize the way he thinks, the way he talks, the way he acts.
If you like crime novels, or hell, just good books, you owe it to yourself to read this story. And, good news! It's just the first in a trilogy. I just finished the sequel, Six Bad Things, and it's just as good as the first, with maybe even a cooler bunch of supporting characters.
I'm halfway through the closer, A Dangerous Man, and it continues right along the merry path to glorious hell.
Be warned though, these are not books for the faint of heart. They are dark and brutal things and will make you wince and writhe and feel very glad that you are, in fact, not Henry Thompson.
Oh, yeah. Apparently Charlie Huston did write a book with vampires in it. It's called Almost Dead. That one's next on my list.
Here's a sketch of our boy Hank:
I think I'm gonna have to reread that Moon Knight series.
Now off to the bookstore with you!
2 comments:
Sounds awesome man. When was this trilogy written? And what's the word on Lehane and Westlake? I've read those other mooks you mentioned but not these guys. I also keep meaning to read Jim Thompson but haven't gotten to it yet. Hey what are your top ten crime novels?
I think these were written between 2000 and 2005. Definitely give 'em a look. You'll breeze through the first one in a weekend.
Donald Westlake is an old school crime writer. He's probably best known for the Parker books that the movie POINT BLANK was based on. My favorite book by Westlake though is THE AX. It's actually one of my favorite books of all time. About a guy who gets laid off and turns to murder in his hunt for a new job.
Dennis Lehane's big deal is MYSTIC RIVER, but I'm also a big fan of the Kenzie/Gennaro P.I. series. I think the first one's called A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR. That Ben Affleck flick GONE, BABY, GONE was based on one of the Kenzie/Gennaro books. SHUTTER ISLAND is also a great stand alone from Lehane.
I'll have to get back to you on my top ten crime faves. I gotta give it a think. I'm not really a true aficionado, mind you, just a dabbler. I'll try and grind out a list for an upcoming blog post, though. I do need topics to ramble on about. :)
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