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There are some guys who couldn't play it straight even if you put them in a harness and led them down an iron track. Certainly that's true for Charles "Shake" Bouchon, who has just gotten out of prison after serving three years for grand theft auto. The prison gate has barely clanged shut behind him when he agrees to do a favor for his former boss, Alexandra Ilandryan, head of the Armenian mob in Los Angeles. All Shake has to do is deliver a package to Las Vegas and pick up a briefcase. And if you think it's going to be that easy, well, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you…. You see, the package isn't exactly a package in the traditional sense. Instead it's a sweet housewife named Gina Clement, and Shake is supposed to hand her off to the unsavory Dick Moby, "The Whale," a strip club owner. Shake finds himself caring about Gina and fears that no good will come of this transfer; in a move that endangers him all around, he lets her go. He soon finds out that Gina is nowhere near as wholesome as she paints herself to be. Before you know it, Gina and Shake join together to free The Whale of the briefcase and figure out how to get to Panama to become very rich. There's just a minor wrinkle to that plan—everyone and his brother, sister and grandmother is after them—crime bosses, swindlers, Armenians—a veritable plethora of low lives. As in the best capers, GUTSHOT STRAIGHT is full of double crosses and plot twists. The action is unrelenting, and the characters wonderfully eccentric. My favorite was Gina, who transforms herself into whatever she needs to be to fit the situation she's in. There are lots of humorous moments. How often do you meet a bad guy with erectile dysfunction? GUTSHOT STRAIGHT is Lou Berney's first novel. I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot more of that name in the future, based on this well-done debut.
Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, February 2010
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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