Review: Mr. Hooligan

Sometimes when I start a book, the opening grabs me, and I think, “This is good writing!” I have found, however, that such books usually disappoint me. They do not live up to that initial draw.

Mr. Hooligan by Ian Vasquez is such a book for me. Chapter one dangled a hope a fabulous tale to come. On the Caribbean island of Belize, a woman is speaking with a dying man, and she says she will tell him the story of a certain young man, who was in trouble years ago. No names, no hints, just the promise of a story worth the wait.

Immediately we move to Riley James and his friend Harvey, drinking, driving and getting into trouble. Thus begins the long story, told in real time, of how Riley became indebted to the Monsanto crime family; how he wants to get out, to marry the beautiful American woman living next door; how all is not what it seems.

I had hoped for somebody more sympathetic than a small-time crook for a protagonist, after that opening. I put down the book. I picked it up again, put it down again. The story just never gained any momentum for me, so I gave up.

I looked it up on Amazon and found six people had given it 5 stars. Booklist called it “classic noir” and said it “plays all the notes with feeling.” Could I be wrong? Absolutely. I may never have given the book sufficient chance. Or I might just not care for drug runners and their seamy world.

So if you are a noir fan, you like drug stories, or those set in the Caribbean, don’t take my word for it. Check it out for yourself. In 2009, Ian Vasquez’ last book, Lonesome Point, won a Shamus Award from the Private Eye Writers of America. As I said, the man knows how to put words together. Whether you find what he has written a winning combination may depend on your tastes.

Still reading

I'm still reading Dear Money, or rather, I'm reading it again. I got so frustrated with the poor little successful author who wanted to live the lifestyle of the rich and famous in New York I had to put it down. I care just barely enough about some of the characters (although not the author protagonist) to see it through. I think.

In the meantime, I read Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay, the one Dexter book I still had left. I enjoyed it, but not nearly as much as the others. It could have been that I was distracted a lot while reading; I was visiting my mother and was repeatedly interrupted. But that's not really it. In Dexter in the Dark, Lindsay explains Dexter in an otherworldly fashion -- his suffering has called to him an evil spirit that drives him to kill.

Why, why, why? Why mess with Dexter-as-sociopath? He's much more interesting when he is merely human. Now we know that his evil acts actually stem from evil, as an entity separate from humanity, that has inhabited him. Most unsatisfactory. Perhaps I should seek out an author interview to see if he explains himself. Humph.