King Maybe by Timothy Hallinan

You don't double-cross a double-crosser, and nobody gets away with setting up thief Junior Bender. It's a good thing he's such a quick thinker, because this is a rare Bender book where he's not on his "A" game: he's targeted, burgles are bungled, and he's about to take a big fall. Plus, there are problems in paradise as his lady love, Ronnie, isn't speaking to Junior for much of the book.

I was prepared to say I didn't like this book, and then I actually really did love it. I thought maybe I was growing bored with Junior ... and then I loved the way this story twisted, turned and came around.

Hallinan does a great job with all the ancillary characters in his stories. I love the teenage wiz team of Anime and Lilli, and there's a whole high school drama substory to this book with Junior's daughter Rina. You'll love to hate the bad guys (or gals) in a story where some of the good guys are kind of bad guys.

Fields Where They Lay by Timothy Hallinan

Both a Russian mobster's deadline and Christmas are looming large for burglar-turned-detective Junior Bender, and it's likely either or both will be the death of him.

In this installment of the Junior Bender series (#6 if you're counting), our ethically questionable hero is stuck in a decaying suburban mall trying to figure out why store loss numbers are so out of whack. Also, what to buy for holiday gifts.

The book's funny, and this series has a wry wit that's unlike anything else. A dying mall is hardly anyone's dream, and the fact that Junior is stuck circling, circling, circling this pit of despair is a great setup for his equally dark introspection about the state of his life and love.

There's a great cast of characters in the store owners and mall regulars, with a few of Junior's friends mixed in too. It might not put you in the holiday season, but it's a great read.

Falling From Horses by Molly Gloss

Reminiscing, Bud Frazer tells us this story of his youth trying to break into cowboy stunt riding during Hollywood's Golden Era. The time elapsed allows him to foreshadow and ruminate a bit on the path of his life, giving the novel a multi-faceted feel despite the sole narrator.

Bud's story of fame-seeking isn't unusual: he's naive and broke, and this ranch boy is completely unprepared for the realities of a big city. But he gets a couple lucky breaks ... and then some unlucky breaks, which bring us to the story's climax.

I really liked this novel, and I'm not usually one for cowboy stories. Bud's a captivating character and a wonderful storyteller (thanks Molly Gloss!). His foreshadowing helps push you through the more mundane parts, wanting to know how he gets busted up and whatever happened to his sister.

Best to Laugh by Lorna Landvik

In this semi-autobiographical novel, folksy funny novelist Lorna Landvik introduces a cast of eccentric Hollywood characters who span from the Golden Era into the tarnished TV years.

Asian-Scandinavian Candy Pekkala followed her dreams to Hollywood so she could pursue a career in comedy. Using baked goods as leverage, she's immediately absorbed into a community that mirrors the Minnesota-nice she left behind: the natty Francis who once ran Hollywood's hottest nightspot along with his blue mohawked punk rock son Frank, a female bodybuilder with a sudsy TV soap star mother, a Romanian seer, a lesbian black-power sistah with a penchant for country music, and many more.

It's an upbeat, funny book about friendship and the end of an era. Candy has some great jobs as a temp worker in Los Angeles, and her friends and neighbors are a hoot. The fact that it's basically Landvik's own story is interesting - because I'm tempted to say the ending is too pat and neatly tied, too "finished" for real life, except it's real life.

The Fame Thief by Timothy Hallinan

In this third novel of the Junior Bender series, our hero is called upon by a powerful Mobster to investigate the end of a Hollywood starlet's career more than 60 years ago.

Junior's not actively thieving anything in this book - he's too busy digging into the 1950s and juggling his relationship with new girlfriend Ronnie (but he does make a little time to wreck havoc in his ex-wife's life). It turns out the long-forgotten starlet has been living just a couple floors above Junior's head at his secret lair that's much less secret than he'd thought.

There are lots of great Golden Age of Hollywood stories in the book - from the starlet Delores, and also from some of the dames and heavies around her at the time. And once again, Junior's precocious preteen daughter acts as his research guru and smart-alecky moral compass.

I've really come to enjoy this series - the ace burglar with a heart of gold is fun, and Hallinan does a bang-up job with the story and characters.

Niagara Falls All Over Again by Elizabeth McCracken

This fictional memoir tells the life-and-career story of comedian Mose Sharp and his partner-in-performance, Rocky Carter. These vaudeville actors eventually make the transition to radio and film, but it's their long and complex relationship that gives the book its dynamic story.

These two slightly broken men together create a work-marriage that outlasts every other partnership in their lives. It goes without saying this is a dysfunctional relationship and things maybe don't turn out so well. But it's the getting there that's fun.

I loved that this is a story I haven't read a million times over - it seems a fresh look at the relatively common theme on relationships. You love these men, and you want to smack them over the head for their foibles. The story doesn't focus overmuch on their financial success or their business - it's really an old man looking back at the brotherhood and his life. Highly recommended!

The Best of Youth by Michael Dahlie

In this droll novel, a clueless young man struggles to find his place in life. Due to a family tragedy, he's a millionaire who doesn't NEED to work, yet he struggles to find something and someone with whom he connects.

It's a quick, funny book full of social commentary on the hipster lifestyle: alternative musicians, alternative magazines, boutique farming, and celebrity authors who've never written a page.

Henry longs to be a writer, and ends up a ghostwriter to a pompous Hollywood actor (second book I've read this month where that happens - strange new theme?). He's looking for a life partner, but ends up obsessed with a relative. And then there's a tragic farm accident.

This is an entertaining book, but I wasn't kidding when I said "droll." It's a literary, wry novel full of absurd self-involved people with first-world problems.

Double Feature by Owen King

What if your biggest failure became the thing you were best known for? Sam Dolan used every leverage, favor, and connection he had to make a film right after he graduated from college. It's a semi-fictional coming-of-age story that's also a serious commentary on modern society. And then tragedy strikes.

This novel swivels back and forth through time - hinged upon Sam's filmmaking experience - to tell the bigger picture about Sam's B-movie famous father, his parents' relationship, Sam's childhood, the making of his movie, and what came after.

Perhaps the only person who doesn't love Sam's dad, Booth, is Sam. As a reader you'll understand why Sam has issues with him, but you'll also secretly want to become part of Booth's fan club. Actually, I loved a lot of the characters in this book, which is nice because Sam's sort of prickly: across the timeline he's confused, pretentious, shattered, scared, and really, epically messed up. It's only through the humanity of the friends and family around him you see his potential; the question is, will he do the same?

Great book - it kept me interested, and the shifts in perspective and time continually reveal more to the story. You'll especially love it if you're a cinephile.

Crashed by Timothy Hallinan

Junior Bender isn't your typical hero - for one, he's a master criminal. But when a burglary-for-hire goes wrong in a million ways (and turns out to be a setup), we discover Junior has a real conscience when it comes to things that matter.

A former child-prodigy actress who fell off the pop culture radar in adolescence is back in the spotlight making an adult film. Junior's "persuaded" to get involved in the film to protect the investors interests. And despite all the trouble, Junior starts to feel protective toward this messed-up young woman - enough to sabotage the plan a bit to get her out of this nasty, icky movie contract.

I really enjoyed this book - the pacing's great, and the characters are compelling. It's a trendy kind of theme (Hollywood's cannibalism of young stars), but doesn't settle into the well-worn grooves.

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

A glamorous woman in a boat arrives in a tiny forgotten Italian fishing village, and that's all it takes for decades of  amazing, wonderful stories to begin. Right from the start, this book's characters will draw you into their tales: a small town and tiny lives in 1960s Italy, huge stars and over-the-top drama of Hollywood lives now and then, a failed 1990s musician and his vices.

The writing is wonderful, and the multiple storylines braid and weave themselves together at a languid pace. The story glides into the future and back into the past, which mean sometimes we know more than the characters, but not always; sometimes Walter leaves us in the dark for a while, a step or two behind the action. We gradually learn about the in-between-times - when a hole in the timeline begins to fill in - and a couple times I thought "when? wait? tell me about that!" Eventually we do hear it all, and puzzling together the pieces is one of this book's great joys.

I listened to the audiobook, and the narration by Edoardo Ballerini was spectacular. He artfully voices these myriad characters, and his Italian really brought those sections of the book alive for me in a way my own reading would have lacked.