Nighttown

Nighttown is the seventh in Timothy Hallinan's Junior Bender series, and the first in the series I've read. I've been a Hallinan fan for several years after reading several of his Poke Rafferty series, but hadn't yet been introduced to Junior Bender before Nighttown. My loss, that. <br /><br />For readers averse to starting a series several novels in, I didn't have any sense of not knowing essential facts or background. Who knows if Nighttown is the best of the series -- I'll let you know over the next 24 months in reviews of subsequent novels -- but it is a great read for several reasons. <br /><br />Junior Bender and Poke Rafferty share certain features - they have integrity; they treat women as equals; they aren't pompous, self-pitying drunks; they're observant. Hallinan gets much credit from me as a male author who includes female subject-matter experts as minor characters. Take this the right way -- for a reader of many, many hundreds of detective/mystery novels, it's quite satisfying to encounter female expert safe-crackers, lock-pickers, car boosters and cat thieves in my novels. I appreciate an author who doesn't view crime expertise as exclusively male and female characters as exclusively love-interests, ex-wives or other appearance-only add-ons. <br /><br />Nighttown isn't literary fiction, but it's smart and thoughtful and the mystery is believable and well-revealed. The pacing might be a little leisurely for some of my reading friends, but if you're up for the ride Hallinan offers, I anticipate you'll conclude it's a fine one. I'll be reading every Junior Bender novel he writes.<br /><br />Thanks to SoHo Crime and Edelweiss+ for providing a free e-copy.

This is supposed to be a book about a burglar. I guess to me a burglar would go around and case out places and steal from the wealthy. But this character gets hired by someone to steal something that was in a house of someone who had passed away. Ok but Junior Bender spends more time having coffee and pie and dialogue with everyone he knows that I found this story very slow and boring. I wanted to quit reading at 50% but I said no, let's finish the book. at 88% I REALLY wanted to DNF but I figured I got this far that I might as well figure out. Myabe it's because it is the 7th book of this series and I hadn't read the other books.<br />I received this from Edelweiss for review.

I really enjoy this series, but what's getting it the extra star this time is this priceless quotation:<br />"I'd learned early that fatness in a book wasn't a warning sign, but rather a promise that you would be allowed to remain in its world for a longer time."

I stumbled across Timothy Hallinan's series of novels about crime-solving burglar Junior Bender a couple of years ago and boy howdy, am I glad I did. Junior's first-person tales of his adventures in La La Land come across as Philip Marlowe as written by Donald E. Westlake. The plots paint a picture of society at every level of Los Angeles, but with the sass and sarcasm you'd find in a Noo Yawker.<br /><br />The set-up for this one is edged with desperation. We learned in the last book, "Field Where They Lay," that Junior's whip-smart and frequently brave girlfriend Ronnie has an ex and a 2-year-old kid living in New Jersey, and she can't see either because the ex is a Mob-affiliated doctor who won't let her take the child. Junior has found someone to help them snatch the kid and disappear, but it will cost them -- big. <br /><br />So against his better judgment, Junior takes on a job presented to him by a woman in a terrible disguise: $50,000 up front, and another 50 when he delivers a doll he has to steal from a grand old house that's about to be torn down. Obviously the doll isn't worth that much money, but something hidden in the doll must be, right?<br /><br />Nothing goes quite the way it's supposed to, starting with Junior bumping into a second burglar in the house, an old friend he hasn't seen in years whose lonesome existence touches a chord with thim. Before long two people are dead and Junior and Ronnie are hiding out in a cheesy mouse-themed motel as he searches high and low for the woman who hired him. <br /><br />His search will take him around to meet up with a lot of the vivid characters who we met in previous novels: Jake Whelan, the fading Hollywood lion; mob boss Irwin Dressler; Stinky Detwiler, Junior's tiny-nosed fence; Eaglet, the ex-hippie hitwoman; and of course Junior's best friend, failed getaway driver turned information outlet Louie the Lost.<br /><br />Along the way, Junior gives us little disquisitions on the perils of stealing antique silverware, the popularity of Spiritualism in 19th century England, the scale for hardness of various gems, the hallmarks of a rare Sir Arthur Conan Doyle first edition and other delightfully esoteric topics that actually fit in with the plot (sort of). <br /><br />The most amazing scene, though, belongs to Eaglet, as the hitwoman explains to a 14-year-old hacker named Anime about how she overcame an eating disorder thanks to a Native American shaman who introduced her to her shadow. It's a perfect encapsulation of Hallinan's art: A totally weird discussion between two odd characters that comes across as both hilarious and sweetly sincere. <br /><br />I would give this book five stars except Hallinan never quite ties up the loose thread about the abduction, which means we're left dangling. Of course, that also makes me even more eager to read the next one in the series.

Stinky Tetweiler is Junior Bender's middle-man; Stinky sets up the heists and Junior completes the job. When Junior is offered $50,000 to find a doll in an abandoned house, slated for demolition, his antenna go on high alert...nobody pays that kind of money to steal a doll. When Junior arrives at Horton House, he discovers he is not the only person looking for the doll. And when Lumia is killed by someone, after she finds the doll, Junior wants revenge. As Junior works to figure out what is going on behind the scenes, the reader gets a ring-side seat to how burglars work and it is fascinating stuff. Once again, Hallinan hits it out of the park with a humorous and well-plotted book. Definitely recommended.

(2 1/2). Junior Bender is an acquired taste, like a good single malt scotch. He is not your razzle dazzle kind of cop, PI or detective. He is a professional thief after all. This story is even more convoluted than usual for Junior, but with the help of his able assistants (Louie et al) he manages to sort of resolve things. As always, Junior is one of the more engaging characters you can find, but the substory here is really all over the map. I am still a devoted Junior fan. Pretty good stuff.

Quite good. Not as madcap or self consciously zany as some of the others in the series which is premised on a burglar who has to escape or prevent worse criminal injustices which occur while he tries to make a living. The plot is the time honored search for something hidden which triggers a chase, several murders, and revenge from beyond the grave by an embittered ancient heiress. There’s also an examination of spiritualism, Conan Doyle, and fhe original theft of the McGuffin in late 19th century London. The ending is a bit flat given all the mayhem and angst the bad guys caused. But that’s made up for by the very interesting story about how “sterling” silver gets its name.

Always a delight! This time Junior finds himself working the same burglary as another set of burglars, and no one knows who has paid their commission. Fascinating and funny.

<blockquote>“Burglars tend to prefer the dark because, while some of us are pretty dumb, there aren’t many of us stupid enough to begin a job by turning on the lights.”</blockquote><br />“Nighttown” by Timothy Hallinan is the first person narrative by Junior Bender, a person on the “edge” of society, a burglar, actually, but not one of the bad guys. This is book seven in the series, but new and returning readers easily follow Junior’s descriptions and interpretations of what he sees, and eavesdrop on his thoughts as he plans his next move. Junior and his girl-friend Ronnie are desperate for money because they plan to kidnap her two-year-old son from his father, a New Jersey mob doctor, and it will be an expensive proposition.<br /><br />Junior is in Horton House; it is old, dark, and vacant. Its demolition is scheduled in just a few days. He is being well paid to retrieve an item left inside the almost empty house, and he has the key to get in. What could go wrong? Well, quite a lot, actually. <br /><br />Junior’s thorough details and reflections every step of the way make readers active participants in the exploits. Junior and readers are looking everywhere and finding nothing. Hallinan establishes Horton House as an essential character right from the start.<blockquote>“The hallway’s white ceiling was arched, like the doorways and the openings to the other rooms. The effect was beautiful in a slightly churchy manner. Builders used to care about the houses they built. Dangling above me was a delicately angular wrought iron chandelier." </blockquote><br />Of course, no old house would be complete without old books, and Horton house has plenty of those, even classic first editions.<blockquote>“Then I sat, turning the little book over in my hands. It was at least fifty, maybe even sixty, years old. The paper was brittle enough to have broken, so cleanly it might have been cut, along several diagonals where a corner had been dog-eared.”</blockquote><br />The distinctive cast of characters has unique names as well including Ting Ting, Stinky, Eaglet, Anime, and Lumia. There are moments of hilarity amongst the trauma with rainbow toenail polish, orange wigs, Minnie’s Mouse House, and hiccups.<blockquote><br /> “The scariest part of the movie is always when the killer gets hiccups. Makes my hair stand on end every time…Death and hiccups. They’ve gone together for centuries. That’s why the deadliest man in the old West was called Wild Bill Hiccup.”</blockquote><br />The action takes place over just a few days, so readers are eager to find out what Horton House will reveal next. I received a review copy of “Nighttown” from Timothy Hallinan, Soho Crime, and Edelweiss. I have read previous Junior Bender books, and found this as funny and enjoyable as the others. It is an easy, quick, book to read, and readers can follow the intense search and laugh at the same time. <br />

Witty, whimsical quips are just one additional reason to like the Bender series. Along with the humor, you get a convoluted mystery, a tour of Bender's favorite LA haunts, and his frequent esoteric asides--rare books, jewels, burglary techniques, etc. Finishing the book left me with an inexplicable craving for lemon meringue pie. My favorite line from this book is, "Reading doesn't make you smart. Reading makes you human."