The Warlord of Willow Ridge

Phillips%E2%80%99s uneven thriller mixes streetwise grit with wry reflections on personal survival strategies in present-day recession-era America. Though approaching middle age, career criminal O%E2%80%99Conner is as tough as ever, but he%E2%80%99s weary enough of the road to become a squatter in the once-prosperous, now-decaying Southern California gated community of Willow Ridge. By confronting the seemingly placid town%E2%80%99s resident criminals, the meth-dealing Mas Trece and the Viking Vandals motorcycle gang, he unexpectedly becomes a hero to its homeowners. While pursuing an affair with wealthy widow Gwen Gardner, O%E2%80%99Conner plots a new heist and tries to unravel the two gangs%E2%80%99 competing plans. Phillips (The Jook) unnecessarily complicates his plot, essentially a modernized variant of the classic, Unforgiven-ish story of a reformed Wild West gunfighter, with an overabundance of characters and plot strands that lead nowhere, but the author does manage to create a compelling protagonist who suggests Donald Westlake%E2%80%99s classic antihero Parker reincarnated with more heart, personality, and sex appeal. (Oct.)