Damon Runyon gets taken for a ride in Hirshfield's offbeat if somewhat labored crime novel featuring a bizarre plot line and the most startlingly yclept cast of characters (e.g., Boogers Tarbell, Creely Patch, Plato Scopes) since Guys and Dolls—or Catch-22. Shickie Doone is one of the most talented con men in the world. But when his latest scam—leading a bogus religious cult known as the Brothers of Light—fails to furnish the long green, he turns to local mobster Thadeus Trout for a loan, then takes off, leaving his wife, Rita Rae Deaver, as well as Trout, high and dry. Trout dispatches his bumbling son, Junior, to collar Shickie and retrieve the loot, but one of his henchmen puts the con man in a meat locker overnight. The result: a freeze-dried Shickie Doone is turned into a mummy. The henchman attempts to dispose of the unwanted corpse, but the body is discovered, resulting in several improbable people attempting to claim Shickie for themselves, including Jimmy Feather (a Native American convinced the mummy is his ancestor), the Brothers of Light and a senior hit man known affectionately as the Hammer. Despite Hirschfeld's strenuous attempts to juggle unlikely plot complications and Runyonesque characters, the novel bogs down in a series of events that really don't add up to much. Still, give Hirschfeld (Too High) credit for trying, and let's hope that his next outing is more successful. Agent, Eleanor Wood. (Oct. 15)
