Fast Bang Booze

Frank, the unimposing 24-year-old narrator of Maddox’s fast-paced novella set in 1990s L.A., has a “nervous system that’s souped-up like an engine with sixteen valves per cylinder and turbocharged to boot.” It makes the world appear to be in slow motion. This impediment, as he calls it, comes in handy when he’s attacked in a bar. An extraordinarily fast and brutal fighter, he easily dispatches his oversized assailant, who’s left crying on the floor. A Russian drug dealer named Popov, impressed by Frank’s lightning-quick takedown, offers him a job. Broke and unemployed, Frank readily accepts. The position gives Frank plenty of chances to make use of his unique skills as he tries to help his new boss recover the more than $1 million ripped off in a drug deal gone bad. Despite Frank’s lack of endearing qualities (he’s introduced sitting in a pool of his own “whiz, puke, and blood”), Maddox manages to keep readers interested in how his story plays out, up until the enigmatic and tantalizing conclusion. Fans of offbeat noir will have fun. [em](BookLife) [/em]