Trouble No More: A Sleeper Hayes Novel

Set in 1977 San Francisco, Haslett’s nifty prequel to Tenderloin finds Skid Row fixer Sleeper Hayes helping his quasigirlfriend Anna, a sculptor, by looking for her missing stockbroker brother, Phil Matthews. When Phil turns up dead, apparently a suicide, further trouble ensues as the deceased’s debts to a Chinese gang are transferred to Sleeper, then Anna. But Sleeper thinks Phil was murdered, and as he investigates, with the aid of cop Lento Gonzalez, he’s repeatedly offered money to stop poking his nose in other people’s business. He’s also routinely beaten in case he doesn’t take the hint. Still, the stubborn and cunning Sleeper is able to navigate his way through the case, which may involve money laundering. Visits to a strip club and Chinatown stakeouts help evoke the grittier side of San Francisco. Haslett adds depth to Sleeper’s character by detailing his gambling habits and his uneasy relationship with his ex-wife, Maggie, who figures prominently in the story. (Mar.)