Boost

by Steve Brewer

Sam Hill steals cars. Not just any cars, but collectible cars, rare works of automotive artistry. Sam’s a specialist, and he’s made a good life for himself in Albuquerque. Things change one night after he steals a primo 1965 Thunderbird from a lawyer’s house. In the trunk, Sam finds a corpse, a police informant with a bullet hole between his eyes. And he learns that cops are swarming the garage where he’d planned to deliver the T-Bird. Using his own resourcefulness as well as the assistance of his two pals, apprentice thief Billy Suggs and an inscrutable giant named Way-Way Henderson, Sam learns who’s behind the body in the Phil Ortiz, a notorious drug dealer and car collector. Sam, it seems, boosted Ortiz’s favorite car—a green low-rider painted with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe—and Ortiz is determined to get even. And to get that car back. The stakes get higher with each round of one-upmanship. Finally, it’s clear that Ortiz won’t quit until he has the last laugh and Sam Hill is dead. In Boost , Steve Brewer stirs up his usual potent mixture of high crime and low comedy in a rollicking novel where car thieves are the good guys and the action never stops. Steve Brewer spent 22 years in the newspaper business before turning to fiction full time in 1997. He writes a weekly humor column for The Albuquerque Tribune , which is distributed nationally by Scripps Howard News Service. He lives in Redding, California, with his wife, two sons and a dog named Elvis.

221 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2004

About the author

STEVE BREWER is the author of more than 30 books, including the recent crime novels UPSHOT and COLD CUTS.

His first novel, LONELY STREET, was made into a 2009 independent Hollywood comedy starring Robert Patrick, Jay Mohr and Joe Mantegna.

Under his pen name Max Austin, Brewer wrote three hard-boiled crime stories set in Albuquerque, NM. The first, DUKE CITY SPLIT, was published by Alibi/Random House in April 2014. DUKE CITY HIT followed in December 2014. DUKE CITY DESPERADO came out in June 2015.

Brewer's short fiction has appeared in the several anthologies, and he's published articles in magazines such as Mystery Scene, Crimespree and Mystery Readers' Journal.

Brewer has taught at the University of New Mexico, the Midwest Writers Workshop and the Tony Hillerman Writers Seminar. He regularly speaks at mystery conventions, and was toastmaster at Left Coast Crime in Santa Fe, NM, in 2011.

He served two years on the national board of Mystery Writers of America, and twice served as an Edgar Awards judge. He's also a member of International Thriller Writers and SouthWest Writers.

A graduate of the University of Arkansas-Little Rock, Brewer worked as a daily journalist for 22 years, then wrote a syndicated weekly column for another decade. The column, called The Home Front, produced the raw material for his humor book TROPHY HUSBAND.

Married and the father of two adult sons, Brewer lives in Albuquerque, NM.

More at www.stevebrewer.blogspot.com.

BOOKS BY STEVE BREWER
"Lonely Street," 1994, Pocket Books
"Baby Face," 1995, Pocket Books
"Witchy Woman," 1996, St. Martin's Press
"Shaky Ground," 1997, St. Martin's Press
"Dirty Pool," 1999, St. Martin's Press
"End Run," 2000, Intrigue Press
"Crazy Love," 2001, Intrigue Press
"Cheap Shot," 2002, Intrigue Press
"Trophy Husband," 2003, University of New Mexico Press
"Bullets," 2003, Intrigue Press
"Fool's Paradise," 2003, UNM Press
"Boost," 2004, Speck Press
"Sanity Clause," a novella, in "The Last Noel," 2004, Worldwide
"Bank Job," 2005, Intrigue Press
"Whipsaw," 2006, Intrigue Press
"Monkey Man," 2006, Intrigue Press
"Payoff," a short story in the anthology "Damn Near Dead," 2006, Busted Flush
"Cutthroat," 2007, Bleak House
"Limbo," a short story in the Mystery Writers of America anthology "Crimes by Moonlight," 2010, Berkley
"Firepower," 2010, Amazon/Smashwords
"1500 Rules for Successful Living," 2011, Amazon/Smashwords
"Calabama," 2011, Amazon/Smashwords
"The Big Wink," 2011, Amazon/Smashwords
"Lost Vegas," 2011, Amazon/Smashwords
"Party Doll," 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"A Box of Pandoras," 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"Showdown," a short story, 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"Found Money," a short story, 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"Yvonne's Gone," a short story, 2012, Amazon/Smashwords
"Cemetery Plot," a short story, 2013, Amazon
"Duke City Split," writing as Max Austin, Alibi, 2014
"Duke City Hit," writing as Max Austin, Alibi, 2014
"Duke City Desperado," writing as Max Austin, Alibi, 2015
"Shotgun Boogie," 2016, Amazon
"Homesick Blues," 2016, Amazon
"Side Eye," 2017, Amazon
"Cold Cuts," 2018, Amazon
"Upshot," 2020, Amazon

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice cover but that was about it for me. Pretty simple, too simple.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boost

by Steve Brewer

Speck Press, 252 pages, hardback, 2004



Sam Hill is a professional car thief. Boosting cars is his
main source of emotional stimulus . . . with the possible
exception of his romantic yearnings toward his fence, Robin
Mitchell, daughter of the fence and car thief who mentored Sam
way back in the days before he'd found anything worthwhile to do
with his life. In turn Sam is mentoring the youth Billy Suggs,
teaching him not just how to be a car thief but the
artistry of the profession — for Sam's specialty is
not common-or-garden theft but the stealing, under commissions
channeled through Robin, of rare and collectible items.



It's a good life until the day Sam discovers the Thunderbird
he's just stolen has a dead body in the trunk. His first task is
of course to get rid of the corpse before the cops come sniffing
(perhaps literally) around. But the problem's bigger than that.
The whole situation smacks of a setup: someone's trying to land
him not just in trouble but in serious trouble, including
a possible murder rap. That someone has to be stopped before they
try something, well, worse.



Aided by Billy, Robin and Sam's man-mountain friend Way-Way,
Sam soon traces the line back to seedy car fence Ernesto Morales
and beyond him to drugs kingpin Phil Ortiz, who, it proves, is
seeking revenge for the time Sam boosted one of his prized
collection of vintage cars. The makeshift team of buddies find
themselves taking on Ortiz and Ortiz's equally murderous army of
thugs in a tit-for-tat war of thrust and counterthrust, all the
while keeping out of the clutches of both local and federal cops.
This is not a war Sam intends to lose, even though just
capitulating and getting out of town could well be his wiser
course. But to win it he's going to have to be very inventive
indeed . . .



This is modern, straightforward, fast-moving, no-nonsense
caper fiction at something close to its finest. The characters
are beautifully and economically drawn, in the best noir
tradition — not just the major players but also the
supporting cast, including notably the cops Stanton and Delgado
and their fed counterparts Brock and Jones (Jones is an
especially delightful creation). At times the text is as laugh-
out-loud funny as anything by Donald E. Westlake; at other times
it's as grim as anything by Westlake's auctorial alter ego
Richard Stark. Always it's possessed of a lively wit and
intelligence . . . and it would make a marvellous movie.



This little gem of a novel is thoroughly recommended.





This review, first published by Crescent Blues, is
excerpted from my ebook Warm Words and Otherwise: A Blizzard
of Book Reviews, to be published on September 19 by Infinity
Plus Ebooks.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel delivers exactly what it promises: a good old-fashioned auto heist story. I've no complaints about the story. I do feel character development was lacking; the characters never quite broke free of their stereotypes. Still, this was a fun read.

[Jane Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another exciting caper from Steve Brewer. No one writes funnier or clever books than Steve Brewer.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great plot and interesting characters. Lively dialog. Great ending with justice and revenge.

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

For professional car thief, Sam Hill, stealing a gold 1965 Thunderbird for a paying customer is no big deal. The second he opens the trunk and discovers a corpse with track marks on his arms and a wire taped to his chest, Sam changes his mind. In a suspiciously short time, the cops are banging on Sam’s door, asking about a missing DEA informant and the stolen Thunderbird. Sam needs to find out who set him up, and why. Once he does, the question becomes what to do about it.

Boost is a light, fast-paced novel that centers around risky cat and mouse games between hero and villain. I use the term “hero” loosely because Sam Hill has his flaws. Although I liked Sam a lot, I wouldn’t want my daughter dating someone like him, which says a lot about author Steve Brewer’s talent for creating interesting, edgy leading characters. His secondary characters, though, were the usual thugs with guns and attitude. Despite the stereotypes, the dialogue was clever, chapters short, pacing terrific, and violent scenes minimal.

If you want a break from grim, complex stories about social decay, serial killers, or dysfunctional families in serious need of rehab, then Boost is a great choice.

[Almeta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was recently called to jury duty. During the screening process, the judge asked each potential juror to recount his experience as a victim of a crime. It occurred to me that 97% of them (including me) had had a car stolen or broken into, and said that the experience would not jade their verdict in this trial.

This guy, his love interest and his protégé are involved in car thievery and his sidekick lives to bust heads. AND I rooted for them and every clever prank that they pulled.

Of course my vicarious pleasure in their wicked ways is vindicated…because they promised to “Go Straight”. Wink, wink!

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hot on Mr. Leonard’s literary heels is Steve Brewer with his latest novel about an Albuquerque car thief who steals the wrong low rider, but doesn’t find out until he discovers a dead DEA informant in the trunk of his next job, a 1965 T-bird. You can also read Mr. Brewer’s column in the Albuquerque Tribune.

Published in hardcover by speck press.