The Kind One

by Tom Epperson

In the kill-or-be-killed criminal underworld of 1930s Los Angeles, "Two Gun Danny" Landon has a distinct disadvantage. According to the fellas, he used to pull all kinds of shoot-ups and shenanigans...but damned if he can't remember a thing from before last year, when he got hit over the head with a lead pipe. Sadistic mobster Bud Seitz -- known to friends and enemies alike as "The Kind One" -- seems to have big plans for him, but truthfully, Danny can't stomach the dirty work. His aim is off, the other wiseguys laugh at him, and he'd gladly trade in the drunken parties and the endless broads for a day at the movies with his colorful and mysterious neighbor Dulwich and eleven-year-old Sophie, whose deadbeat mother delivers an endless stream of emotional and physical abuse. But when Bud's beautiful girlfriend Darla begs Danny to help her escape the Kind One's dark, brutal world, Danny must confront a dangerous test of loyalty that could irrevocably change his future -- and his past -- forever.

Genres: Fiction, Noir, Crime, Historical, Audiobook, Historical Fiction, Mystery

377 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Tom Epperson, a native of Arkansas, headed west to Los Angeles with his boyhood friend Billy Bob Thornton to pursue a career in show business. Epperson's co-written the scripts for One False Move, A Family Thing, The Gift, A Gun, a Car, a Blonde, and Jayne Mansfield's Car. His L.A. noir The Kind One was nominated for both the Edgar Award and the Barry Aware for Best First Novel. Four more books followed, Sailor, Roberto the Dark Tower Came, Make Believe, and Baby Hawk: A novel in verse. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his wife, Stefani, two pampered cats, and two frisky dogs.

Reviews

[Jenny]

I picked this novel up from a bargain table at Border's because the author, Tom Epperson, had co-written the script for One False Move, a movie that still haunts me to this day. According to the back of the book, this novel is "soon to be a major motion picture" but it's already quite cinematic . . . in a good way, not in a film script-y kind of way (where you hear the plot creaking).

The setting is 1930's Los Angeles and the narrator is Danny "Two Gun" Landon, a former enforcer for a mob boss, Bud Seitz (the "kind one" of the title). Danny still works for Seitz but after a traumatic brain injury a year before, Danny is left with no memories of his former life and a pronounced limp. Danny's current assignment is to drive Bud Seitz's girlfriend, Darla, around but even that minor role puts Danny into contact with a world he no longer has much taste for.

More and more, Danny enjoys spending time with two of his neighbors--Dulwich, a somewhat flamboyant British neighbor (who's also a vet of World War 1) and Sophie, an 11-year-old girl, whose spirit seems undaunted by the stream of losers her slutty mother brings home.

Since this is a noir novel, you know that secrets will be revealed, people will die, and hearts will be broken. The fun of this novel is seeing how Epperson pulls it off and how realistic a hero Danny is. For what it's worth, I'd see the film too.

[Dorie]

Terrific read set in 1930's Los Angeles. Danny Landon (known in the criminal underworld as "Two Gun Danny") has been recovering for the past year from an attack that has left him without any of his former memories. He's returned to work for mobster Bud Seitz, known ironically as "The Kind One". But Danny no longer seems to have the stomach for the violence and fear that the others seem to revel in. Bud assigns Danny to bodyguard his newest girlfriend Darla, but things get complicated when Danny develops feelings for her. Although there were scenes of extreme and graphic violence in this book it also contained a lot of heart, which brought to mind Charlie Huston's novels. This story had a great premise, a great setting, some great characters and fine writing with some nice twists in the plot. I enjoyed it a lot and thought it was unique. Four and a half stars.

[Ron]

David Goodis meets Nathanael West in this story about an amnesiac in the employ of a Los Angeles crime boss who's trying to figure out if what everybody's telling him about his past is true-- and it's not all that certain that he's going to have much of a future, either.

[Scott]

I've been in a book rut lately. I tried this one on audio, and although it was narrated by Scott Brick - the best in the biz - this book fell short for me.

Nice writing, but darned if anything was really going on. It's not a book that grabs you from the start, that's for sure. And while I'm a sucker for books where a character has amnesia, to the point where I stopped listening, I couldn't tell you what the main story line way. Sure, Danny was trying to piece together his life, sure there were other things going on, but I thought it was kind of a mess.

I've started reading some non-fiction. My book ruts usually mean I need to mix it up.

[Stacy Boyles]

This was a slow but good listen. I don't know if I would have stuck with the book but it was worth listening to, for sure. I loved the voice of the narrator. His gangster lingo and Brooklyn accent made it a fun listen.

[Luciano]

Wow! What an excellent story. Epperson used to be a screenwriter and his writing chops show in this story. From beginning to end, it was a rollercoaster of a ride. It reminds me somewhat of a book I read a long time ago called, "A Stone for Danny Fisher." The story from the book also was around the same time frame as well, with a very similar language that transports one to that era and keeps you there.

The characters in The Kind One are vivid, real and remarkable. With many stories about The Mob in the 1930s, it would be easy to fall back on stereotypical characterization. But thankfully, Epperson does a wonderful job creating characters that you both pity, love, hate, root for and hope they die. The main characters, in particular, Danny, Darla, Bud, and Sophia are just incredibly nuanced.

I could not put down the book for the life of me. The dialogue is crisp and keeps the story moving forward. The entire plot is taut, with no filler or boring passages to speak of. I read the entire novel in two days.

The ending was spectacular. Epperson could have played it same with a typical Hollywood ending, but instead, he smashes the reader over the head with a poker, totally throwing the end of a story into. a tailspin. Never saw it coming.

Definitely an author who I hope writes more books in the future.

[Paul]

Interesting take in this homage to 'noir'.
Danny, an apparently low level thug, works for gangster boss, Bud. Danny, apparently beaten severely over the head by an unknown assailant, wielding a lead pipe, has left Danny amnesiac. This 'new' Danny is confused. Was he the hard man his acquaintances claim he was and can a bang to his head really change him into the 'pussycat' he feels himself to be post-beating'?
Danny has two priorities; never to return to prison, and make off with his bosses beautiful wife, Darla and her feisty young 11 year-old daughter Sophie.

It was the middle of July, and it was hot. I sat on the black davenport wearing only my undershorts. The sun was shining through the shrubbery outside my window, and throwing shadows on the hardwood floor.
I imagined taking my new yellow broom and briskly sweeping up all the shadows. They ended up in a tidy little heap of darkness in the corner, while the floor was filled with nothing but light.

[Saumya]

A raw, stark, white knuckle ride.
What I wish I'd known before I read this book: you are going to love many of the characters. And then many of the characters will die.

I'm not sorry I read this book, I couldn't stop once I started. Left me with a bittersweet feeling though, maybe many of the best books do.

I have only one quibble with it - the women characters are either stupid or manipulative, whereas the male characters are multidimensional and ring true. It wouldn't have taken much to make this book glow.

[Glen Guldbeck]

Great noir novel!!! Fans of James Ellroy will eat this up!!!

[Kat Walter]

Maybe 2 and a half stars. I realize it’s a period piece, showing Hollywood’s dark side in the ‘30s, but I couldn’t get past the racial slurs. Fast read—because I skimmed it.

[Janet Reeves]

Not in library

[Shamal Shah]

Pretty solid read, wish i was better about being consistent. Sad they didn’t end up making the movie for this one

[Aidan McNamara]

Very good read, little too much here and there but still good. Worth a read if you like crime and the 1930s.

[Michael]

"The Kind One" is an Edgar Nominee for the best 1st mystery novel.

Fans of Raymond Chandler will enjoy this period novel, set in the 1930's in Los Angeles. It isn't so much a mystery as a novel of mobsters with Philip Marlowe type of dialogue.

Danny Landon is working for a cold blooded mobster named Bud Seitz. Danny, aka, Two Gun Danny has amnesia from being hit on the head with a lead pipe.

Bud asks Danny to act as bodyguard for his mistress, Darla.

As the novel begins there is an uncomfortable scene where Bud's pet chimp bites Darla and Danny has to put the animal down. This is too reminiscent of the recent attack by a chimpanzee on the woman from Stamford,CT.

This descriptive novel is plot driven with intense dialogue and little character development.

After a slow start, we see considerable bi play between Danny and Darla. The reader is made to wonder if they will become romantically involved and if so, will they meet the same fate as Bud's last girlfriend and the employee who made a poor choice and inappropriately touched her and paid the ultimate price.

As the action unfolds, Danny is attempting to help his 11 year old neighbor, Sophie, who is in an abusive home.

Life is cheam for those who associate with Bud and he doesn't hesitate to kill anyone to displeases him, weather it is a stranger or one of his employees.

As Darla becomes more rebellious with Bud's autocratic attitude towards her, Danny's feelings for her grow. She seems to care for Danny in return, but the reader can feel some uncertainty.

With more of the story unfloding, we find that there is a relationship between Danny and Bud that is more than employer, employee and this adds another complication.

Finally, Sophie is about to be sent to a boarding school by her alcoholic mother and Darla becomes desperate to escape from Bud and Danny must help each person.

This is a well told story and not only has it been nominated for an Edgar but it has been in production for a movie with Casey Afflec and is due to be released in 2010.

Congradulations Mr. Epperson, on a job well done.

[Trilby]

Recently I've been having trouble sticking with a book. I get to page 26 and fall asleep, or decide I'd rather be doing laundry or watching reruns of "The X-Files."

This book, however, broke the evil spell. I got right into it, immediately involved in the problems facing the narrator, Danny Landon. The plot is pretty predictable: I figured out the mystery in the first sixty pages.
What's fascinating are the setting (1930 L.A.) and the characters gangsters, gun molls, torch singers, and the star-struck, doomed flotsam of the movie industry). The characters living in the same rental cottage complex as the narrator are unusual--a feisty young girl with an abusive mother and an old British retired military guy.The head gangster, Bud Seitz, is,predictably, a sociopath, but a three-dimensional one. His thugs run the gamut from basically nice guys trapped by circumstance or bad choices to nitwit sadists.

As is common in these "L.A. during the Depression" mysteries, the tying up of the plot at the ending seems too frantic and thrown-together. Nevertheless, this is an impressive debut novel from a writer known for his movie screenplays. As a reviewer for "The L.A. Times" said when the book came out in 2008, this genre novel "outruns the cliches."

[Kathleen Hagen]

The Kind One, by Tom Epperson, b-plus, narrated byScott Brick, produced by Blackstone Audio, downloaded from audible.com

Here we meet Danny Landon in 1930’s Los Angeles. He had some kind of accident, he doesn’t know what, and it has caused him to lose his memory of the past, including his name. He is taken in by Bud Seitz, a vicious and sadistic mobster who for some reason has taken a liking to Danny. Danny thinks that what Bud tells him about who he is can’t be true because the other boys around Bud seem to be laughing at him. As the story unfolds, Danny finds himself forced to participate in crimes he doesn’t want to have anything to do with in order to continually show his loyalty to Bud. And as time goes on and he starts to learn some terrible secrets, he determines that he is going to save those he has come to love. This is a very locality-driven novel, giving you a great view of 1930’s Los Angeles, just coming out of the depression, and the mobsters that existed more blatantly at that time. And of course Scott Brick, one of the most popular narrators, gives just the right flavor to this book.

[Al]

In the kill-or-be-killed criminal underworld of 1930s Los Angeles, "Two Gun Danny" Landon has a distinct disadvantage. According to the fellas, he used to pull all kinds of shoot-ups and shenanigans...but damned if he can't remember a thing from before last year, when he got hit over the head with a lead pipe. Sadistic mobster Bud Seitz -- known to friends and enemies alike as "The Kind One" -- seems to have big plans for him, but truthfully, Danny can't stomach the dirty work. His aim is off, the other wiseguys laugh at him, and he'd gladly trade in the drunken parties and the endless broads for a day at the movies with his colorful and mysterious neighbor Dulwich and eleven-year-old Sophie, whose deadbeat mother delivers an endless stream of emotional and physical abuse. But when Bud's beautiful girlfriend Darla begs Danny to help her escape the Kind One's dark, brutal world, Danny must confront a dangerous test of loyalty that could irrevocably change his life forever.

[Donna]

OK. I loved this book. I loved all the characters. A lot of things were very predictable (Darla at the end for one thing) but it still was good. Even if you knew what was going to happen next, you kinda hoped for it.

I love Sophie, she's a tough little girl and my Fave character, of course, had to be the neighbor Mr. Dulwick.

I usually don't read books like this but to be honest, it sounded OKAY but I also needed a K book for my ABC title challenge so I went out and brought it.

I hear it is going to be a movie with Casey Affleck as Danny. At first I thought it was a good idea but now I am not so sure. I kinda think of Danny as more manly looking. Casey is too pretty. Maybe someone more rugged like a younger Edward Norton???

[Al]

Entertaining Los Angeles noir circa 1930. Danny Landon works for a brutal mob boss, who treats him with uncharacteristic respect. Danny struggles to remember his life before he was beaten into amnesia with a lead pipe. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that Danny isn't cut out for a life of crime. Great 30s ambiance, exciting action, but one weakness is a somewhat labored and unconvincing climax.

[Melanie]

This was a raw, stark read set in Hollywood of the 1930s amidst gangsters run by "the kind one". The main character, Danny, lost his memory but knows he had been one of the best shooters in the gang with the nickname"two gun Danny". He is an obvious favorite of the boss. For Danny, things don't measure up as he is horrified by the brutal lifestyle he is a part of. This book had great characters, a sad undertone and frequent bursts of violence. I found it a captivating but often difficult read.

[ROSE]

L'ambiance est excellente. Très bien mise en place, grâce, entre autre, à des références sur Los Angeles à cette époque (années 30-40), ainsi qu'à une écriture de qualité.
Les personnages sont intéressants et complexes.
Mais... Mais... Mais...
Ca manque cruellement d'action dans les deux premières parties !! Quel dommage !

[Melodie]

Read like a Raymond Chandler book (and that's a good thing). I love Thirties noir mysteries.

[Laura]

Tom Epperson's book is well-written and interesting, but unrelentingly bleak. I found myself permanently stalled about half-way through it, unwilling to read about the pain and disaster that were obviously ahead for most - if not all - of the characters.

[Amy]

This book is set in Los Angeles in the 1930s, and has the feel of the movie Chinatown, with gangs of mobsters who would kill you as soon as look at you. The hero is a bit of a different character, though.
The reader is good, and the book holds you till the last.

[Liz]

A "film noir" type book about a bunch of jewish gangsters in CA. The main character is a 20 something guy with a head injury and amnesia before 10 months earlier. The story is loosely about him remembering/finding out who he is. Very few likable characters and I found the story was a bit slow.

[Kathy Adamson]

This is a perfect noir novel about gangsters in the 1930's. Murder, mayhem, love, mystery and a surprise ending. It has it all.

[Andrea]

Casey Affleck to star in the upcoming film.

[Patrick Gowdy]

A good history of a 1930's Los Angeles. The story is fast-paced, and an easy read.

[Tom O'Connor]

Liked this book, although it wasn't as "noir" as the blurbs implied.

[Swan Bender]

I loved 'Danny', Dulwich and Sophie. The writing was nice to settle into and was believable; the characters were great to get to know.