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Max & Angela #4
Pimp
Reteaming a decade after their award-nominated first collaboration, Bruen and Starr complete the saga of wannabe druglord Max Fisher and his one-time assistant Angela, now working in the capital of sin and depravity: Hollywood.
240 pages, Paperback
First published March 15, 2016
29 people are currently reading
280 people want to read
About the author
Ken Bruen
132 books851 followersKen Bruen was an Irish writer of hardboiled and noir crime fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
May 1, 2025
Pimp follows in the roaring wake of Bust, Slide, & Max, a quartet of crazy noir-edged missiles from Starr and Bruen. Noir is generally serious stuff filled with guys and dames driven to extremes by greed, passion, despair, loneliness, or just the general rottenness and meanness of a cold empty world. Pimp, even more so than the other three books in what has become a series, is a comedic farce that takes many of the elements typifying crime fiction stories and punches the characterizations to extremes.
Despite the extreme body count and all the sexual innuendo, this is a book that is like a walking stand-up comedy act about crime fiction and crime fiction writers and publishers. It is filled with passages, not just about writers, but about Hard Case Crime and Charles Ardai and titles and writers familiar to anyone who reads such fiction. It also parodies Hollywood, producers, agents, directors. And, there's lots of name-dropping to personalities in the news.
Pimp is more over-the-top than any of the other books in the series which began with Max running a computer networking company and plotting with his femme fatale secretary Angela to off his wife. Unfortunately for him, Angela's other beau was a psychotic hitman. From there, the storyline just got crazier with serial killers, hip hop drug dealing former exec Max, Attica-prison break Max, and now new- identity Max. A lot of characters from the previous books come together in this one- although not everyone survives.
If you are looking for a serious crime story, this might not be it, but if you are open to wild, mad, nuttiness with murder and double-crosses that'll make you laugh out loud because it's so over-the-top, this is it.
Despite the extreme body count and all the sexual innuendo, this is a book that is like a walking stand-up comedy act about crime fiction and crime fiction writers and publishers. It is filled with passages, not just about writers, but about Hard Case Crime and Charles Ardai and titles and writers familiar to anyone who reads such fiction. It also parodies Hollywood, producers, agents, directors. And, there's lots of name-dropping to personalities in the news.
Pimp is more over-the-top than any of the other books in the series which began with Max running a computer networking company and plotting with his femme fatale secretary Angela to off his wife. Unfortunately for him, Angela's other beau was a psychotic hitman. From there, the storyline just got crazier with serial killers, hip hop drug dealing former exec Max, Attica-prison break Max, and now new- identity Max. A lot of characters from the previous books come together in this one- although not everyone survives.
If you are looking for a serious crime story, this might not be it, but if you are open to wild, mad, nuttiness with murder and double-crosses that'll make you laugh out loud because it's so over-the-top, this is it.
January 21, 2020
I'm this ... close to rating this 5 stars.
It's my favorite entry in the series.
It's set almost entirely in Hollywood and the authors skewer the cable TV arc-episodic mini-series industries and pop culture icons alike.
They also poke fun at each other's writing careers and that of other authors working in the crime/noir field as well.
It's a completely ridiculous, implausible, overly violent, misogynistic (perhaps), but thoroughly entertaining romp.
Highly recommended but you'll need to read the first three novels for best effect.
I sincerely hope there's a Max & Angela #5 but I don't know how Ken Bruen and Jason Starr could hope to surpass Pimp .
This Just In:
I finally realized who should portray "Max Fisher" in the inevitable limited-run, arc-episodic TV mini-series adaptation of the Max & Angela series: Donald Trump's doctor - Dr. Harold N. Bornstein, M.D. , P.C.
It's my favorite entry in the series.
It's set almost entirely in Hollywood and the authors skewer the cable TV arc-episodic mini-series industries and pop culture icons alike.
They also poke fun at each other's writing careers and that of other authors working in the crime/noir field as well.
It's a completely ridiculous, implausible, overly violent, misogynistic (perhaps), but thoroughly entertaining romp.
Highly recommended but you'll need to read the first three novels for best effect.
I sincerely hope there's a Max & Angela #5 but I don't know how Ken Bruen and Jason Starr could hope to surpass Pimp .
This Just In:
I finally realized who should portray "Max Fisher" in the inevitable limited-run, arc-episodic TV mini-series adaptation of the Max & Angela series: Donald Trump's doctor - Dr. Harold N. Bornstein, M.D. , P.C.
October 20, 2023
Parts were really funny, and I appreciate a quick read between bouts with my usual fare.
Late in the book, there is a meta swipe at the cover (however fetching)- something which had bothered me:
Janet assured her that there was nothing to worry about, that Hard Case already had the cover painted for the next book and writers would be lining up to co-write with her.
She texted Paula a jpeg of the painting.
“What the f---?” Paula shouted. “There’s no redhead in the story. Angela is blonde.”
“So?”
“And what’s she doing, reaching for a…”
“A gun.”
“And Mr. Oblivious sitting there smoking doesn’t notice? What is he, a congenital idiot?”
“He’s distracted by her legs.”
“Who the f--- is he anyway? This is not a scene from my g. d. book! Nothing like this ever happens in it!”
“So what?” Janet said. “Since when has a Hard Case Crime cover ever had anything to do with what’s inside the book?”
Then added unhelpfully, “Anyway, how do you know what will or won’t be in the book? You haven’t even written it yet.”
Which was, after all, the bigger problem.
MY bigger problem, which was not the fault of the book per se, was that I was pretty vague on the events of The Max, which I read five years ago. Furthermore, I know "death solves a multitude of problems," but that shouldn't apply to writers trying to move the plot along. Just sayin'.
Late in the book, there is a meta swipe at the cover (however fetching)- something which had bothered me:
Janet assured her that there was nothing to worry about, that Hard Case already had the cover painted for the next book and writers would be lining up to co-write with her.
She texted Paula a jpeg of the painting.
“What the f---?” Paula shouted. “There’s no redhead in the story. Angela is blonde.”
“So?”
“And what’s she doing, reaching for a…”
“A gun.”
“And Mr. Oblivious sitting there smoking doesn’t notice? What is he, a congenital idiot?”
“He’s distracted by her legs.”
“Who the f--- is he anyway? This is not a scene from my g. d. book! Nothing like this ever happens in it!”
“So what?” Janet said. “Since when has a Hard Case Crime cover ever had anything to do with what’s inside the book?”
Then added unhelpfully, “Anyway, how do you know what will or won’t be in the book? You haven’t even written it yet.”
Which was, after all, the bigger problem.
MY bigger problem, which was not the fault of the book per se, was that I was pretty vague on the events of The Max, which I read five years ago. Furthermore, I know "death solves a multitude of problems," but that shouldn't apply to writers trying to move the plot along. Just sayin'.
March 7, 2016
When you get two great authors together you expect something great to happen. this is the case here, Starr and Bruen have again created a blast of a book. Love the characters, although i wouldnt want to meet them. You find yourself rooting for them even thought they are lousy humans. Love reading both Jason Starr and Ken Bruen, if you havent read this series do yourself a favor and do it.
June 7, 2021
The Max and Angela Saga climaxes in a laugh out loud, violent and ridiculous frenzy of drugs, delusion and Hollywood!
5/5 highly recommended
5/5 highly recommended
February 6, 2018
"Doesn't matter what you sell, how you sell it is what matters"
Wow! Once I read this quote I was hooked!(pun intended) Before I read PIMP, I had already thought that it was going to be your usual cliché story of a person who goes from nothing to something through marketing prostitutes; hence the title PIMP. That or it was just going to be a narration of a pimp's story through what the author thought was the closest lifestyle of a pimp. However, none of that actually happened. No, instead the authors, Ken Bruen and Jason Starr, delivered the unexpected...the story of a drug kingpin named Max Fisher and how his ex Angela Petrakos wants to make a series based on their story.
Dark humor, funny references, violence, great dialogue and action that keeps you wanting more makes this one of best books to read if you're into Crime Fiction!
Though PIMP is a book I enjoyed very much, there were some times in which I was left confused on what was going on in some chapters. That being said, it shouldn't keep anyone from reading this amazing and hilarious book.
Nonetheless, due to reading and finishing PIMP, I now plan on reading the other 3 books from the series (BUST, SLIDE, and THE MAX) partially so I can learn more about Max's story, but mainly because of how great the authors portrayed the story itself. Again, this is a great book for any of those interested in Crime Fiction or for anyone who wants to read some humor and have a good laugh.
Wow! Once I read this quote I was hooked!(pun intended) Before I read PIMP, I had already thought that it was going to be your usual cliché story of a person who goes from nothing to something through marketing prostitutes; hence the title PIMP. That or it was just going to be a narration of a pimp's story through what the author thought was the closest lifestyle of a pimp. However, none of that actually happened. No, instead the authors, Ken Bruen and Jason Starr, delivered the unexpected...the story of a drug kingpin named Max Fisher and how his ex Angela Petrakos wants to make a series based on their story.
Dark humor, funny references, violence, great dialogue and action that keeps you wanting more makes this one of best books to read if you're into Crime Fiction!
Though PIMP is a book I enjoyed very much, there were some times in which I was left confused on what was going on in some chapters. That being said, it shouldn't keep anyone from reading this amazing and hilarious book.
Nonetheless, due to reading and finishing PIMP, I now plan on reading the other 3 books from the series (BUST, SLIDE, and THE MAX) partially so I can learn more about Max's story, but mainly because of how great the authors portrayed the story itself. Again, this is a great book for any of those interested in Crime Fiction or for anyone who wants to read some humor and have a good laugh.
September 15, 2016
Max and Angela do Hollywood in the 4th installment of the Bruen/Starr humorous noir series collaboration.
Max, now a hardened criminal with an over-inflated sense of self worth and delusions of grandeur, finds himself as the sole mass producer of wonder drug PIMP; a drug that will surely etch his name firmly among the criminal elite as well as make him a bucket load of cash. Out with the blue collar, in with the pimp strut, so to speak.
Angela, of the returned from the dead variety, has managed to work her way through the porn industry into the prime position of producer for a TV series based on hers and Max's criminal exploits entitled 'Bust'. Under the guise of Brandi Love, her pron pseudonym, Angela forges a lifestyle she'd only dreamed of - made real by her easy acquiescence to murder, backstabbing, and bribery.
PIMP is a damn good book to read. I loved every minute and hope to read many, many more crazy tales encapsulating the criminal capers of Max and Angela.
Max, now a hardened criminal with an over-inflated sense of self worth and delusions of grandeur, finds himself as the sole mass producer of wonder drug PIMP; a drug that will surely etch his name firmly among the criminal elite as well as make him a bucket load of cash. Out with the blue collar, in with the pimp strut, so to speak.
Angela, of the returned from the dead variety, has managed to work her way through the porn industry into the prime position of producer for a TV series based on hers and Max's criminal exploits entitled 'Bust'. Under the guise of Brandi Love, her pron pseudonym, Angela forges a lifestyle she'd only dreamed of - made real by her easy acquiescence to murder, backstabbing, and bribery.
PIMP is a damn good book to read. I loved every minute and hope to read many, many more crazy tales encapsulating the criminal capers of Max and Angela.
February 12, 2016
Self referential satirical noir antics that make gleeful fun of the movie and mystery writing business. Nominally an ultra-violent tale of a drug dealer and his past partner becoming involved with a film project about their lives, this is mostly just an excuse for Bruen and Starr to have wicked fun. Those looking for Bruen's genuine writing chops should refer to his Jack Taylor series; if Pimp is more to your liking be sure to read Bust, The Max and Slide.
September 10, 2017
"PIMP" is a lousy book. Don't waste your time.
If you want to read more about "PIMP," the fourth in the increasingly horrid "Max and Angela" series from Bruen & Starr, here goes.
The fourth book in the series takes aim at Hollywood. All the surviving characters from the previous books make their way to LaLa Land for fame and fortune and obsession and revenge...and...so on. The book is filled to the brim with in-jokes, asides, and insults directed at Hollywood's elite. There is barely any plot to speak of, just the self-deluded creatures making alliances and then betraying each other--ultimately tearing each other apart.
In the previous book, "The MAX," the character of Paula Segal was brought in to give a grim and miserable perspective on the publishing world. In "PIMP," the new kid on the block is a senior citizen, hack, bottom-feeding producer--Larry Reed. He's the authors' way to lambast the lower rungs of the movie industry.
I can imagine Elmore Leonard spinning in his grave if anyone compares this rotten novel to "Get Shorty." But I think the authors intended that very comparison.
The series is getting increasingly "meta," and that's not a good thing. This fourth book is about making a TV show of the first book in this series "Bust." But in this world, the first book--"Bust"--was written by characters in this universe, not Bruen and Starr.
There is nothing remotely close to providing suspension of disbelief in "PIMP." Max is supposedly some kind of killing machine who single-handedly creates America's newest drug craze and carves an empire for himself. Then he retires to Hollywood to oversee the TV series about his life. As if putting on weight, some bad plastic surgery, and cheap red hair dye can make Max an Irishman and not one of the FBI's Most Wanted.
And Angela, who we were led to believe died at the end of "The MAX," is alive and well and apparently able to seduce any man with a pulse. Though if you've been a careful reader of this ludicrous series, she has been shot and carved up so many times that her body must be about 50% scar tissue. How a woman like that seduces anyone is beyond me. Unlike in previous installments, Angela gets a lot more page-time devoted to her herpes-spreading antics.
At some point, satire stops being satire and is just bad writing. Bruen and Starr passed that point somewhere in book two of this series. If there is a fifth book in this awful series, I won't be reading it. Nor will I read anything else these authors have written. If you're smart, you'll do the same.
If you want to read more about "PIMP," the fourth in the increasingly horrid "Max and Angela" series from Bruen & Starr, here goes.
The fourth book in the series takes aim at Hollywood. All the surviving characters from the previous books make their way to LaLa Land for fame and fortune and obsession and revenge...and...so on. The book is filled to the brim with in-jokes, asides, and insults directed at Hollywood's elite. There is barely any plot to speak of, just the self-deluded creatures making alliances and then betraying each other--ultimately tearing each other apart.
In the previous book, "The MAX," the character of Paula Segal was brought in to give a grim and miserable perspective on the publishing world. In "PIMP," the new kid on the block is a senior citizen, hack, bottom-feeding producer--Larry Reed. He's the authors' way to lambast the lower rungs of the movie industry.
I can imagine Elmore Leonard spinning in his grave if anyone compares this rotten novel to "Get Shorty." But I think the authors intended that very comparison.
The series is getting increasingly "meta," and that's not a good thing. This fourth book is about making a TV show of the first book in this series "Bust." But in this world, the first book--"Bust"--was written by characters in this universe, not Bruen and Starr.
There is nothing remotely close to providing suspension of disbelief in "PIMP." Max is supposedly some kind of killing machine who single-handedly creates America's newest drug craze and carves an empire for himself. Then he retires to Hollywood to oversee the TV series about his life. As if putting on weight, some bad plastic surgery, and cheap red hair dye can make Max an Irishman and not one of the FBI's Most Wanted.
And Angela, who we were led to believe died at the end of "The MAX," is alive and well and apparently able to seduce any man with a pulse. Though if you've been a careful reader of this ludicrous series, she has been shot and carved up so many times that her body must be about 50% scar tissue. How a woman like that seduces anyone is beyond me. Unlike in previous installments, Angela gets a lot more page-time devoted to her herpes-spreading antics.
At some point, satire stops being satire and is just bad writing. Bruen and Starr passed that point somewhere in book two of this series. If there is a fifth book in this awful series, I won't be reading it. Nor will I read anything else these authors have written. If you're smart, you'll do the same.
April 14, 2018
Kind of a mess. There was several characters that were hard to keep track of because of their different identities and how they related. When it should have been wrapping up, they kept adding in more. The project of inserting so much name dropping was a bit overwhelming as well. You can skip this one.
April 13, 2017
Thus entertaining crime novel is a send-up of Hollywood and designer drugs. Often profane, filled with crime novel writer inside jokes, it is always hilarious.
July 17, 2016
Bruen and Starr... They know how to take care of you.
March 19, 2020
Skewers everything from authors and books to actors and movies (it even gets a few digs in on Hard Case Crime). If you are looking for a noir with a lot of humor, this will fit the bill.
March 12, 2021
Too much of an in-joke appreciating how clever it is rather than thinking about the reader
August 6, 2020
Have you read a Ken Bruen novel yet? Better yet, listened to a Ken Bruen novel read by Peter Berkrot? If you like your mysteries seedy and dark with nasty, nasty characters then buckle up and enjoy the ride!
April 29, 2020
Laugh out loud nasty.
Need to read the series prior to picking up this book as all the characters make appearances here. These two writers never disappoint.
Need to read the series prior to picking up this book as all the characters make appearances here. These two writers never disappoint.
February 9, 2024
Irreverent, dreadful and fun.
September 3, 2021
I perfect end to the Max and Angela (you say quartet, I say) tetralogy
April 9, 2016
No one writes noir like Ken Bruen. He is the darkest of the dark. Oh, there is always a bit of snarky, nasty Irish humor thrown in, but laugh out loud funny? Never, not from Ken Bruen. Well, that's true when he's writing alone, but put him with Jason Starr and get ready to be transported to the hardest, meanest, criminal world, one that doesn't give a bleep about suspension of disbelief, and get ready to keep checking to see if you have, indeed laughed your a** off. Their books are brutally dark and outrageously funny.
This is, I believe, the fourth collaboration of Bruen and Starr, and the continuing story of their pair of villains, Max and Angela. This book came as a very pleasant surprise to me, as I was pretty sure that they were both dead at the end the last book. With the skill of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in resurrecting Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty, Bruen and Starr resurrect Max and Angela. Let the criminal world beware. Also, let Hollywood, Lee Child and many other mystery authors beware. This is a no holds barred send-up of the world of book-to-movie process.
The only "plot" I can tease out, while trying to hold onto my Kindle while laughing so hard, is that this book presumes that the previous books about Max and Angela were, well, just that, books. Now, someone is trying to make a movie based on Angela's story. I will say nothing about who that is. I will say that Lee Child's cover blurb, "I want to kill these guys – except I can't stop laughing long enough," is both accurate and a fair warning.
Bruen and Starr proceed to eviscerate the industry and the people who work in it, and the authors who have had their books turned into movies. I think (my personal opinion) is that the notion of Tom Cruise to playing Child's hero, Jack Reacher, was just too over the top to resist. (note: the character of Jack Reacher is 6'4" and a former member of some special forces group, and Cruise is well, short.)
From the moment the book begins, right through to the end, you need a bibliography and a score card if you are going to get all the jokes and wisecracks. I love snarky, but this is snark taken to the an artistic extreme. No one is safe, not even the authors themselves. Trying to summarize it would take, well, as many pages as the book, so just read the book.
One caution: this could be read as a stand-alone, but the reader will be lost and unappreciative of just how outrageous this book is if the reader has not read the three previous books starring Max and Angela.
Without question, this is the best collaboration by ANY pair of authors I have ever read. VERY funny and ridiculously well-written. Ten stars if it was possible.
This is, I believe, the fourth collaboration of Bruen and Starr, and the continuing story of their pair of villains, Max and Angela. This book came as a very pleasant surprise to me, as I was pretty sure that they were both dead at the end the last book. With the skill of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in resurrecting Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty, Bruen and Starr resurrect Max and Angela. Let the criminal world beware. Also, let Hollywood, Lee Child and many other mystery authors beware. This is a no holds barred send-up of the world of book-to-movie process.
The only "plot" I can tease out, while trying to hold onto my Kindle while laughing so hard, is that this book presumes that the previous books about Max and Angela were, well, just that, books. Now, someone is trying to make a movie based on Angela's story. I will say nothing about who that is. I will say that Lee Child's cover blurb, "I want to kill these guys – except I can't stop laughing long enough," is both accurate and a fair warning.
Bruen and Starr proceed to eviscerate the industry and the people who work in it, and the authors who have had their books turned into movies. I think (my personal opinion) is that the notion of Tom Cruise to playing Child's hero, Jack Reacher, was just too over the top to resist. (note: the character of Jack Reacher is 6'4" and a former member of some special forces group, and Cruise is well, short.)
From the moment the book begins, right through to the end, you need a bibliography and a score card if you are going to get all the jokes and wisecracks. I love snarky, but this is snark taken to the an artistic extreme. No one is safe, not even the authors themselves. Trying to summarize it would take, well, as many pages as the book, so just read the book.
One caution: this could be read as a stand-alone, but the reader will be lost and unappreciative of just how outrageous this book is if the reader has not read the three previous books starring Max and Angela.
Without question, this is the best collaboration by ANY pair of authors I have ever read. VERY funny and ridiculously well-written. Ten stars if it was possible.
January 7, 2022
Pop Culture References Mistaken for Wit
A lot of this books seems kind of pointless, as most of it recaps characters and events from previous books in these series. There is so much reminiscing in fact, that it eclipses the events from this story. It looks as if the antihero will be rising in the drug trade, offering with a new drug called PIMP, and then a few chapters later is top of his game with virtually no struggle. In fact, there doesn’t seem to be a central plot of theme to this book, as no one seems to have trouble rising up in their professions. This might be great for people who are already in love with these characters, but for a new reader it all gets tedious rather quickly.
On top of that are the constant barrage of pop culture references, half of which are archaic already, jammed into every square inch. In the first five pages there are at least twenty references alone. I quickly blew through this book and shrugged at the end. My suggestion is to not start with this book as your first entry into the series.
A lot of this books seems kind of pointless, as most of it recaps characters and events from previous books in these series. There is so much reminiscing in fact, that it eclipses the events from this story. It looks as if the antihero will be rising in the drug trade, offering with a new drug called PIMP, and then a few chapters later is top of his game with virtually no struggle. In fact, there doesn’t seem to be a central plot of theme to this book, as no one seems to have trouble rising up in their professions. This might be great for people who are already in love with these characters, but for a new reader it all gets tedious rather quickly.
On top of that are the constant barrage of pop culture references, half of which are archaic already, jammed into every square inch. In the first five pages there are at least twenty references alone. I quickly blew through this book and shrugged at the end. My suggestion is to not start with this book as your first entry into the series.
March 30, 2022
Not really Noir and barely Pulp Fiction. Basically a cheap knockoff of Get Shorty that is far too amused by its own cleverness.
The constant crime author/film/cultural references get old pretty quick and the whole book feels like something a pair of frat boys chucked together over a drunken weekend for their own amusement.
Really a book about a pair of passed over crime writers whining on about how under appreciated and hard done by crime writers are (by other writers, their agents, their publishers and especially Hollywood).
The plot is nonsense. Characterisation is non-existent and quite often the characters have no purpose beyond 'we thought of this so we put it in'.
Whilst the writing is generally substandard there are occasional moments when it is sharp and laugh out loud funny which just about makes the whole thing bearable.
And the constant Lee Child references gets really stale, really quick.
The constant crime author/film/cultural references get old pretty quick and the whole book feels like something a pair of frat boys chucked together over a drunken weekend for their own amusement.
Really a book about a pair of passed over crime writers whining on about how under appreciated and hard done by crime writers are (by other writers, their agents, their publishers and especially Hollywood).
The plot is nonsense. Characterisation is non-existent and quite often the characters have no purpose beyond 'we thought of this so we put it in'.
Whilst the writing is generally substandard there are occasional moments when it is sharp and laugh out loud funny which just about makes the whole thing bearable.
And the constant Lee Child references gets really stale, really quick.
April 2, 2016
This is the first book I have read in this series. After reading this book I will be checking out the past books in the series. The slap silly antics, conversations, and appropriate and inappropriate references to celebrities had me laughing. Reading this book was more like watching a movie play out in my head. There is so much happening yet too so much that I got confused. This book has the feel of a classic, gangster story.
Max and Angela are great together. They are kind of like Clyde and Bonnie. Then there are the dumb cops. Oh my gosh it was like they could not find their way out of a paper bag. Yet they made for good entertainment. I read the first 12 chapters in one sitting. The story got better and better as I went along.
Warning: This book does coming with a rating of "R". There is a lot of the "f" word used throughout this book.
Max and Angela are great together. They are kind of like Clyde and Bonnie. Then there are the dumb cops. Oh my gosh it was like they could not find their way out of a paper bag. Yet they made for good entertainment. I read the first 12 chapters in one sitting. The story got better and better as I went along.
Warning: This book does coming with a rating of "R". There is a lot of the "f" word used throughout this book.
July 7, 2016
Jet. Black. Noir.
This was a crazy book that name drops modern references to crime thrillers in print and television faster than an episode of Kimmy Schmidt.
Lee Child gets the royal treatment throughout the book. He's picked on, lauded, hated, and contorted (in a way) into a serial killer. Stieg Larrsen also gets roasted with a plot that contends all the stories for The Gurl with the Dragon Tattoo were written by a guy named Lars Stieggson.
There are some hilarious chapters in the back third of the book that bring lots of plot lines together...sometimes though the book gets bogged down in re-explaining key sequences through another character's eyes.
The book keeps trying to one up the shock value. I loved that. It's not for everyone though.
All in all, more comedy than noir...and a funny funny love letter to the genre.
This was a crazy book that name drops modern references to crime thrillers in print and television faster than an episode of Kimmy Schmidt.
Lee Child gets the royal treatment throughout the book. He's picked on, lauded, hated, and contorted (in a way) into a serial killer. Stieg Larrsen also gets roasted with a plot that contends all the stories for The Gurl with the Dragon Tattoo were written by a guy named Lars Stieggson.
There are some hilarious chapters in the back third of the book that bring lots of plot lines together...sometimes though the book gets bogged down in re-explaining key sequences through another character's eyes.
The book keeps trying to one up the shock value. I loved that. It's not for everyone though.
All in all, more comedy than noir...and a funny funny love letter to the genre.
April 18, 2016
One of the most entertaining books I've read in awhile. Rarely do I read a book and snort-laugh on a plane. Is it dirty? Of course. Is it violent? Without question. Is it funnier than hell? Absolutely.
September 26, 2022
Tried too hard to be amusing. Definitely not crime noir.
September 16, 2024
Hmm. This was pretty funny but could use a serious trimming of pop culture references. I bought this at my local bookstore for the promise of a cheap, fun read - noir / pulp story set in present day (2016) Hollywood. Pastiche / genre-piece, parody? For some reason, this book feels like the literary equivalent of the Leisure Suit Larry video game series. Smutty stuff. Very tongue-in-cheek.
The 4th book in a series I haven't read, Max Fisher (presumed dead) is now the number one supplier / dealer of the hottest new drug, PIMP. Angela Petrakos, now going by Brandi Love, is in Hollywood doing porn and hoping to break into the film industry after reading the best-seller biography based on her and Max's lives. She wants her piece of the pie. There's plenty of other characters here: has-been Hollywood producers, sleazy cops, writers out of a job. They're all pieces of work. They're all morally devoid and out to make a quick buck or a name for themselves. Sleazebags.
This was a fun story, the situational comedy here was honestly really good. But (and this is a big BUT) as other user reviews point out, there are WAY TOO MANY POP CULTURE REFERENCES, in-jokes, and references to previous entries in the series.
Characterization was good, I really loved how much I disliked the characters, these are not good people. They're all scum. Low-life scum. High-life scum. Scum all the same. Everybody is shady, sleazy, and unlikable. This is great. Makes for a pretty fun read. I loved reading each character's inner-thoughts / delusions-of-grandeur-and-entitlement. Nasty people.
I loved how the story starts closing off plot-threads approaching the end of the book. Characters and main players are eliminated one by one in unique, and honestly pretty amusing ways. Everybody meets their end one way or the other. There are no real winners here, no-one comes out on top save for a small handful of characters. This feels almost like a lesson in morality. I don't think this was the authors' intention necessarily.
Anyways, honestly kinda feel like reading the first 3 books now. Reading chapter previews from other entries in the series gives me the impression that they don't share in the excess of pop culture references this book has.
The 4th book in a series I haven't read, Max Fisher (presumed dead) is now the number one supplier / dealer of the hottest new drug, PIMP. Angela Petrakos, now going by Brandi Love, is in Hollywood doing porn and hoping to break into the film industry after reading the best-seller biography based on her and Max's lives. She wants her piece of the pie. There's plenty of other characters here: has-been Hollywood producers, sleazy cops, writers out of a job. They're all pieces of work. They're all morally devoid and out to make a quick buck or a name for themselves. Sleazebags.
This was a fun story, the situational comedy here was honestly really good. But (and this is a big BUT) as other user reviews point out, there are WAY TOO MANY POP CULTURE REFERENCES, in-jokes, and references to previous entries in the series.
Characterization was good, I really loved how much I disliked the characters, these are not good people. They're all scum. Low-life scum. High-life scum. Scum all the same. Everybody is shady, sleazy, and unlikable. This is great. Makes for a pretty fun read. I loved reading each character's inner-thoughts / delusions-of-grandeur-and-entitlement. Nasty people.
I loved how the story starts closing off plot-threads approaching the end of the book. Characters and main players are eliminated one by one in unique, and honestly pretty amusing ways. Everybody meets their end one way or the other. There are no real winners here, no-one comes out on top save for a small handful of characters. This feels almost like a lesson in morality. I don't think this was the authors' intention necessarily.
Anyways, honestly kinda feel like reading the first 3 books now. Reading chapter previews from other entries in the series gives me the impression that they don't share in the excess of pop culture references this book has.
January 1, 2021
On the cover there is a blurb from Lee Child: "I want to kill these guys---except I can't stop laughing long enough". And unlike hundreds of blurbs I have read this year, Child's hit the mark.
We do have a few errors to deal with. After all, Hard Case Crime doesn't have the largest budget or the very best proofreaders. For instance, we have this: "... .9MM...". A bit of confusion about how to designate a firearm's bore size. But, okay, it is New Year's Eve, we can afford to forgive this and a few other goofs. After all, it is hard to catch every little thing when you have water in your eyes from the humor.
The humor does not spare Hard Case, noir writers, writers in general, actors, the movie industry, and so on. People are mentioned and identified by name. Neither Bruen nor Starr is spared.
Recommended.
We do have a few errors to deal with. After all, Hard Case Crime doesn't have the largest budget or the very best proofreaders. For instance, we have this: "... .9MM...". A bit of confusion about how to designate a firearm's bore size. But, okay, it is New Year's Eve, we can afford to forgive this and a few other goofs. After all, it is hard to catch every little thing when you have water in your eyes from the humor.
The humor does not spare Hard Case, noir writers, writers in general, actors, the movie industry, and so on. People are mentioned and identified by name. Neither Bruen nor Starr is spared.
Recommended.
January 7, 2022
¿Conclusión de saga? en principio parece que si, pero la puerta no queda cerrada. En todo caso esta novela me ha parecido que flojea un poco respecto a las anteriores, aún así, este equipo de escritores sigue consiguiendo ofrecer diversión y un ritmo narrativo muy adecuado.
Los elementos autoreferenciales son mucho más frecuentes en esta novela que en las anteriores, así nos encontramos momentos muy "meta" como cuando se habla de otros escritores del mundillo, de la editorial Hard Case o de la ilustración de portada del propio libro. Las citas al principio de cada capítulo también tienen su gracia.
En conjunto es una serie muy divertida y merece la pena acercarse a ella siempre teniendo en cuenta que su componente hard boiled hace que no sea para todo el mundo
Los elementos autoreferenciales son mucho más frecuentes en esta novela que en las anteriores, así nos encontramos momentos muy "meta" como cuando se habla de otros escritores del mundillo, de la editorial Hard Case o de la ilustración de portada del propio libro. Las citas al principio de cada capítulo también tienen su gracia.
En conjunto es una serie muy divertida y merece la pena acercarse a ella siempre teniendo en cuenta que su componente hard boiled hace que no sea para todo el mundo
March 24, 2017
"For all those who did fuck all to help us or give us a review."
Well, needless to say, I liked this book right from the dedication above!
PIMP:
Peyote
Insulin
Mescaline
and a liberal sprinkle of Psychosis.
In short, one hell of a drug! Though, not entirely what this book is about! I liked this read a lot, it's fast paced, good dialogue (and dialects!), and lots of action, sex, and vulgar language! Great use of pop culture references and lots of funny Lee Child jibes! My reason for not giving it more stars is that it simply seems like a darker version of "Get Shorty", which strangely is quoted, mentioned, and even referenced on the back cover! But really, it seems like a straight knock off! So much so, that Elmore should be listed as a co-co-writer for fook's sake! But if I hadn't read, or seen, "Get Shorty", this is a 4 or 4 1/2 star book for sure!
Well, needless to say, I liked this book right from the dedication above!
PIMP:
Peyote
Insulin
Mescaline
and a liberal sprinkle of Psychosis.
In short, one hell of a drug! Though, not entirely what this book is about! I liked this read a lot, it's fast paced, good dialogue (and dialects!), and lots of action, sex, and vulgar language! Great use of pop culture references and lots of funny Lee Child jibes! My reason for not giving it more stars is that it simply seems like a darker version of "Get Shorty", which strangely is quoted, mentioned, and even referenced on the back cover! But really, it seems like a straight knock off! So much so, that Elmore should be listed as a co-co-writer for fook's sake! But if I hadn't read, or seen, "Get Shorty", this is a 4 or 4 1/2 star book for sure!
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