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Strip
A bracing and ingeniously cast L.A. crime novel from Edgar Award–winner Thomas Perry An aging but formidable strip club owner, Claudiu “Manco” Kapak, is robbed by a masked gunman as he places his cash receipts in a bank’s night-deposit box. Enraged, he sends out half a dozen security men to find the witless culprit. Their search leads them to Joe Carver, an innocent but hardly defenseless newcomer who evades capture and sets out to make Kapak wish he’d targeted someone else. Meanwhile, the real burglar, Jefferson Davis Falkins, and his new girlfriend Carrie seem to believe they’ve found a whole new robbing Manco Kapak. Lieutenant Nick Slosser, the police detective in charge of the puzzling and increasingly violent case, has his own troubles, including worries about how he’s going to afford to send the oldest child of each of his two bigamous marriages to college without making their mothers suspicious. As this strange series of events explodes into a triple killing, Carver finds himself in the middle of a brewing gang war over Kapak’s little empire, while Falkins and Carrie journey into territory more dangerous than they could have ever imagined.
344 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
426 people are currently reading
1061 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Perry
93 books1,700 followersThomas Perry was the author of 25 novels. He was born in Tonawanda, New York in 1947. He received a B.A. from Cornell University in 1969 and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Rochester in 1974. He had worked as a park maintenance man, factory laborer, commercial fisherman, university administrator and teacher, and as a writer and producer of prime time network television shows.
Thomas Perry lived in Southern California.
Thomas Perry lived in Southern California.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 333 reviews
August 15, 2015
Holy shit! I rarely cuss in a book review, but this book deserves it for the fantastic ending. What an ending. The rest of the book was good - very good. I enjoyed it as much as any of his books & that's pretty high praise, but the way it wrapped it up!!!
The characters were fantastic. There were a few main characters I was rooting for all the time. Unfortunately, their needs seemed mutually exclusive - or are they? Possibly not. They were all pretty good guys & gals. Not perfect, not always very nice, but other times nicer than I would have expected. Basically, they were decent people who had to make some hard choices. Other characters were good, bad, dumb &/or flat out crazy, but even most of them were likable at times or at least sympathetic.
And then there was the plot - a series of crazy, realistic events that fell one after another like a train wreck in slow motion. It wasn't a question of whether or not a disaster would happen, just who it would fall on & how badly. Sometimes I was rooting for that to happen, but things rarely turned out the way I expected.
I can't recommend this author & this particular book highly enough.
The characters were fantastic. There were a few main characters I was rooting for all the time. Unfortunately, their needs seemed mutually exclusive - or are they? Possibly not. They were all pretty good guys & gals. Not perfect, not always very nice, but other times nicer than I would have expected. Basically, they were decent people who had to make some hard choices. Other characters were good, bad, dumb &/or flat out crazy, but even most of them were likable at times or at least sympathetic.
And then there was the plot - a series of crazy, realistic events that fell one after another like a train wreck in slow motion. It wasn't a question of whether or not a disaster would happen, just who it would fall on & how badly. Sometimes I was rooting for that to happen, but things rarely turned out the way I expected.
I can't recommend this author & this particular book highly enough.
May 16, 2011
If you’re looking for a single main character working his/her way through a straight line narrative, then just keep on walking. If you’re in the mood for a large cast of well-defined characters scheming their way through a web of theft, double-crosses, mistaken identity, misguided revenge attempts, bigamy, money laundering, strip clubs, night clubs, arson, murder and the destruction of a couple of Hummers, then this is definitely the book for you.
The book opens with Joe Carver on the run and sleeping in a construction site. Joe is new to L.A. and had been throwing money around as he sampled the night life in an attempt to impress women. Unfortunately for Joe, strip club owner and money launderer Manco Kapak was recently robbed while making his night deposit, and he’s had his thugs asking around about who has been flashing a lot of cash. Manco doesn’t really care if they’re blaming the right guy or not, he just has to punish somebody so as not to show weakness to his drug dealing partner.
Joe turns out to have his own checkered past and isn’t a pushover, but as he’s trying to convince Kapak that he didn’t rob him, the real thief, Jefferson Davis Falkins, and his new thrill seeking girlfriend, Carrie, decide that robbing Manco Kapak is both profitable and fun so they find new ways to get to his money. Kapak keeps blaming Joe for the new robberies. A police lieutenant with his own secret is getting very curious about all the activity around Kapak. Kapak’s enforcers are starting to think that their bosses luck has run out and start plotting against him. And Kapak’s insane drug dealing partner is getting impatient.
A summary of the plot makes it seem like a pure action story in which Kapak is the evil villain who picked the wrong guy to pin a crime on. That isn’t the case at all. All the characters are fully fleshed out with their own histories and motives. Even Kapak doesn’t come across as a villain, he’s more like a tired and aging man who actually cares about his employees and is just trying to hold on to what is his.
The story zigzags in unexpected directions, and has an ending I never saw coming. I really enjoyed this intelligent story about how one robbery can set off a chain of unexpected events that impacts many lives. I’ll be checking out more books by Thomas Perry.
The book opens with Joe Carver on the run and sleeping in a construction site. Joe is new to L.A. and had been throwing money around as he sampled the night life in an attempt to impress women. Unfortunately for Joe, strip club owner and money launderer Manco Kapak was recently robbed while making his night deposit, and he’s had his thugs asking around about who has been flashing a lot of cash. Manco doesn’t really care if they’re blaming the right guy or not, he just has to punish somebody so as not to show weakness to his drug dealing partner.
Joe turns out to have his own checkered past and isn’t a pushover, but as he’s trying to convince Kapak that he didn’t rob him, the real thief, Jefferson Davis Falkins, and his new thrill seeking girlfriend, Carrie, decide that robbing Manco Kapak is both profitable and fun so they find new ways to get to his money. Kapak keeps blaming Joe for the new robberies. A police lieutenant with his own secret is getting very curious about all the activity around Kapak. Kapak’s enforcers are starting to think that their bosses luck has run out and start plotting against him. And Kapak’s insane drug dealing partner is getting impatient.
A summary of the plot makes it seem like a pure action story in which Kapak is the evil villain who picked the wrong guy to pin a crime on. That isn’t the case at all. All the characters are fully fleshed out with their own histories and motives. Even Kapak doesn’t come across as a villain, he’s more like a tired and aging man who actually cares about his employees and is just trying to hold on to what is his.
The story zigzags in unexpected directions, and has an ending I never saw coming. I really enjoyed this intelligent story about how one robbery can set off a chain of unexpected events that impacts many lives. I’ll be checking out more books by Thomas Perry.
May 15, 2011
This is a very entertaining book with a host of quirky, interesting characters of the sort that you might expect to find in an Elmore Leonard novel. An aging L.A. strip club owner named Manko Kapak is robbed of several thousand dollars while making his nightly deposit. Losing the money is bad enough, but being ripped off like this is even worse for the reputation of someone like Kapak. He orders his crew to find the thief and make an example of him.
Sadly, Kapak's thugs identify the wrong man, a newcomer to the city named Joe Carver. Even worse for Kapak, Carver is no pushover and when Kapak refuses to believe Carver's protests of innocence, Carver decides to fight fire with fire. In the meantime, the real robber, who has the unlikely name of Jefferson Davis Falkins, decides that robbing Kapak is so profitable and so much fun that he just keeps on doing it. Along the way, Falkins hooks up with an adrenaline-charged beauty named Carrie Carr, who joins him in his escapades and eggs him on to ever more outlandish actions.
Along the way, a number of other characters appear, including a bigamist police detective who, in addition to investigating the multiple crimes committed here, is desperately trying to figure out how he can afford to pay the college tuition for his four children. The result is a story that moves in several different directions at once. But Perry, who is a very talented writer, skillfully keeps all these balls in the air and leaves the reader turning one page after another until he or she reaches the conclusion. Perry, who is perhaps best known for his two series featuring Jane Whitefield and the Butcher's Boy has produced here a stand-alone novel that will appeal to large numbers of readers.
Sadly, Kapak's thugs identify the wrong man, a newcomer to the city named Joe Carver. Even worse for Kapak, Carver is no pushover and when Kapak refuses to believe Carver's protests of innocence, Carver decides to fight fire with fire. In the meantime, the real robber, who has the unlikely name of Jefferson Davis Falkins, decides that robbing Kapak is so profitable and so much fun that he just keeps on doing it. Along the way, Falkins hooks up with an adrenaline-charged beauty named Carrie Carr, who joins him in his escapades and eggs him on to ever more outlandish actions.
Along the way, a number of other characters appear, including a bigamist police detective who, in addition to investigating the multiple crimes committed here, is desperately trying to figure out how he can afford to pay the college tuition for his four children. The result is a story that moves in several different directions at once. But Perry, who is a very talented writer, skillfully keeps all these balls in the air and leaves the reader turning one page after another until he or she reaches the conclusion. Perry, who is perhaps best known for his two series featuring Jane Whitefield and the Butcher's Boy has produced here a stand-alone novel that will appeal to large numbers of readers.
September 29, 2023
I have read and enjoyed several of Perry's Jane Whitefield novels which feature a Native-American woman who acts as a guide leading people to a new life when they are being sought out by others. STRIP is the first non-Whitefield novel I have read by him and I enjoyed this one immensely! It reminded me a lot of Donald Westlake's Dortmunder novels or some of Elmore Leonard's best. It is a really good suspense/thriller that is full of quirky people, action, and humor.
The story is about a strip club owner in Los Angeles, Manco Kapak, who is robbed by a masked gunman as Kapak was making a night deposit of his club receipts at a local bank. Kapak is not pleased and puts the word out to find a man who is new in town and who is freely spending cash. After talking with many people in the clubs, Kapak's henchman come up with the name Joe Carver who was mentioned by two women as fitting the description. However, Carver is not the robber but that doesn't stop Kapak and his goons from going after him. In the mean time, the real robber, Jefferson Davis Falkins hits Kapak again and again after meeting up with Carrie who thinks she is another Bonnie to Falkins' Clyde.
The book has a lot of characters and some great subplots including a double cross by Kapak's drug dealing partner, a secret side to the police lieutenant out to get Kapak, dissatisfaction by Kapak's gang who think his luck has run out, and a potential love interest by one of Kapak's waitresses at one of his clubs. And watch out for Carrie! This was overall a very compelling and enjoyable read running the gamut of emotions from shock to humor. I will definitely be reading more of Perry.
The story is about a strip club owner in Los Angeles, Manco Kapak, who is robbed by a masked gunman as Kapak was making a night deposit of his club receipts at a local bank. Kapak is not pleased and puts the word out to find a man who is new in town and who is freely spending cash. After talking with many people in the clubs, Kapak's henchman come up with the name Joe Carver who was mentioned by two women as fitting the description. However, Carver is not the robber but that doesn't stop Kapak and his goons from going after him. In the mean time, the real robber, Jefferson Davis Falkins hits Kapak again and again after meeting up with Carrie who thinks she is another Bonnie to Falkins' Clyde.
The book has a lot of characters and some great subplots including a double cross by Kapak's drug dealing partner, a secret side to the police lieutenant out to get Kapak, dissatisfaction by Kapak's gang who think his luck has run out, and a potential love interest by one of Kapak's waitresses at one of his clubs. And watch out for Carrie! This was overall a very compelling and enjoyable read running the gamut of emotions from shock to humor. I will definitely be reading more of Perry.
April 3, 2017
I read literary Fiction. I spread the idea that literature, books, writing should serve a higher purpose. I should despise this kinda book. I learn little about history, culture, and the logics by which the charecrers live life. I do learn that a life in crime needs lots of planning energy, readiness for surprises, and luck.
But this is a fiction book that is extremely entertaining with no none sense issues. It's fast. it's well connected. you get involved with the people in it. I actually did fast runs on it. This with the fact age given wisdom. Do what you are doing with care and respect to the receivers and that is enough. we can't all be G. Marguize and Dickens.
Cool Lean Modern day tale that will give you enough surprises to forget your daily commute and silliness of charecrers in your life. I was impressed and this was immediately after Great Expectations of Dickens.
But this is a fiction book that is extremely entertaining with no none sense issues. It's fast. it's well connected. you get involved with the people in it. I actually did fast runs on it. This with the fact age given wisdom. Do what you are doing with care and respect to the receivers and that is enough. we can't all be G. Marguize and Dickens.
Cool Lean Modern day tale that will give you enough surprises to forget your daily commute and silliness of charecrers in your life. I was impressed and this was immediately after Great Expectations of Dickens.
September 10, 2011
Usually I give any book by Thomas Perry 4 stars, (and once, I may have given one 5 stars). I find his books very entertaining--exciting without being gory--and always with unexpected twists.
However STRIP disappointed me. There were so many characters and sub-plots that I had a hard time keeping them straight, especially when so many of the characters had names that started with either the letter J or the letter S: Joe, Jeff, Jerry, Jimmy; Spence, Slosser, Sherri, Skelly, Stacy, Sandi, and Sonia. That's not a wise thing to do when you have a huge cast of characters.
Also the overload of sub-plots meant that Mr. Perry couldn't fully develop any of them. And they deserved to be developed! Any one of those sub-plots could, on its own, have been the basis for an entire novel. For instance, Detective Slosser is a bigamist. He has two wives, neither of whom knows the other exists, and two sets of children, and he's managed for years to separate his two lives without anybody finding out. Now it's time to start sending the older kids to college, and his wives are demanding new cars, and he has to make extra income in order to meet his double obligations. What a fascinating concept! Slosser's situation is presented at the beginning of the book but is not referred to again until the final chapter. I'd like a whole book about Slosser and the way he deals with the problems caused by these deceptions, with some chapters written from the viewpoints of each of his wives. Surely there must have been problems about why Daddy couldn't be at one of his households for Christmas!
However I enjoyed the book for what it was, and it did have some good twists at the end.
However STRIP disappointed me. There were so many characters and sub-plots that I had a hard time keeping them straight, especially when so many of the characters had names that started with either the letter J or the letter S: Joe, Jeff, Jerry, Jimmy; Spence, Slosser, Sherri, Skelly, Stacy, Sandi, and Sonia. That's not a wise thing to do when you have a huge cast of characters.
Also the overload of sub-plots meant that Mr. Perry couldn't fully develop any of them. And they deserved to be developed! Any one of those sub-plots could, on its own, have been the basis for an entire novel. For instance, Detective Slosser is a bigamist. He has two wives, neither of whom knows the other exists, and two sets of children, and he's managed for years to separate his two lives without anybody finding out. Now it's time to start sending the older kids to college, and his wives are demanding new cars, and he has to make extra income in order to meet his double obligations. What a fascinating concept! Slosser's situation is presented at the beginning of the book but is not referred to again until the final chapter. I'd like a whole book about Slosser and the way he deals with the problems caused by these deceptions, with some chapters written from the viewpoints of each of his wives. Surely there must have been problems about why Daddy couldn't be at one of his households for Christmas!
However I enjoyed the book for what it was, and it did have some good twists at the end.
June 15, 2018
Huh. This book really goes nowhere and takes quite a bit of time to do so.
The story is basically about robbing a strip club owner a couple of times, by a not very interesting criminal. Said criminal meets some crazy girl and she joins him for future robberies, but she is full blown crazy.
Add in a detective who is a polygamist- although why this is a trait of the character is beyond me since it winds up not being an issue, except in part of how the author ends the book.
The problem with this book is it isn’t funny it isn’t thrilling, there isn’t any mystery, none of the characters are at all interesting, they are all poorly developed so you have no idea why they behave and act as they do, there are long winded descriptions of events that have no bearing on the story, and worst of all is a barely thought out ending. I don’t know if the author thought maybe this would be a series, but the end of the book is less satisfying than the rest of it.
I seriously doubt I would read another book by this author.
The story is basically about robbing a strip club owner a couple of times, by a not very interesting criminal. Said criminal meets some crazy girl and she joins him for future robberies, but she is full blown crazy.
Add in a detective who is a polygamist- although why this is a trait of the character is beyond me since it winds up not being an issue, except in part of how the author ends the book.
The problem with this book is it isn’t funny it isn’t thrilling, there isn’t any mystery, none of the characters are at all interesting, they are all poorly developed so you have no idea why they behave and act as they do, there are long winded descriptions of events that have no bearing on the story, and worst of all is a barely thought out ending. I don’t know if the author thought maybe this would be a series, but the end of the book is less satisfying than the rest of it.
I seriously doubt I would read another book by this author.
February 6, 2013
Very interesting story about the seedy side of police, bars, thieves, murders, strip clubs and bigamists. 9 of 10 stars
April 26, 2013
Manco Kapak owns a string of strip clubs and conducts a little bit of questionable business on the side to supplement his income. Jefferson Davis Falkins decides he’s found a new way of making money that does not involve real work of any kind … he just keeps robbing Manco when he makes his night deposits. Manco is not a man you want to cross. Unfortunately for Joe Carver, he ends up in the middle of the mess when his name comes up as the thief. Carver confronts Manco and declares his innocence, but Manco will not back off. So as Jefferson keeps robbing Manco, Joe makes it his mission to get Manco to back off. And with that the reader follows along on a roller coaster ride of misdeeds, misconceptions and murder. Meanwhile, Detective Nick Slosser is trying to solve the crimes and at the same time try to keep his two wives from finding out about each other.
I enjoy listening to audio books on my commute every day. I had run out of audio books, so when I went to the library I scanned the shelves of audio material and picked one at random, thinking it would “get me through” until some of my “reserves” came in. This book caught my attention because of its bright yellow cover. My goodness am I glad I picked it up. If you like a farcical story written with cleverness, wit and humor you have to pick up this book. I ended up cheering for the bad guy, scratching my head about the good guy and constantly wondering what in the world would happen next. A romping good read. I will definitely be looking for more of Mr. Perry’s work.
I enjoy listening to audio books on my commute every day. I had run out of audio books, so when I went to the library I scanned the shelves of audio material and picked one at random, thinking it would “get me through” until some of my “reserves” came in. This book caught my attention because of its bright yellow cover. My goodness am I glad I picked it up. If you like a farcical story written with cleverness, wit and humor you have to pick up this book. I ended up cheering for the bad guy, scratching my head about the good guy and constantly wondering what in the world would happen next. A romping good read. I will definitely be looking for more of Mr. Perry’s work.
May 3, 2010
Bought this on a whim - eh.
Very quick read. It gets two stars for the intricate plot and the quite large number of interesting characters. But in the end, I didn't like any of them even as engaging villians, or people who worked as the hero of their own stories.
I ended up feeling that I'd read a long short story although I'm sure it was actually a reasonable length. The plot was nicely twisty, and there was a center story that I saw a mile off. But I just didn't care.
The next time I see a new Perry, I'll be looking to make sure there is more "there" there.
Very quick read. It gets two stars for the intricate plot and the quite large number of interesting characters. But in the end, I didn't like any of them even as engaging villians, or people who worked as the hero of their own stories.
I ended up feeling that I'd read a long short story although I'm sure it was actually a reasonable length. The plot was nicely twisty, and there was a center story that I saw a mile off. But I just didn't care.
The next time I see a new Perry, I'll be looking to make sure there is more "there" there.
December 3, 2014
Thomas Perry is an excellent writer and I've enjoyed a few of his other books, but "Strip" not so much. For me, there were too many characters, too much of each one's story and I found it all too distracting to stay interested. I finished the book because might as well, started it. That felt like a chore after a while. That said, I'll definitely read another of Mr. Perry's books.
June 15, 2019
Thomas Perry’s imaginative plot and well-defined, quirky characters really worked for me with this book. I thought it was a solid story with lots of little twists and surprises and is my favorite of his books that I have read so far. As usual, Perry includes a few “how-to” tips for the would be criminal.
January 15, 2014
The usual good Perry standalone. Plenty of less than admirable characters, well developed, a strong leaning toward vigilante "get even" and enough ironies and humor to keep it a fun read.
October 11, 2012
Absolutely delightful stand-alone Perry. It begins well, as Carver, suspected by Manco Kapak, a local mobster of having held him up and stealing a week's worth of receipts (he didn't), is hiding out in the cab of a 250-foot crane at a construction site. Feeling this is probably the safest place he can be so as not to be found, there's a great scene where Carver uses the crane rather innovatively to take out a couple of the goons' Hummers when they find him, his hiding place being not as secure as he had hoped. (As crappy a person Kapak is, it's hard for me not to feel sorry for him. At one point he catches sight of himself in a mirror, naked, after an evening tryst and he realizes how old he has become. He was used to thinking of himself as a virile middle-aged man, but now sees an "old animal, limping towards death." I know the feeling.)
In the meantime, LAPD Lt. Nick Slosser, is trying to hold his personal life (both of them - he loves marriage and family so much he has two of them) together and keep the LA peace at a reasonable level, while Spence, Kapak's bodyguard would appear to be the only one with half a brain. Kapak, not realizing a good deal when it's offered, refuses Carver's olive branch and proof he wasn't the robber, so Carver decides to teach Kapak a lesson.
A third thread involves Jeff, a neer-do-well who happens to be the robber being mistaken for Carver, and he hooks up with Carrie, a girl who discovers she loves carrying a .45 around and using it. It's no spoiler to reveal that if you surmised that the threads get woven together, you'd be correct.
Perry's books, while occasionally violent and sexual, are never explicitly so (unless, of course, I have become too jaded by reading the newspaper,) and there is an undercurrent of humor that never fails to bring a smile. For example: " the sheet fell below what appeared to be non-augmented, but beyond reproach, breasts..." Not to mention some social commentary: The men were loudmouthed and pushy, trying to be intimidating when they didn't get what they wanted, but most of them had never felt a serious punch or heard a shot fired. The women were self-obsessed and lazy. They were greedy for money and wanted to dress like movie stars. They neglected their children, hired immigrant women to raise them, but wanted other adults to refer to them as 'moms.' Seeing them grow up had been like watching a disease arrive and take over a herd of cattle. All he could do was hope that they died off before the disease spread further.
Read impeccably by one of my favorite narrators, Michael Kramer. Buy, borrow, or beg a copy.
In the meantime, LAPD Lt. Nick Slosser, is trying to hold his personal life (both of them - he loves marriage and family so much he has two of them) together and keep the LA peace at a reasonable level, while Spence, Kapak's bodyguard would appear to be the only one with half a brain. Kapak, not realizing a good deal when it's offered, refuses Carver's olive branch and proof he wasn't the robber, so Carver decides to teach Kapak a lesson.
A third thread involves Jeff, a neer-do-well who happens to be the robber being mistaken for Carver, and he hooks up with Carrie, a girl who discovers she loves carrying a .45 around and using it. It's no spoiler to reveal that if you surmised that the threads get woven together, you'd be correct.
Perry's books, while occasionally violent and sexual, are never explicitly so (unless, of course, I have become too jaded by reading the newspaper,) and there is an undercurrent of humor that never fails to bring a smile. For example: " the sheet fell below what appeared to be non-augmented, but beyond reproach, breasts..." Not to mention some social commentary: The men were loudmouthed and pushy, trying to be intimidating when they didn't get what they wanted, but most of them had never felt a serious punch or heard a shot fired. The women were self-obsessed and lazy. They were greedy for money and wanted to dress like movie stars. They neglected their children, hired immigrant women to raise them, but wanted other adults to refer to them as 'moms.' Seeing them grow up had been like watching a disease arrive and take over a herd of cattle. All he could do was hope that they died off before the disease spread further.
Read impeccably by one of my favorite narrators, Michael Kramer. Buy, borrow, or beg a copy.
December 4, 2013
I read this in parallel with Harlan coben's "Caught" and that really made it stand out as the kind of crime fiction I like best. I got hooked on Thomas Perry's writing after reading one of his first books, "The Butcher's Boy". He creates interesting characters which support the story's believability even if they would seem ridiculous in the hands of a lesser writer. They fit right in so you say to yourself -Why not, this could happen. His writing style is similar to T Jefferson Parker's "The Renegades", Denis Johnson's "Nobody Move" which I really enjoyed in this genre.
This story involves an aging shady strip club owner, Manco Kapak, who is also laundering drug money and is robbed by a masked man while dropping off a night time deposit at his bank. He decides that he can't let the world believe that he would let anyone get away with this so he sends his men out to try and find who the thief may have been so he can teach him a lesson. They find out that a new guy in town , Joe Carver, has been flashing a lot of money around lately and so they go after him. Joe is innocent and unhappy about being pursued so he tries to get back at Manco. Meanwhile the real robber hooks up with a crazy girl he picks up in a diner and they go all "bonnie & clyde". Everybody is after everyone else and the violence keeps racheting up.
The story line in this one is over the top but it is so well written that you are able to suspend belief and go along with it. None of the characters are really nice people but I had a difficult time not liking or sympathizing with them. It was difficult to put this book down.
This story involves an aging shady strip club owner, Manco Kapak, who is also laundering drug money and is robbed by a masked man while dropping off a night time deposit at his bank. He decides that he can't let the world believe that he would let anyone get away with this so he sends his men out to try and find who the thief may have been so he can teach him a lesson. They find out that a new guy in town , Joe Carver, has been flashing a lot of money around lately and so they go after him. Joe is innocent and unhappy about being pursued so he tries to get back at Manco. Meanwhile the real robber hooks up with a crazy girl he picks up in a diner and they go all "bonnie & clyde". Everybody is after everyone else and the violence keeps racheting up.
The story line in this one is over the top but it is so well written that you are able to suspend belief and go along with it. None of the characters are really nice people but I had a difficult time not liking or sympathizing with them. It was difficult to put this book down.
July 2, 2011
Thomas Perry is one of those guys who's been so good for so long that he almost fades into the landscape. This is a charmer of a book marred somewhat at the very end, in which a pack of feral quasi-criminals without an unshredded moral fiber among them intersects in in an intricate dance across L.A. And yet, one at a time, Perry takes us inside these people and shows us how they work and (most of the time) why they work that way, and they become, if not friends, acquaintances. And he continues to write the most transparent, almost invisible prose of anyone since Ross Thomas, language that stays completely out of the story's way.
That said, there's a completely unexpected flip at the end that left me with a sour taste in my mouth. When I put the book down I felt that I admired it more than I liked it, but with a few days' distance, I'll give it back its fourth star, just for the way Perry tells his story.
That said, there's a completely unexpected flip at the end that left me with a sour taste in my mouth. When I put the book down I felt that I admired it more than I liked it, but with a few days' distance, I'll give it back its fourth star, just for the way Perry tells his story.
July 29, 2019
Strip
by Thomas Perry
it’s sneaky peek into the life and times of young and restless criminals, it’s like days of our lives fly on the wall stuff. It has the beautiful, the ugly, the bad, there are no good people except one waitress. Its stacked with, car chases, shoot outs, psychotic killers, dumb arse and smart arse and old gangsters, drug dealers, robbery, mules, bigamy, sex, and corrupt police. The story line has twists and turns. its all good honest crime and action.
My first Thomas Perry tome and it won’t be my last, hah.
by Thomas Perry
it’s sneaky peek into the life and times of young and restless criminals, it’s like days of our lives fly on the wall stuff. It has the beautiful, the ugly, the bad, there are no good people except one waitress. Its stacked with, car chases, shoot outs, psychotic killers, dumb arse and smart arse and old gangsters, drug dealers, robbery, mules, bigamy, sex, and corrupt police. The story line has twists and turns. its all good honest crime and action.
My first Thomas Perry tome and it won’t be my last, hah.
January 23, 2021
Perry’s Strip is like a Dortmunder book in its cleverness and humor, but considerably more Starkish in tone. People get killed, but it mostly serves them right. Well-written and entertaining. Recommended.
October 15, 2010
If you read and enjoy thrillers full of bad guys duping other bad guys you will definitely love this bunch of misfits.
What we have here, is the story of an aging, arrogant, impotent gangster hanging onto his ego, supported by a puppet staff bullied into carrying out his orders in order to retain power and his supremacy in the underworld of flesh peddling and money laundering.
Manco Kapak owns a few clubs in the LA area and moves money for a major drug distributor. One night while making his daily deposit someone robs him at gun point. For a man of his status the loss of money is irrelevant, he cannot show weakness, a strong message has to be sent. His reputation shaken he dispatches his henchmen to flush out the guilty. In haste, they mistakenly finger Joe Carver, a man with nerves of steel and a few skeletons in the closet of his own…..What follows is a multitude of nail biting events.
Some other memorable characters are bad ass Spencer, Marco’s trusted body-guard and then there is Carrie, a woman with the DNA of a tiger and a passion for blood and money. You will love her, she is fascinating, frightening and one of the most exhilarating to follow.
The muscle headed mobsters show their true colours when faced with competition from their own kind. Killing over money, turf and petty grievances are all in a days work.
This is a kaleidoscope of sadistic double-crossing characters. Good cops, bad cops and petty criminals make this novel what it is. We are presented with a scenario that is very well drafted, diverse, intriguing and a story that will bring hours of reading entertainment.
What we have here, is the story of an aging, arrogant, impotent gangster hanging onto his ego, supported by a puppet staff bullied into carrying out his orders in order to retain power and his supremacy in the underworld of flesh peddling and money laundering.
Manco Kapak owns a few clubs in the LA area and moves money for a major drug distributor. One night while making his daily deposit someone robs him at gun point. For a man of his status the loss of money is irrelevant, he cannot show weakness, a strong message has to be sent. His reputation shaken he dispatches his henchmen to flush out the guilty. In haste, they mistakenly finger Joe Carver, a man with nerves of steel and a few skeletons in the closet of his own…..What follows is a multitude of nail biting events.
Some other memorable characters are bad ass Spencer, Marco’s trusted body-guard and then there is Carrie, a woman with the DNA of a tiger and a passion for blood and money. You will love her, she is fascinating, frightening and one of the most exhilarating to follow.
The muscle headed mobsters show their true colours when faced with competition from their own kind. Killing over money, turf and petty grievances are all in a days work.
This is a kaleidoscope of sadistic double-crossing characters. Good cops, bad cops and petty criminals make this novel what it is. We are presented with a scenario that is very well drafted, diverse, intriguing and a story that will bring hours of reading entertainment.
March 16, 2012
'Stip' is highly entertaining from start to finish. Led by an amazing cast of characters, each coupled with a unique background and interesting predicament. At it's core, lies strip and night club owner, Manco Kapak - without a doubt one of the most likable characters I've had the pleasure of reading, who just so happens to be involved in shady dealings with underworld types - washing their money and playing the mob hard man facade. However, his reputation is soon on the line when the clubs' takings are robbed one night with seemingly little resistance from Kapak himself. Retribution must come swift - enter Joe Carver.
Carver, a big spender with a shady past, the surface definition of a mystery man. Playing the high roller in Kapak's clubs attracts all kinds of attention - some good, others deadly. Fingered as the robber due to his recent spending binge, Carver goes from wooing women at night clubs to fending off thugs trying to take his life.
In amongst all this action, is a police officer and his rather humorous family situation, wannabe mob underlings wanting to rule the roost, a couple of underage drug mules who don't know how to spell loyalty, a drug kingpin, a homicidal couple as crazy as they are brazen, and a faithful servant to Kapak (Spence) who turns out to be as much heart as hard.
With such a fruitful cast of characters, this was always going to be a good book - so much so, the plot could've seemed secondary but somehow Perry brings it all together to form a well rounded crime/thriller/semi-noir that doesn't hold back on its punches or punch-lines - highly recommended - 4 stars.
Carver, a big spender with a shady past, the surface definition of a mystery man. Playing the high roller in Kapak's clubs attracts all kinds of attention - some good, others deadly. Fingered as the robber due to his recent spending binge, Carver goes from wooing women at night clubs to fending off thugs trying to take his life.
In amongst all this action, is a police officer and his rather humorous family situation, wannabe mob underlings wanting to rule the roost, a couple of underage drug mules who don't know how to spell loyalty, a drug kingpin, a homicidal couple as crazy as they are brazen, and a faithful servant to Kapak (Spence) who turns out to be as much heart as hard.
With such a fruitful cast of characters, this was always going to be a good book - so much so, the plot could've seemed secondary but somehow Perry brings it all together to form a well rounded crime/thriller/semi-noir that doesn't hold back on its punches or punch-lines - highly recommended - 4 stars.
September 10, 2010
An unusual one for Thomas Perry, since it doesn't deal exclusively with somebody trying to escape from powerful forces. That describes only one of four or five intertwined plots, each dealing with a vivid character or characters trying to get what they want. None of them is completely innocent, their guilt and viciousness is carefully calibrated, and if you're a fan of poetic justice, it's fun to watch how Perry works the plot to make sure each gets exactly what he deserves. For the first time in one of his novels, though, I had questions that never got answered. One character has been a bigamist for 20 years, raising two separate families with two separate wives, and it's only now, as he approaches retirement and his kids approach college that his secret is in danger of being revealed. He fears filling out financial aid forms, sure that putting his social security number on forms from different households will be reported to the feds. Really? Doing his taxes for the last twenty years hasn't been a problem? And at times people seem miraculously to have exactly the equipment they need without having prepared earlier. But these are minor quibbles. A fun read.
December 20, 2013
This is a departure from Perry's usual style of someone trying to go into or remain in hiding to evade persons who may harm them for whatever reason. This one resembles something Donald Westlake or Lawrence Block might have written. More or less a caper novel, with several subplots, a major character, Joe Harper has been misidentified as a man who robbed a strip club owner of his nightly take as he was trying to deposit said items in a bank's night deposit box. Harper's attempts to remain hidden from the owner are somewhat amusing rather than frightening, made more complex by several side plots happening concurrently. Not my favorite Perry but he conscientiously dots all his i's and crosses his t's as he does in his other books.
November 3, 2017
SETTING: Los Angeles
RATING: 3.5
WHY: Aging strip club owner and money launderer Manco Kapak is robbed as he goes to make a night bank deposit. His team locks in on a guy named Joe Carver as the villain and proceeds to make Carver’s life tough. But they’ve settled on the wrong guy. The real robber is named Jefferson Davis Falkinswho partners with a danger-loving girlfriend who continue to rob Kapak. Carver confronts Kapak to proclaim his innocence; Kapak then attempts to shoot him in the back. Carver goes on a campaign that really damages Kapak. The case is investigated by Lieut. Nick Slosser who has issues of his own. There are a lot of characters, and the plot sometimes gets a bit muddled. There’s a nicely convoluted ending where everyone lives happily ever after. 😉
RATING: 3.5
WHY: Aging strip club owner and money launderer Manco Kapak is robbed as he goes to make a night bank deposit. His team locks in on a guy named Joe Carver as the villain and proceeds to make Carver’s life tough. But they’ve settled on the wrong guy. The real robber is named Jefferson Davis Falkinswho partners with a danger-loving girlfriend who continue to rob Kapak. Carver confronts Kapak to proclaim his innocence; Kapak then attempts to shoot him in the back. Carver goes on a campaign that really damages Kapak. The case is investigated by Lieut. Nick Slosser who has issues of his own. There are a lot of characters, and the plot sometimes gets a bit muddled. There’s a nicely convoluted ending where everyone lives happily ever after. 😉
May 20, 2010
I've enjoyed all the Thomas Perry books I've read so far but not this one so much, not at first. It seemed a little slow to me and I was disappointed that one character's very interesting personal situation was largely ignored. I really wanted to see that developed more fully. At the end of the book, I realized that expanding that particular storyline wasn't really that necessary. The ending of this book is excellent and changed my view of the whole thing. I don't usually like to see good books turned into movies but this one should be. I actually kept thinking throughout that it would make a great dark comedy if brought to the screen.
March 26, 2012
This was a clever book with a likeable resilent MC, and a band of mostly wacky, but still believable supporting characters who manage to twist themselves and the plot into lots of surprising and sometimes unsettling knots. It's funny, occasionally violent (very), and although I laughed and empathized with the quirky cast through most of the book, I have to say I found the ending darker and sadder than I expected. I get that a happy one for everyone was too much to ask for, but I didn't expect it to end on such a down note. Still a good read, though! Thomas Perry is a super pro, and his books are all reliably entertaining in a thoughtful way.
May 13, 2013
In "Strip", Thomas Perry tries to take the crime novel into a different direction, but for me, it left me mainly puzzled. I found that the characters were not that interesting or believable, nor were the situations particularly intriguing.
August 13, 2013
Well-fleshed out characters in a comedy of errors scenario, if murder is comedy. Mistaken identities, realistic but quirky personalities, and a story line that leaves you feeling sorry for the original bad guy.
February 18, 2018
Perry delivers another competent and interesting thriller. Great character driven plot with a number of interesting viewpoint characters to work with. Nearly everyone gets what they deserve except ***Spoiler***the bigamous cop, whose kids do manage to win
June 27, 2017
Several well developed characters collide in this thriller about night clubs and mistaken identity.
July 20, 2019
#19 - 20 Ebook . Light entertaining reading. Weird ending in that the was no concrete conclusion to the fate of several of the main characters. There were hints of what could subsequently happen but the reader is left to his own designs as to how it would end.
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