A Dangerous Man: A Novel [Paperback]

Charlie Huston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 19, 2006

“Among the new voices in twenty-first-century crime fiction, Charlie Huston . . . is where it’s at.”
–The Washington Post

“Huston writes dialogue so combustible it could fuel a bus and characters crazy enough to take it on the road.”
–The New York Times Book Review

Reluctant hitman Henry Thompson has fallen on hard times. His grip on life is disintegrating, his pistol hand shaking, his body pinned to his living room couch by painkillers–and his boss, Russian mobster David Dolokhov, isn’t happy about any of it. So Henry is surprised when he’s handed a new assignment: keep tabs on a minor league baseball star named Miguel Arenas.

Henry has no pity for the slugger and the wicked gambling problem that got him in trouble, but he can’t help liking the guy. After all, Henry used to be just like him: a natural-born ball player with a bright future. But hell, that was long ago. Before Henry did some guy a favor and ended up running for his life. Before his girlfriend and buddies got gunned down by someone on his tail. Before he agreed to buy his parents’ safety with a life of violence.

And when Miguel gets drafted by the Mets and is sent to the Brooklyn Cyclones, Henry must head back to New York, back to the place where all his problems began–and where Henry might find a real reason to keep living, a reason that may just cost him his life.


“Huston reminds me of all my favorite writers–Pete Dexter, Robert Stone, Crumley. If there is such a thing as compassionate noir, Charlie has found it. He’s a true marvel.”
–Ken Bruen, author of The Guards

“Charlie Huston is the real deal.”
–Peter Straub

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Huston doesn't let his battered, tormented protagonist rest for one moment in the exciting final volume of his trilogy featuring Henry "Hank" Thompson, now an unwilling hit man for David Dolokhov, the Russian mobster whose $4 million he stole (and lost) in 2005's Six Bad Things. With a botched plastic surgery job that's left him disfigured and in chronic pain, Hank is only able to deal with his nightmares about the people he's killed with handfuls of prescription painkillers. He's on the verge of slipping under when Dolokhov assigns him to protect Miguel Arenas, a rising young baseball star and gambling addict who also owes the Russian a big chunk of change. Hank is forced to confront his own past as a former minor league player as his bodyguard gig takes him to New York, where his misadventures began. While the book drags a bit in the middle, the pace picks up toward the end as Hank finds himself once again doing what he does best, running for his life. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Hank Thompson comes full circle in this fitting end to a mayhem-packed trilogy (Caught Stealing, 2004, and Six Bad Things, 2005) that also packs a potent emotional punch. The young man who lost his chance at a baseball career in an auto accident that killed his best friend has descended into Fat Elvis mode, digging pills out of the carpet of his Vegas flop when he is not killing reprobates for a Russian mobster who holds the lives of Hank's parents in his hands. But when he is ordered to babysit a Mets phenom with a gambling problem so bad he'll bet on which guy at the casino urinals will finish first, Hank's penchant for doing the right thing in the wrong way sets into motion a series of very bad events. He may fumble around, but when his life's on the line, Hank becomes a virtuoso killing machine. It's like when Sundance shoots at that rock in Bolivia: he is better when he moves. The satisfying story moves right along with him, leaving fans glad they still have Huston's other series antihero--vampire detective Joe Pitt--to kick around. Frank Sennett
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 286 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (September 19, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 034548133X
• ISBN-13: 978-0345481337
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #263,111 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Charlie Huston is the author of the bestsellers The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death and The Shotgun Rule, as well as the Henry Thompson trilogy, the Joe Pitt casebooks, and several titles for Marvel Comics. He lives with his family in Los Angeles.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Everyone Who's Helped You is Dead, Yo!", September 23, 2006

By 

Gary Griffiths (Los Altos Hills, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Dangerous Man: A Novel (Paperback)

I'm a huge Charlie Huston fan, and anxiously awaited this finale to the Henry Thompson trilogy. And I wasn't disappointed: Huston is back in all his quirky quotation mark-free dialogue and non-linear storyline glory.

A lot has happened to Henry since "Six Bad Things" - and not much of it good. To keep his parents alive, he's been impressed into service by Russian mobster "David" as a hit man, running under the tutelage of Branko, the stone cold killing pro who is both Henry's mentor and watchdog. In order to protect his identity, Henry's been given some amateur cosmetic surgery, the butchery to his face leaving him in constant pain and effectively addicted to painkillers. Moving from one Las Vegas dive to the next, from one contract kill to another. Until David assigns him to keep a watchful eye over Miguel "Mike" Arenas, number one pick in the Major League baseball draft. See, young Mike is also a gambling addict, and has turned over most of his multi-million dollar signing bonus to the bookie David runs.

If "Caught Stealing" and "Six Bad Things" were dark, "A Dangerous Man" is downright stygian. If you remember Nicholas Cage in "Leaving Las Vegas", this makes that morose drama seem uplifting - a virtual "Rocky" by comparison. Henry, the flawed but mostly lovable victim of mistaken identity in the first two outings, is less likable this time around. Drugged out, depressed, overweight, and scared, he stumbles through the pages with little energy and less hope. But that is the power of Huston's writing - bleak, gritty, and ultimately as addicting as Henry's Xanax and Dexedrine cocktails. Dark, yeah, but poignant and unsettling - a fitting and unforgettable close to a blockbuster trilogy from today's most talented new author of noir.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fitting ending to the series!, September 23, 2006

By 

Catfish Kozmo (Arlington, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Dangerous Man: A Novel (Paperback)

I'll have to agree with the other reviewer as well. This is an excellent end to the series. So boys and girls, don't start here. Go back to book one first. Now, if you've read the other two, then this one won't disappoint at all. It picks up right from the end of book two and goes full speed ahead.

There's something about Charlie Huston's writing style that is unique as well. You get both the dialog but also a sense of what the character is thinking from a narrative view as well. And it is not hard to follow as you might think.

I'm a fan. Read and enjoy

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Talk about an anti-hero!, December 27, 2006

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Jeff (Northern California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Dangerous Man: A Novel (Paperback)

Henry Thompson was a really nice guy.

The operative word is 'was' because what he has descended to over the course of 'Caught Stealing', 'Six Bad Things', and 'A Dangerous Man' is anything but the life he thought he was going to have. He has a new face, an addiction to several new drugs, and a wide array of people who want to kill him, slowly. Oh yes, and there is the matter of the missing $4,000,000.

Not a good life.

But what a great end to a tremendous series. Huston is a master of non-linear plot lines, crackling dialogue, and constant surprises. The return to New York is welcome, as it was always his best locale. The subplot with the baseball player gives Huston a chance to share his love of the game and the young men who play for our enjoyment.

Although the ending was not what I expected, upon reflection I don't see how he could have ended the series any other way and maintained plausibility. It's a fitting end that ties up virtually every plot line opened up in all three books.

If you're new to Huston, please follow the advice of all the reviewers and read the books in the order they were written. Taking them out of order will really spoil the earlier books for you.

And like a couple of the other reviewers, I also recommend strongly the Joe Pitt books. 'Almost Dead' is a tour de force. You'll never think about vampires the same way again.