This Wicked World: A Novel [Hardcover]

Richard Lange (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 2009

Elmore Leonard meets Denis Johnson in this explosive first novel set on the seedy side of Southern California.



Ex-marine Jimmy Boone-former bodyguard to Los Angeles's rich and famous-is fresh out of Corcoran, on parole, and trying to keep his nose clean until he figures out his next move. He has a job tending bar on Hollywood Boulevard, serving drinks to tourists, and is determined to put the past behind him.

But trying to do the right thing has always been Boone's downfall. When he backs up a buddy on a hero-for-hire gig-looking into the mysterious death of a kid on a downtown bus-he once again finds himself in a world of trouble.

As Boone learns more about the boy, an innocent who got involved with the wrong people, his investigation becomes a mission. Along the dangerous margins of Los Angeles, he encounters down-on-their-luck drug dealers, a vengeful stripper, a dog-fighting ring, a beautiful ex-cop, a vicious crime boss and his crew, and a fortune in counterfeit bills. Before long, Boone realizes that his quest to get at the truth about a ruthless murder may also turn out to be his last chance at redemption.

This Wicked World is a knock-out blend of superb writing and breakneck storytelling that grabs you by the collar and makes it impossible to stop reading.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set in L.A., Lange's visceral, hard-hitting first novel puts him squarely in the ring with the best young neo-noir writers. Jimmy Boone, a former Marine and ex-con lying low and waiting out his probation by tending bar on Hollywood Boulevard, gets drawn back onto dangerous ground after he agrees to help his bouncer buddy, Robo, look into the death of a young Guatemalan immigrant found covered in infected dog bites on an MTA bus. Boone and Robo get on a trail that leads from a ghetto dope pad, where they rescue an abused and toothless fighting dog, to a secluded desert compound near Twentynine Palms, where a psychotic crime boss, Taggert, hosts bloody dog-fighting contests. Boone soon finds himself in way over his head as he comes up against Taggert's crew of degenerates. While the book contains some familiar set pieces, Lange, the author of the story collection Dead Boys, shows he has the potential to put his own distinctive mark on the mythology of Los Angeles. (June)
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From Booklist

Jimmy Boone’s life changed in an instant. An ex-Marine and a highly paid bodyguard, he assaulted his own client—he had his reasons—and went to prison. Now out on parole, he’s tending bar when the doorman asks for backup on a moonlighting gig: finding out what happened to illegal immigrant Oscar Rosales, who died of dog bites on a city bus. Against his better judgment, Boone proceeds pro bono, discovering a dogfighting ring where the people are more dangerous than the dogs, and putting the few people he cares about in mortal danger. Lange (Dead Boys, 2007) draws indelible characters and writes deadeye dialogue, and his L.A. is as parched and pitiless as the desert that surrounds it. But a book that starts out seeming destined to join the ranks of the great sun-bleached noirs ends with a ghost-town confrontation that isn’t quite worthy of the tale that preceeded it and that produces a hopeful note that feels unearned. That said, This Wicked World is wickedly good—and we have a feeling that Lange is just getting started. --Keir Graff

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (June 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031601737X
• ISBN-13: 978-0316017374
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.4 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #533,939 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Richard Lange was born in Oakland, CA and grew up in California's San Joaquin Valley. He's the author of the short story collection Dead Boys and the novel This Wicked World. His short stories have appeared in The Sun, The Iowa Review and Best American Mystery Stories, and as part of the Atlantic Monthly's Fiction for Kindle series. He was the 2008 recipient of the Rosenthal Family Foundation Award for Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a finalist for the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2009.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable debut novel, July 6, 2009

By 

Mr. Gareth Price "gazza_hoho" (Stockport) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: This Wicked World: A Novel (Hardcover)

Ex-bodyguard, ex-con Jimmy Boone reluctantly agrees to help friend Robo find out what happened to Oscar Rosales, who dies on a city bus covered in dog bites, for his Grandpa. They hit a dead end quickly but after visiting Oscars partner & young child & seeing the loss his death has caused Boone decides to investigate on his own. This leads him into the murkier side of LA - drugs, dog-fighting & fake bank notes all feature as the plot is spun out. Double crosses, kidnap & a shoot out appear for good measure.

If this all sounds fairly cliched & familiar, it is, but Lange writes well & with heart. His characters feel believable - there is no real black & white here. Boone, the 'hero', is flawed but has good intentions & regrets some bad decisions made in his past. Taggert, the 'baddie', is obviously flawed as well but is subtly portrayed - he's feeling old & is looking for a couple of big scores so he can retire comfortably with his younger lover, Olivia. Olivia is fed up & wants a piece of the action.

I've read the first couple of stories in Langes story collection Dead Boys & they seem more accomplished than this debut novel but he has made the transition to a longer form well. On the book cover here he is compared with Elmore Leonard & Denis Johnson but it was George Pelecanos that This Wicked World reminded me of most often, especially in the dialogue. Which is high praise indeed in my book. Recommended, then, & looking forward to his next novel as this was a very good start.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Reportorial writing much like Richard Price, July 7, 2009

By 

James Tetreault (North Grafton, MA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: This Wicked World: A Novel (Hardcover)

This is a very closely observed story in a style very much like Richard Price's Lush Life. As with that story, the description is extremely well done and you feel like you're right there observing the action. As with Lange's short story collection, Dead Boys, the focus is on people with slightly screwed up (or worse) lives. Somehow, in the longer form of the novel with much more action it seemed much more entertaining. The procession of one similarly messed up life after another in Dead Boys got a bit annoying.

I bought this book in the mystery/thriller section of a local Borders and I suppose that's the best category for it. The plot is very well worked out and even when you can see that two plot threads will collide some pages up it doesn't wear on you to go through the interim reading to get there. But the extremely high quality of the observations and descriptions is the strength of this book as much as the plot and actiion.

Characterizations are extremely believable but there's not much humor here and like Price's Lush Life, there's no higher level payout in thematic or philosophical content. But it's a fun read and a hell of a page turner that you won't want to put down. I definitely recommend it to anyone.

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Characters and Sense of Place - Will Keep You Reading, May 25, 2010

By 

Bonnie Brody "Book Lover and Knitter" (Port St. Lucie, FL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: This Wicked World: A Novel (Paperback)

Jimmy Boone is a certain kind of maverick - out of the box and not quite a civilian. After serving his time in the Marines, Boone becomes a partner in a security firm. He works as a bodyguard for the rich and famous. He spends his time in Hollywood, Hawaii, Aspen or wherever those with money gather. It is his job to protect and defend them. However, one of his jobs goes awry. Jimmy believes that his client is sexually molesting his daughter and beats him to within an inch of his life. Jimmy later finds out he was set up by the man's wife as part of a mean divorce. The man he almost killed may have been innocent. Jimmy goes to jail and, when This Wicked World opens, Jimmy is out on probation. He is bartending by night and acting as super of an apartment complex.

Jimmy is a moral man but he doesn't believe in living his life by the rules. You might think of him as someone who likes to go outside the lines when he colors because the pictures are prettier that way and it makes for better art. Robo, the bouncer at his bar has a side job for him. Robo has been contacted by the father of Oscar Rosales, a Guatemalan refugee who has died as a result of infected dog bites all over his body. Nobody knows what happened to Oscar. Oscar's father offers Robo three hundred dollars to find out how Oscar died. Robo asks Jimmy along to help out when he meets with Oscar's father and Jimmy agrees to go with him.

After meeting with Oscar's father and meeting Oscar's wife and child, Jimmy becomes obsessed with finding out the truth about how Oscar was killed. He sees this as personal salvation, a way to make up for almost killing a man in his past. Jimmy's search for the truth leads him to the desert east of Los Angeles where dog fights are held, involves him with criminals who are way past the line of redemption, and puts him in the line of fire where his own life is at risk.

One of the author's gifts is his ability to delve out the personality of every character. Even the criminals garner some empathy or pity. The reader sees the frailty, damage, and trauma behind the bad guys' thinking. We don't want to like them but we can offer them the gift of belief and vulnerability.

Jimmy also hopes that his pursuit for the truth behind Oscar's death will right another previous wrong in his life. After he nearly killed a man on the job, the security firm he was partner in has been having a very hard time. The firm no longer can attract the same rich and famous clientele that they had in the past. Jimmy wants to redeem himself in their eyes as the owner is his friend.

Jimmy is his own man, a moral outlaw. He may not go by the rules, but he has a strong sense of ethics and knows right from wrong. He wants to do right but not because he is forced to by some bureaucracy or by the law. He has to see the point of things.

This is Richard Lange's first novel and it is a good one. I was especially impressed by the characterizations and sense of place that he evoked. I felt like I was in L.A. and that I knew why good girls went bad or why bad men stayed bad. I had a sense of who everyone in the book was - - really was - - a skill that many authors are not able to deliver. Usually mysteries don't stay with me too long. This one will stick around.