Customer Reviews

This Wicked World: A Novel

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Richard Lange can write. Try starting this at 10 in the evening and see if your head ever hits the pillow - unlikely. Lange is a beautiful writer who knows how to tell an imaginative, compelling story. M-O-R-E, please!

What a wicked world. Richard Lange's first novel is a firecracker of human interest as Jimmy Boone, fresh out of prison, tries to live life on the upside despite numerous bad guys trying to change his path. Boone meets Amy, an ex-cop with a story of her own, and its his interest in her that propels him to deal with the bad guys, yet in his own way. We travel to the desert to meet dog fighters and their pals, and Boone eventually goes head to head to with them in a violent confrontation. As likable as the story is, as much as we root for Boone, the fact remains that this is indeed a wicked world, and Lange takes you right into it, game or not.

Jimmie Boone is a former Marine... ex-con... and current bartender on Hollywood Boulevard... who tries to uncover who was responsible for the horrible dog mauling death of Oscar Rosales. Jimmie is on parole after a stint in Corcoran State Prison... so the use of guns... drugs... and associating with people who do... would violate his parole. So of course this entire story involves the aforementioned illicit activities. First time novelist Richard Lange... paints Jimmie as being a good hearted soul... who had the wrong friends... and made bad decisions... and was terribly mislead... in to what appears to have been a setup. Before Jimmie went to prison he was part of a body guard company. His last job was protecting a rich family. He was duped by the money grubbing wife... to believe her rich husband was molesting their young daughter. Jimmie beat the hell out of the husband and wound up in prison. Upon his release his lawyer helped get him this bartending job... and Jimmie was simply keeping to himself... getting by... and trying to slowly rebuild his life. Then Robo... the doorman at the bar he works at... who is six feet tall and weighs about 350 pounds... asks him a favor. "ROBO DOES HERO-FOR-HIRE GIGS FOR PEOPLE WHO CAN'T GO TO THE POLICE FOR THIS REASON OR THAT." He'll evict crack-heads who don't pay the rent... get rid of undesirable men that you don't want your daughter dating... find out if your wife is screwing anyone on the side, etc. He will perform these services for cash or trade. On the pivotal day of this story he offers Jimmie a few extra bucks if he will put on a suit coat and pretend he's a cop when he makes a call on one of these potential clients. Oscar Rosales's Grandfather is a poor immigrant who works as a janitor in a Los Angeles sweatshop. He wants to hire Robo to find out how his grandson died. After Robo does some preliminary investigation that doesn't get too far... or... it goes as far as Robo thinks the money he's been paid warrants... he drops the case. Jimmie can't let it go. It's the innate goodness within him... that the outside world can't see. All they can see... is an ex-con.

And here's where this well paced thriller picks up speed. Jimmie tracks down his few leads until he winds up sneaking around out in the desert night spying on an illegal dog fighting location. Potential readers should be warned that the dog fighting sequences described here in detail... reinforce why so many people were... and are... appalled... by former NFL player Michael Vick's involvement in organized dog fighting. The author is first-rate in his character descriptions of murderous criminals... and he also paints an absolute accurate picture of downtown Los Angeles and surrounding areas such as Vernon. Jimmie calls on his old body guard friend Carl... as well as re-enlisting Robo... as the plot encompasses murderers... dog killers... sluts... drugs... kidnapping... counterfeiting... a non-licensed doctor from Russia... and anything else that a reader would expect in an exciting crime genre.

For a first time novelist this is a job well done. And the writer has left a lineup that includes Jimmie... Carl... Robo... and Amy... a possible future love interest... in perfect position... for a sequel.

A well conceived hero. Feet of clay, heart of gold. But the author throws in a couple of twists and a big act of nature to save our hero from some tough decisions. Maybe next time he can make those choices and the readers can see what he's really made of.

This Wicked World is a fast-paced thriller with good writing and interesting characters. The descriptions of the action and the situations presented were fairly realistic and kept the pages turning. I highly recommend this novel for readers who like crime fiction and I will look forward to reading Lange's next book.

In the old Lil Abner comic strip, there was an unfortunate character who walked around all day with a black cloud overhead inviting disaster. Obviously, he was a forerunner for Jimmy Boone, who embodies the principle: if something can go wrong, it will.

While a young man, Jimmy got himself into a situation as a result of which a judge gave him a choice: enlist or serve time. After four years in the Marines, he musters out and forms a relationship with a rich girl whose father doesn't approve. They marry anyway, but she soon leaves him. Then a Marine buddy calls and asks Jimmy to join him in a new venture, acting as a bodyguard and protecting celebrities and businessmen. Everything goes well, with Jimmy becoming a partner and living well, until, of course, they don't.

After a four-year stint in jail, Jimmy is trying to do things right. He's a bartender and part-time superintendent in the building where he lives. Things are quiet, until they're not. Troubles again follow Jimmy around even when he tries to do everything correctly. [No spoilers here, these things all transpire very early in the book.]

The novel is less of a mystery than a series of misadventures and deep character descriptions. Written with a sharp edge, the book concentrates on men and women on the edge of society and the rough and violent lives they live. Recommended.

I don't review too many books, because as an author myself, I know how these can make you feel when they are bad. But I don't have to worry about that. Not with Richard Lange's This Wicked World. It's 5 Stars.

I picked this up at the Poisoned Pen Mystery Bookstore in Scottsdale, Arizona a few weeks ago when I was signing my own book. Talking with the manager, I began perusing the shelves as I always do, when I came across this book wedged next to my friend and favorite author Joe Lansdale. I love L.A., Southern California and I love Arizona, so this book begged to be bought.

Next thing you know, I had it home and had opened it, only to discover that it was present tense. Let me say right now that I very rarely ever read a present tense book, but this sucker snatched me in and wouldn't let go. The tense provided an impetus that propelled me along at a brisk pace, so fast, that I couldn't get off the ride. The plot about self realization and redemption was perfect, a was the gritty, nipple-twisting majesty of the prose.

Bravo Richard. I just bought your short story collection because I want even more.