Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #176924 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-29
• Released on: 2007-05-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Fresh from five years in prison for a pot bust in California, Dick Miller tries to go straight in his hometown of New York City in Quinlan's fine second thriller (after 2006's Smoked). Miller wants to parlay the skills he used in prison—typing—into a job, but instead gets roped into shady work by an old high school buddy who runs a lucrative chop shop. After having a few too many drinks one night, Miller discovers the dead body of his girlfriend, Dot Racine, in the trunk of his car. Miller has no idea who killed her; for all he knows, he may have done it and was too drunk to remember. It's not for a couple of days—with Dot still in the trunk—that Miller finds out she had been stealing gobs of money from her employer and that lots of people wanted her dead. Along with the lovable, bumbling Miller, Quinlan brings to glorious life several other offbeat, at times deviant characters from roads less traveled. The plot hurtles along like an express train to its smashing climax. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

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Customer Reviews

A Manipulative Predator Turns Allies into Enemies
What is your idea of the good life? Dick Miller once enjoyed what he dreamed about: Living in a house at the beach in California with a great view, having lots of money, and being able to smoke all the high quality weed he wanted. That's what life was like for him before he was imprisoned for dealing marijuana. Life takes another big step down for Dick when he awakens three years later with a painful headache, amnesia about the night before, and the dead body of his boss and former lover, Dorothy (Dot) Racine, in his trunk. How can he avoid another trip to the slammer?

As Dick deals with his disposal problem, we find that he has fallen in with crooks once again. While innocently seeking a job as a typist, Dick found himself unexpectedly working with Dot and Lydia who have been helping themselves to their company's cash flow through a series of bent computer programs. The story of how they set up the scam and the consequences are revealed slowly throughout the book. As a result, you'll find there are three mysteries that are gradually revealed in The Takedown:

1. Who killed Dot?
2. How was the scam set up?
3. How did the scam come unglued?

You'll quickly learn that there's a million dollars in cash at stake and lots of crooked characters who will stop at nothing to get it . . . especially freelance cocaine dealer, Nestor Garcia. Like the bumbling characters in Elmore Leonard's Detroit novels, lots of stupidity alternates with violence and risk in The Takedown. But the book is really a crime novel rather than a mystery. The mysteries are primarily created to keep you from anticipating what will happen next in the plot.

The book has three primary weaknesses:

1. I didn't find any of the characters to be appealing (but perhaps you'll like Dick Miller better than I did) which limited my interest in the story.

2. There really isn't much mystery: It's more like pinning down details to satisfy your curiosity.

3. The ending is unsatisfying . . . and hints of a possible sequel. I think I'll pass if there is a sequel.

I was tempted to grade the book down to three stars but felt that the character development of Dick Miller was well done. I always admire stories that develop at least one character reasonably well. If you don't care about character development, you'll just see that as slowing the book down . . . and you may see this as a three star book.

I also thought that the noir elements of the story added good atmosphere that made the plot much more compelling than it otherwise would have been.

Watch out for manipulation!

wild entertaining crime caper
Dick Miller spent five years in a California prison on a marijuana charge. Now freed, he returns to his hometown of New York City vowing to stay out of trouble by finding a job as a professional typist, the only skill outside of survival that he learned during his stay as a guest of the state. However, good intentions and fresh start resolutions do not bring in food or pay the rent; Dick learns a new life lesson that convicts do not easily obtain legal work so he takes up an offer of a pal from his high school days to work at a chop shop.

Dick goes to a bar to relax and gets drunk. Later he finds the corpse of his realtor girlfriend Dot Racine buried inside the trunk of his car. Frightened he wonders if he killed her as he has a foggy at best memory of his binge except for the headache. Still Dick wants to believe he did not kill Dot, but unsure of what to do with her and fearing arrest, he leaves her interred in the trunk for the next few days while he fumbles and bumbles around town trying to determine who wanted her dead as he realizes it is not him and if not him why was he set up.

The eccentric New York cast starting with Miller and including the dead Dot make for a wild entertaining crime caper. The story line is fast-paced from the onset but especially goes into hyperspeed when Miller becomes the ultimate amateur sleuth figuring out the murder one misstep at a time while aggravating everyone he comes into contact with including a killer ready to up the count by one more. Readers will enjoy Dick Miller's return to the Big Apple.

Harriet Klausner

Fast-paced thriller with tons of action
Quinlan, the author of Smoked, has again delivered a breathlessly fast-paced thriller.

Small-time marijuana dealer Dick Miller is living a calm, stoned life on the coast of northern California, when he is arrested and sent to jail. He returns to New York when he gets out of jail, and is hired by Dot Racine of Feldman Real Estate for his excellent typing skills, which he picked up in prison.

Soon Dot appreciates some of his other skills, saying he looks like James Dean. Dot and Dick are out one winter night in his old car driving home after being out drinking. Dot is driving when she realizes that she is being followed. Dick is nearly unconscious-much more than he should have been for the amount he drank that night.

Dick wakes up the next morning feeling horrible, and when he goes outside, he discovers his car has a broken window, blood on the seat, and a body in the trunk-Dot's body. Did he kill her? He has no idea. He tries to investigate and finds out that Dot and her secretary Lydia were involved in a scam, and had nearly a million dollars of their employer's money.

Who could have killed Dot? Was it Nestor Garcia, her scary and violent gangster ex-boyfriend? Or was it crazy Andrew, who had been "investigating" her? And who exactly is the tough, dangerous and manipulative Cool Breeze? Plot twists and deceptions abound as the bodies pile up.

This one you won't be able to put down; it would make a fantastic movie. However, be aware that the action is good, but if you like good character development and interesting characters, realize that none of these characters were remotely interesting. It is ALL action.

Armchair Interviews says: Twists and turns, action, action, action.