Book Review: Steve Brewer’s Bank Job
We in Redding are lucky to have an author the caliber of Steve Brewer living here, livening up our days with his appearances, in addition to his column on Food for Thought and his blog. Steve is the author of sixteen books, primarily murder mysteries. His specialty is murder mysteries spiced liberally with his trademark wit and goofy humor (that would include witty goofy humor) but he also writes noir and has published a book of his collected newspaper columns. The fact that Steve is published by indie houses instead of occupying the pantheon of big deal mystery novelists is one of those puzzling quirks of the industry. In my opinion, his work is as good or better than most mystery authors published in giant print runs with splashier marketing.
Bank Job takes place in Redding, where two skuzzball brothers and their equally scumbaggy “associate” from Bakersfield have decided to indulge in a crime spree. Like Carl Hiaason, another one of my favorite writers, Steve has great fun in chronicling the ways in which extremely stupid crooks get hoisted on their own petards. In Bank Job, these three nitwits get a lot more than they bargained for when they get tangled up with a former bank robber and his wife.
One of the pleasures of this book is that Brewer tells the story from multiple points of view, a device I’ve always enjoyed. In the hands of a writer as skilled as Steve, it fleshes out the characters in vivid 3-D, giving the reader several angles from which to enjoy the tale. He’s extremely adept at voice, rendering male and female characters’ voices equally convincingly, and those of sympathetic characters as well as low lifes. In addition, whenever Brewer needs to fill in back story, he slips it in as adroitly as a master magician performing an elaborate trick. Nothing can jerk the reader out of the spell woven by a novel faster than becoming aware of the fact that the writer is uploading information necessary to the development of the plot. Brewer is also quite good at introducing just the right number of subplots and complications without going overboard.
His prose never overwhelms his story (one of my beefs with some literary authors) and yet his descriptions are rich, entertaining, and evocative: “The light glinted on the shaved sides of Roy’s head. The black stripe of his slicked-back Mohawk made him look like his head had been cleaved.” “The sides and back of his head were shaved and tanned. The dark strip of hair on top was short and slicked straight back. The hairstyle was like a billboard saying, ‘Moron.’ But Vince recognized something in the hard glitter of the man’s eyes and amended the assessment: ‘Dangerous moron.’” “Ichabod’s eyes went round and his Adam’s apple bobbed like a yo-yo.” “Despite the gray hair and the flab and the wrinkles, they reminded her of two little girls who’d been caught doing something naughty.”
Despite his control of his craft, Brewer’s work never becomes workman-like. The delight he takes in amusing himself while he concocts his yarns is utterly contagious and sucks the reader in immediately. So, be forewarned—don’t start one of his books thinking you’ll read a few pages and then change the baby’s diaper or take the dog for a walk. Because you’ll be hooked instantaneously!
To see a complete list of Steve Brewer’s books that has links to order titles online, check out this site: http://www.stevebrewerbooks.com/.
Thursday, March 12, 2009