Re: RARA-AVIS: Jason Starr question

From: Al Guthrie ( allanguthrie@ukonline.co.uk)
Date: 03 Aug 2003


From: "Michael Robison" < zspider@gte.net>
> I'm getting ready to order some books from Amazon and
> I've got Jason Starr's TOUGH LUCK on the list. I've
> never read him and I notice there are several others available
> by him. Is TOUGH LUCK a good one to start with? What
> would you recommend starting with? What is his best?

I'm sure everyone has his own favourite, but I think "Tough Luck" is the best. I'm re-reading it at the moment. It's slightly different from the others, edging towards being a caper novel before deciding to turn in a more noir direction. Mickey Prada, the protagonist, isn't amoral, as is usual with Jason Starr, but innocent. The novel reads like a Leonard/Willeford hybrid, and the plot makes you want to rip it to pieces just to see how on earth it was constructed so perfectly.

It doesn't matter what order you read the books, I don't think. They're all dark and darkly humorous crime novels (not detective novels) without the irritation (in terms of where to begin) of series characters. And they all have superb endings.

From "Tough Luck" (P46):
"Can't we go someplace else?" Mickey said. "How about one of those Irish pubs up on Second Avenue?"
"Irish pub?" Chris said. "What do you want to do, fuck an old man?"

Al Guthrie

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