Published by Grove Press UK,
3 March 2016.
ISBN 978 1 61185 552-4
3 March 2016.
ISBN 978 1 61185 552-4
At first
sight, the narrative of The White Van appears to be populated by the most
undesirable group of characters anyone might wish to imagine. To start
with there is Emily, a drifting, drunken, petty thief whose mother – a heroine
addict - died when she was six. Emily’s boyfriend knocks her about, so it
is not too surprising when she allows herself to be gathered up by a
good-looking Russian, Benya Stavitsky, who invites her back to his hotel to
take drugs with him.
Benya has
troubles of his own. One of his black-market deals went seriously wrong
when Chinese gangsters muscled in on the act and left him disastrously out of
pocket. Benya’s impecunious position then left him vulnerable to the demands of
another Russian gangster, a loan shark called Sophia, who has purchased his
debts.
Sophia is a
most delightful lady. She thinks nothing of forcing Benya to keep guard over
Emily whilst they feed her a cocktail of drugs that will render her amenable to
their wishes. All Sophia wants Emily to do is to rob a bank! Emily
does as Sophia instructs her to - until she finds herself holding a bag loaded
with dollars.
At this
point the script changes and an alcoholic, compulsive gambler, Leo Elias, joins
the plot. Elias is a useless cop who is about to have his house
repossessed. He decides he could use the money from the bank robbery and
sets out to find it.
As the rest
of this action-packed narrative races through various locations in San
Francisco, we gradually begin to understand why at least some of its
well-portrayed characters behave as they do, and to feel some grudging sympathy
for them. Those who enjoy dark humour will love this book whose final pages
ensure that the story never really ends.
---
Reviewer:
Angela Crowther
Patrick Hoffman is a
writer and private investigator based in Brooklyn, NY. His first book, The White Van, was a finalist for the
Crime Writers' Association Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award and was named a Wall
Street Journal and San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year. His highly
anticipated follow-up, Every Man A
Menace, came out in 2016, and was again named one of the ten bests of the
year by the Wall Street Journal.
Angela Crowther is a
retired scientist. She has published many scientific papers but, as yet,
no crime fiction. In her spare time Angela belongs to a Handbell Ringing
group, goes country dancing and enjoys listening to music, particularly the
operas of Verdi and Wagner.
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