Pre-Order THE GENUINE, IMITATION, PLASTIC KIDNAPPING here
(available on September 30, 2014)
(also reviewed)
Order JUST LIKE THAT here
Order THE RAPIST here
''I'll need a cup of coffee before you begin. I hate getting raped before I've had my coffee.''
This wasn't going exactly as I'd envisioned it.
Storytellers are misunderstood people. Everybody loves being told a good story, but nobody would admit that stories play a critical part in their lives, and they absolutely do. Whether you're being sucked down a black hole of a television series for an entire weekend, or that you're being entertained by a co-worker's crazy story at work, a good story makes the difference between a memorable day and a forgotten one. Les Edgerton is an author and a tremendous storyteller who writes novels like that fascinating guy at the bar would tell you the story of his life. His upcoming novel THE GENUINE, IMITATION, PLASTIC KIDNAPPING is about the craziest, most intricate bar story you've ever been told. I wouldn't call it an emotional journey (I don't think it was the point, anyway), but it's a wicked good time.
Pete Halliday used to play baseball professionally. He made his way to the major leagues and enjoyed a brief stint pitching for the San Francisco Giants *. But Pete is a loser at heart and a degenerate gambler, so the Giant's manager Dusty Baker shows him the door to spare his team of the aggravation of having a rotten apple around. Pete abandons baseball and finds his way to New Orleans where he meet Tommy LeClerc, a fellow loser with delusions of grandeur and the certitude that he has indian blood. Tommy is a schemer, with a slew of ''get rich quick'' plans that keep getting worse. His latest thing is kidnapping and like any misguided soul would do, Pete follows Tommy into his whacked out plans of trying to kidnap the worst possible people in the Big Easy.
If you've never read Les Edgerton before, THE GENUINE, IMITATION, PLASTIC KIDNAPPING would be a great place to start, because it's a perfect example of how unique and fun Edgerton's writing voice can be. His use of vernacular and his mastery of spoken form, even outside the dialogue segments are so fantastic, it feels like Edgerton is standing right beside you in a crowded bar, looking at you in the eyes and narrating the story. You can almost hear the sound of glasses clanging together and pints slamming against the bar. There is no one quite like him in the crime fiction landscape right now. No one can channel the warmth and the intimacy of a first person narration the way he does. It's organic and it ''feels'' friendly, for lack of a better word.
''Jeez Louis, Pete. We can't do that. This is a big-money community where this guy lives. In-ground swimming pools, that gives you any idea. We show up looking like we usually dress, there's gonna be some dame across the street calling the cops for the two guys looking like a home-invasion team.''
THE GENUINE, IMITATION, PLASTIC KIDNAPPING was also interesting due to its peculiar choice of protagonists. Tommy and Pete are sure lovable, but they also happen to be sociopaths. The two guys can literally NOT think past their own immediate gain or plan according to the psychological and social repercussions of their crimes on their victims, and on how it would affect their immediate future. Pete, in particular, is blinded by his addiction to gambling, which is cleverly put in perspective through his intimate relationship with working girl Cat. Pete loves being with Cat, yet he doesn't think beyond his own well-being when he's with her, so Pete's actions are always meant to create a dreamlike situation for himself and it's somehow always eluding him. The vicious circle of a sociopath's mind is well illustrated in THE GENUINE, IMITATION, PLASTIC KIDNAPPING, despite the overall light-hearted tone of the novel.
Les Edgerton is a veteran author with a distinctive, confident voice, and it shows. Novelists with a less mature approach would've taken a more serious tone and tried to squeeze every last drop of emotion out of their storytelling rag. Edgerton understands that crime novels that take themselves too seriously are a dime a dozen and THE GENUINE, IMITATION, PLASTIC KIDNAPPING doesn't fall in that trap. Of course, it didn't have the same lasting power on me that a transcendent novel wouldn't had. It's a sign of maturity from a writer not to aim for the bleachers at every swing, though. THE GENUINE, IMITATION, PLASTIC KIDNAPPING is more of a witty and cerebral thrill than a visceral one. It's successful at what it does, though and in my book, you can't ask for much more out of a novel. THE GENUINE, IMITATION, PLASTIC KIDNAPPING is a fun, accessible and unitimidating crime novel that adresses its readers as intelligent people. So circle the date on your calendar, hit the pre-order button, do what you gotta do, internet. There's a good one coming your way on September 30.
Les Edgerton is a veteran author with a distinctive, confident voice, and it shows. Novelists with a less mature approach would've taken a more serious tone and tried to squeeze every last drop of emotion out of their storytelling rag. Edgerton understands that crime novels that take themselves too seriously are a dime a dozen and THE GENUINE, IMITATION, PLASTIC KIDNAPPING doesn't fall in that trap. Of course, it didn't have the same lasting power on me that a transcendent novel wouldn't had. It's a sign of maturity from a writer not to aim for the bleachers at every swing, though. THE GENUINE, IMITATION, PLASTIC KIDNAPPING is more of a witty and cerebral thrill than a visceral one. It's successful at what it does, though and in my book, you can't ask for much more out of a novel. THE GENUINE, IMITATION, PLASTIC KIDNAPPING is a fun, accessible and unitimidating crime novel that adresses its readers as intelligent people. So circle the date on your calendar, hit the pre-order button, do what you gotta do, internet. There's a good one coming your way on September 30.
* Fans of throwback baseball will enjoy a couple of the names Edgerton has included in this novel.
