Los Angeles burglar Junior Bender is in the middle of burgling a house and has just gotten his hands on one of the world's rarest stamps when the job goes terrifically wrong. After barely escaping, Junior realizes the danger is far from over. He's gotten himself on the wrong side of a man whose name is synonymous with violence, and to save his own skin he's set off a chain reaction of blackmail, strong-arming, and escalating crime. To pay off his underworld debts, Junior is forced to break into the house of the most powerful man in Hollywood, the shadowy, widely feared studio mogul known as King Maybe. It's an impossible break-in, and to get out of the house alive Junior will need to use everything he's learned, plus a few skills he knows he doesn't possess.
1 of 1 copy available
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Creators
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Series
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Publisher
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Release date
April 12, 2016 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781504616614
- File size: 299534 KB
- Duration: 10:24:01
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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February 8, 2016
In Edgar-finalist Hallinan’s darkly comic fifth Junior Bender mystery (after 2014’s Herbie’s Game), the endearing Los Angeles burglar is faced with his biggest existential crisis yet. His enigmatic girlfriend, Ronnie Bigelow, has left him; a malicious girl is picking on his estranged teenage daughter; and everyone he knows seemingly wants him dead. Meanwhile, a down-and-out movie producer manipulates Bender into breaking into a mansion owned by Jeremy Granger (aka King Maybe), who many view as the “most powerful person in Hollywood.” When Bender is caught red-handed, King Maybe offers him a way out of his predicament—but the quick-witted thief realizes too late that he has been carefully set-up to take the fall for a much more nefarious crime. Powered by Hallinan’s smart and sardonic narrative voice (a young actress is described as an “emaciated, Giacometti sculpture of tendons, tension, and teeth”), this brisk romp through the Hollywood Hills reads like a novel half its length: an undeniable page-turner. Agent: Bob Mecoy, Bob Mecoy Literary.
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