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Introducing Junior Bender, the favorite burglar turned private investigator of Hollywood crooks
Junior Bender is a Los Angeles burglar with a magic touch. Since he first started breaking into houses at age fourteen, he's never once been caught. But now, after twenty-two years building an exemplary career, Junior has been blackmailed by Trey Annunziato, one of the most powerful crime bosses in LA, into acting as a private investigator on the set of Trey's porn venture, which someone keeps sabotaging. The star Trey has lined up to do all that's unwholesome on camera is Thistle Downing, America's beloved child star, who now lives alone in a drug-induced stupor, destitute and uninsurable. Her starring role will be the scandalous fall-from-grace gossip of rubberneckers across the country. No wonder Trey needs help keeping the production on track.
Junior knows what he should doābut doing the right thing will land him on the wrong side of LA's scariest mob boss. With the help of his precocious twelve-year-old daughter, Rina, and his criminal sidekick, ex-getaway driver Louie the Lost, Junior will have to pull off a miracle to get out of this mess.
Timothy Hallinan is the Edgar and Macavity Awardānominated author of over a dozen widely praised books, including the Poke Rafferty Bangkok thrillersĀ and the Junior Bender series. In 2010 he conceived and edited an e-book of original short stories by twenty mystery writers,Ā Shaken: Stories for Japan, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to Japanese disaster relief.
Peter Berkrot, a forty-year veteran of stage and screen, has voiced over 450 audiobook titles, winning Earphones Awards, a 2012 Audie Award nomination, and a 2016 Audie Award.
Reviews
āTimothy Hallinanās affable antihero, an accomplished thief but inept sleuth named Junior Bender, makes a terrific first impression in Crashedā¦Benderās quick wit and smart mouth make him a boon companion on this oddball adventure.ā
āIf youāre looking for a mystery with a fresh new hero then youāll want to run right out and get this book. Itās just fabulous.ā
āTodayās Los Angeles as Raymond Chandler might have written it.ā
āCrashed is funny, thrilling, and even sadāa great beginning for a great new series. Timothy Hallinan is one of my favorite writers, and this is Hallinan at the top of his game. Itās laugh-out-loud funny without ever losing any of its mystery. Itās a whole new style and I love it. Junior Benderāa crook with a heart of goldāis one of Hallinanās most appealing heroes, rich with invention and brimming with classic wit. I canāt recommend it highly enough.ā
āA fresh turn on Raymond Chandlerā¦In Crashed, Hallinanās fabulously convoluted, wise-guy detective potboiler featuring Bender, the California authorās voiceāintelligent, sarcastic, profane, but never coarse, unfailingly honestāis like a fast ride over a potholed road in a vintage Cadillac.ā
āHallinan paints a vivid picture of the many flamboyant characters of Hollywoodās back lotsāfrom thieves to gangsters to shady movie directors and producersā¦Give credit to Peter Berkrot for striking a hilariously sarcastic tone to portray the infamous thief Junior Bender and his assignment to make sure a former child television star that all of America has fallen in love with finishes her next filmā¦Berkrotās performance is full of humor and heart as the film and its star are sabotaged on many fronts. This is the first in the Junior Bender series. Letās hope the team of Hallinan and Berkrot comes around again.ā
āThe story is well designed and well told, and the dialogue sparkles. In a genre perhaps slightly overstuffed with crook-heroes, the book is like a breath of fresh air.ā
āTim Hallinan has done it again. Heās created a must-read series that you will find hard to put down! Junior Bender is all you could ever want in a hero-thief: smart and funny, with a penchant for finding himself in situations heād much rather avoid. Do not miss any of these books. A must-read in my house.ā
āHallinan is one of the master storytellers of our generation. Crashed is pure rapture.ā
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