Pricing
Hardcover $26.95
Paperback $15.95
More books by Timothy Hallinan
Description
Los Angeles burglar Junior Bender has a rule about never taking a job that pays too well: in the criminal underworld, if you’re offered more money than a job is worth, someone is going to end up dead. But he’s bending his rule this one time because he and his girlfriend, Ronnie, are in desperate need of cash to hire a kidnapper to sna...
Los Angeles burglar Junior Bender has a rule about never taking a job that pays too well: in the criminal underworld, if you’re offered more money than a job is worth, someone is going to end up dead. But he’s bending his rule this one time because he and his girlfriend, Ronnie, are in desperate need of cash to hire a kidnapper to snatch Ronnie’s two-year-old son back from her ex. The whole thing is pretty complicated and has Junior on edge.
The parameters of the job do nothing to calm his nerves. A nameless woman in an orange wig has offered Junior fifty grand—twenty-five up front—to break into the abandoned house of a recently deceased 97-year-old recluse, Daisy Horton, and steal a doll from her collection. Junior knows no doll is worth 50K, so he figures there must be something hidden inside the doll that can get him in a heap of trouble. It doesn’t take long for Junior to realize he’s not the only one looking for the doll. When an old friend ends up murdered, Junior decides he will stop at nothing to figure out who the woman in the orange wig is, and why she wants the doll badly enough to leave a trail of bodies in her wake.
Media
“2019 Lefty Nominee for Best Humorous Mystery Novel.”
“Burglar Junior Bender may just be our favorite literary PI.”
—Entertainment Weekly
“West Coast fun for the noir at heart.”
—Sunday Times
“Slick sleuthing, a touching romance and several good laughs.”
—Toronto Star
“Nobody does comic mystery with an edge better than Hallinan.”
—Booklist, Starred Review
“Everybody's go-to burglar in LA, takes on another job that doesn't smell right—it fairly reeks of talcum powder—and lives to regret it early and often.... Highly readable.”
–Kirkus Reviews
“Hallinan’s top-notch prose and plotting are reminiscent of Lawrence Block and Elmore Leonard.”
–Publishers Weekly, Starred Review on Nighttown
“If you enjoy the ironic wit and criminal adventures of Lawrence Block’s Bernie Rhodenbarr, then you’ll want to read Timothy Hallinan’s Nighttown. Junior Bender is one of my favorite fictional felons and Hallinan is a writer with the kind of heart and healthy cynicism that I admire.”
–Carole E. Barrowman, The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
“Hallinan skillfully uses humor, his anti-hero’s point of view, and the city of Los Angeles for a fun caper novel with heart and a wonderful literary reveal.”
-BookPeople on Nighttown
“Are you a fan of Donald Westlake's caper books, or the first series from Bethany Maines with its side-splitting moments among makeup experts who ride on the wild side? Here's what you've been waiting for: exquisitely plotted action and twists.”
–Beth Kanell, Kingdom Books on Nighttown
“This novel was extremely intriguing, suspenseful, and mysterious. It is highly recommended reading.”
—The Gumshoe Review on Nighttown
“Humor is a hallmark of the Junior Bender series, and this latest title is no exception.”
–Bookgasm on Nighttown
“Are you a fan of Donald Westlake's caper books, or the first series from Bethany Maines with its side-splitting moments among makeup experts who ride on the wild side? Here's what you've been waiting for: exquisitely plotted action and twists, with conversation and commentary so dryly funny that those pee-proof panties advertised on TV should be sold with the book in some regions.”