My rating: 4 of 5 stars
One of the great things about the rise of e-books is the proliferation of new authors, many self-published. It seems as if it has never been easier to get a book out and in the hands of an audience. Many people smarter and more experienced than I can speak to all of the problems that this has created, particularly when it comes to compensation and distribution issues with companies like Amazon. I’m not touching that, because I feel underqualified to comment. I’m just a consumer, and all I know is I’m reading more than I have at any point since my childhood and I’m reading a much greater variety of books.
I really like the Kindle First program, where you get to select 1 of 4 pre-release books, principally because the books on offer so far are all outside of my usual reading material, so if I want one of them I have to pick something out of my wheelhouse.
Plaster City certainly qualifies in this category, although I read a bunch of Elmore Leonard novels in my twenties, so its tone is very familiar.
The book is actually the second in a series, the first being Dove Season. I never read that novel, but don’t feel that it was any impediment to enjoying Plaster City to the fullest.
The story continues the misadventures of Jimmy Veeder and his friend Bobby Maves on the California/Mexico border (Calexico). The two are alternatively irresponsible and violent drunken screw-ups with a penchant for trouble, but charming despite or possibly because of their ineptness. There is a physical aspect of loyalty in the face of danger here that is actually quite endearing.
Bobby’s estranged teenage daughter has gone missing and these two madmen with their jump first approach may actually be exactly the right guys to get her back. Gangsters, bikers, exes and the law will be involved, with tons of cursing, beer and fistfights along the way. The result is 350 pages of absolutely mayhem as they wreck very nearly everything around them, mostly by accident and complete lack of preparation or planning.
I was quite surprised by how long this story was; things seemed to be nearly wrapped up halfway through before taking a completely different turn. Unusually this wasn’t a problem for me – I was totally hooked and followed every crazy twist and development.
Oddly for a book I enjoyed so completely, I have no real interest in reading the other books in the series (existing or to come). I liked Plaster City so much because it was so different (for me) and thought the characters were great fun. I don’t know if that feeling would last over multiple installments. I think there’s something to the fact that Elmore Leonard wrote so few sequels. Better to create new characters with his gift for fascinating portraits. I have no doubt author Johnny Shaw is capable of doing the same.
