All is well for the duo until they decide to rob “Cow Town,” one of a small chain of restaurants owned by Lewis McFadden. As Rob is cleaning out the safe he discovers the picture of a young Asian girl. She is absolutely gorgeous and has a simple grace about her, but in the picture she is bruised and battered. He is so struck by the girl that he resolves to find her, assuming that she is still alive.

Before he can mount a search for the girl, an old friend and mentor, Reggie England, shows up at his apartment. Although Rob is indebted to Reggie for many of his skills, Reggie is a biker who has spent too much time with alcohol and drugs to make him the most trustworthy of companions. Reggie would like to work with Rob again, but Rob knows that Switch would not happily include Reggie in their successful operation. Moreover Switch is not interested in trying to find the Asian girl. Although aware that the plan has numerous flaws, Rob decides to investigate the whereabouts of the girl and save her from her plight with Reggie as his backup.

Steven Thomas has adopted the technique of relating a crime novel told from the point of view of the perpetrator. Other writers, notably Lawrence Block in his Bernie Rhodenbarr series and Donald Westlake with Dortmunder have done this successfully. Unfortunately, Mr. Thomas has not demonstrated the skill of these two masters. While he attempts to keep his story lighthearted, the plight of the young girl adds a much more serious tone and Rob’s attraction to the girl keeps the reader from developing much empathy toward him.

The author makes an attempt to explain the criminal mind in light of his main character, an “outcast of society.” I’m not sure I agree with his assessment and the tone of the novel makes a dramatic shift when he adopts this didactic stance. It would be improved by allowing his readership to draw their own conclusions.

Although the author has introduced some quirky characters that add considerable interest to the tale, the plot itself becomes convoluted. The characters or the action fail to provide enough clues for the reader to deduce a reasonable explanation. The author spends much of the last fifth of the book revealing all the hidden relationships and deeds that tie everything together. The story in general does make sense in the end, but it is much more entertaining for the reader if there are enough clues to draw these conclusions on his own. The final fate of the Asian girl is a reasonable one, but not exactly plausible when one considers the personality of the main character.

Author Thomas’ prose is on occasion confusing. He mentions a concrete wall barrier which reverses its polarity. It is easy to see that he means the wall is not keeping people safe within but rather protecting the burglars from being seen from the street. I don’t see how polarity enters into it. In another scene a character tastes adrenaline. I’m not sure adrenaline has a taste, but it certainly adds to your energy level. At other times the prose is more than a bit trite. A character stares down the barrel of a gun, or sucks its barrel. There must be a better way to describe such a scene.

Rob Rivers may be a successful career criminal, but he does not have a sufficiently strong character to carry this novel to a satisfactory conclusion.

--Andy Plonka