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 do--but 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.
About the Author :
Timothy Hallinan is the author of over a dozen widely praised books, including the Poke Rafferty Bangkok thrillers and the Junior Bender series.
Peter Berkrot, winner of Audie and Earphones Awards for narration, is a stage, screen, and television actor and acting coach. He has narrated over 450 works that span a range of genres, including fiction, nonfiction, thriller, and children's titles. His audiobook credits include works of Alan Glynn, Eric Van Lustbader, Nora Roberts and Dean Koontz. In film and television, he appeared in Caddyshack, America's Most Wanted, and Unsolved Mysteries. He performs in regional and New York theaters and directs the New Voices acting school.
Review :
"Crashed is funny, thrilling, and even sad--a 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. It's laugh-out-loud funny without ever losing any of its mystery. It's a whole new style and I love it. Junior Bender--a crook with a heart of gold--is one of Hallinan's most appealing heroes, rich with invention and brimming with classic wit. I can't recommend it highly enough."
-- "Shadoe Stevens, Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson "
"A fresh turn on Raymond Chandler...In Crashed, Hallinan's fabulously convoluted, wise-guy detective potboiler featuring Bender, the California author's voice--intelligent, sarcastic, profane, but never coarse, unfailingly honest--is like a fast ride over a potholed road in a vintage Cadillac."
-- "San Antonio Express-News"
"Hallinan is one of the master storytellers of our generation. Crashed is pure rapture."
-- "C. J. West, author of The End of Marking Time "
"Hallinan paints a vivid picture of the many flamboyant characters of Hollywood's back lots--from thieves to gangsters to shady movie directors and producers...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 film...Berkrot's 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. Let's hope the team of Hallinan and Berkrot comes around again."
-- "AudioFile"
"If you're looking for a mystery with a fresh new hero then you'll want to run right out and get this book. It's just fabulous."
-- "NPR"
"The 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."
-- "Booklist"
"Tim Hallinan has done it again. He's 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 he'd much rather avoid. Do not miss any of these books. A must-read in my house."
-- "Brett Battles, author of the award-winning Jonathan Quinn series "
"Timothy Hallinan's affable antihero, an accomplished thief but inept sleuth named Junior Bender, makes a terrific first impression in Crashed...Bender's quick wit and smart mouth make him a boon companion on this oddball adventure."
-- "New York Times"
"Today's Los Angeles as Raymond Chandler might have written it."
-- "Bruce DeSilva, Associated Press, Top 10 Best Crime Novels of 2012"
