NOBODY MOVE

There's no shortage of tough guys and girls in Denis Johnson's NOBODY MOVE. There’s also no real hero in the book, just bad guys and worse ones, all of them pretty interesting. Will Patton gives real character to all the players, especially the protagonist, a gambling-addicted singer in a barbershop choir named Johnny Lutz. The guy has no idea how much trouble he's in until the cold-blooded enforcer, Ernest Gambol, takes him for a one-way ride into the California countryside. Patton's Gambol is seriously sinister—you can almost hear creepy music in the background. Throw in a beautiful woman, $2.3 million, blood, guns, and revenge—and you’ve got a contemporary crime-noir masterpiece. Patton and Johnson make it all seem brand-new. M.S. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2009]