The Hackman Blues -- Ken Bruen

You knew that Gene Hackman was the first choice to star as Mike Brady on The Brady Bunch, didn't you? And that he was the sixth choice to play Popeye Doyle in The French Connection? So if you knew, why am I bringing this up? Because

• if Hackman had played Mike Brady, The Hackman Blues would never have been written
• one character in The Hackman Blues fancies that he looks like Gene Hackman and loves to watch Hackman's movies
• another character in The Hackman Blues is named Brady
• I don't think items two and three could possibly be accidental
• I wanted to make a list

I offer all that (free of charge!) to future grad students planning to do theses on the novels of Ken Bruen.

As for the book itself, it's a terrific story of a kidnapping gone spectacularly wrong (read it as a companion piece to Rilke on Black). Tony (not Mike) Brady and a couple of buddies do the job. At first, kidnapping's not their intent, but someone mentions how easily the job they're going could be turned into a big payday for all of them. Boy, are they mistaken. Best you read the book to find out why. It's short, fast, and hardboiled, a Gold Medal book for the new noir. Check it out.