Treasure Coast -- Tom Kakonis

Tom Kakonis is back, and Brash Books has him.  Kakonis published several excellent hardboiled novels (Michigan Roll and Criss- Cross come to mind) back in the late '80s, early '90s and then more or less disappeared.  Brash Books is bringing the early novels back and has published a brand-new one, Treasure Coast.

Jim Merriman is a down-on-his luck gamber who's in Florida to see his dying sister, to whom he makes the rash promise that he'll take care of her grown son, a loser who, unknown to Jim, is deeply in debt for his own gambling losses.  Even worse, two collectors are after him, and one of them is a seriously mean and slightly crazy guy.

Meanwhile, Bryce Bott and his accomplice, Waneta, are trying out the tombstone-selling game, not that any stones would ever be delivered.  While talking to potential clients,  Bott comes up with a new scheme.  He and Waneta will become intermediaries between the living and the dead, with Waneta bringing messages from the Other Side.

And even meaner-while, Big Lonnie and his not-so-loving wife are entertaining guests, with Big Lonnie being entertained by his wife after the guests are gone.  These disparate groups are all about to come together in a wild kidnapping plot that rips along as fast as the hurricane that's bearing down on the Treasure Coast.  This is prime stuff, and when you read it, you'll wonder where Kakonis has been and be really glad that he's back.