A Long Crazy Burn
A Darby Holland Crime Novel
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
The second in the Darby Holland Crime Novelseries of humorous noir novels set in Portland, Oregon's seedy side, featuring resourceful Darby Holland, owner of the tattoo parlor called The Lucky Supreme, and his brilliant and slightly mad side kick—the twiggy, vinyl clad tattoo artist, Delia.
Time is up in Old Town. As the pace of gentrification reaches frenzy in Portland, Oregon, Darby Holland’s beloved tattoo parlor, Lucky Supreme, is destroyed by a bomb that ripped through an entire city block. Only a warning call from his favorite prostitute saved his life. Developers have been like wolves at the door of D’mitri (the drunken landlord) for the past few years, but this is different. With nothing to lose, Darby goes on a rampage to discover the bomber and the developer who set everything in motion.
Along the way falls under FBI suspicion, messes with dangerous pimps and drug lords, gets his face permanently rearranged. At what is undoubtedly the lowest point in his adult life, Darby meets the woman of his dreams. Long, lanky, smart, and a foot taller than him, Suzanne is a woman of enormous appetite. Darby has finally met his match in bed and at the dinner table. But Suzanne, for all her strength and wisdom, can’t save Darby from his enemies. Fortunately, Delia (Darby’s tiny vinyl clad sidekick) and her punk-rock boyfriend’s band can. They and a ragtag team of Lucky Supreme faithfuls organize a positively outrageous caper in crime fiction, making full use of an Armenian smuggling operation, to pave the way for justice and the resurrection of the Lucky Supreme.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Johnson's frenetic follow-up to Lucky Supreme opens with a bang when, early one morning, a bomb destroys Lucky Supreme, the tattoo parlor owned by Portland, Ore., tattoo artist Darby Holland in the city's Old Town. Thanks to a last-minute phone warning, Darby leaves the store shortly before the explosion. Darby sets out to find those responsible, but the two federal agents who interview him right after the bombing harass him constantly. A prostitute provides him with his first clue, which leads him to a pimp who gives him a vicious beating. Despite this setback, Darby persists in following a convoluted trail that brings him up against seemingly untouchable villains such as Russian real estate mogul Oleg Turganov. Less than half way in, Darby has killed a man, stolen a ton of cash, and robbed a junkie. "It was a start," he muses. Darby eventually concocts a devious plan to even the score with the bombers, get the feds off his case, and restore Lucky Supreme. Johnson takes readers on a wickedly rough, terribly strange, oddly amusing trip.
