Tommy Russo has just seen a man about a horse, and not euphemistically. The tough-guy protagonist of Jason Starr's FAKE I.D. has a bit of a gambling problem, so the idea of having ownership in a racehorse appeals to him when the opportunity unexpectedly arises in the opening chapter. All he needs to get in on the deal (scam?) is $10,000.
Employed as a bouncer at a New York bar, he's short about, well, 10 grand. But he really, really wants this, so he does whatever he can to scrape together some coin. First, he makes off with a piece of jewelry of some chick he's banging, but the pawn shop's offer is petty. The bar's Super Bowl pool of bets, however? Ka-ching!
Tommy robs the place in the middle of the night and, once the theft is discovered, points the blame on his boss' son. To add insult to injury, he stops over at his boss' place to screw his wife, just because he can, as some sort of celebration (and, for us, a riotously funny sex scene).
As if you couldn't tell, yeah, this Tommy guy ain't so kind. He starts out with our sympathies, but the more he gets himself in over his head — and believe me, the worst is yet to come — the less we like him. Such acts can be the death of a novel, but Starr bravely maneuvers it such a manner that we can't help but stick around to see just how low Tommy will go. We don't quite recognize what depths he's capable of sinking to until he does it, and the effect as he attempts to talk/bribe/claw his way out of the situation — only to make it worse — is oddly comic.
As a general rule of thumb, Hard Case Crime books are kept slim on purpose, and FAKE I.D. is a case where a thrifty page count is almost a necessity. After all, one can only spend so much time politely tolerating a jerk before you have to vacate the premises entirely. Starr never reaches that breaking point, getting out while the getting's still good.
This one was originally published at the turn of the century, and is getting its first American publication. Such importing was long overdue. FAKE I.D. moves with the breakneck speed of Starr's three other Hard Case efforts (co-written with Ken Bruen) and bristles with the same style of dark humor. The ending's a little abrupt and madcap, but just goes to show what a nut Tommy truly is. I wouldn't change him a bit. —Rod Lott
Buy it at Amazon.
"She pushed me down onto the bed and climbed on top of me with her drunk old lady's body — sucking hard on my neck with her teeth. ... She was holding down my arms, biting my nipples. 'You like this, don't you? Don't you?' She unzipped my pants and tossed away her robe. I wondered how I ever could've thought she was sexy. Her thin, bony body disgusted me. I was looking up at her lumpy, sagging implants and her wrinkled face. I closed my eyes, trying to shut everything out, but it didn't help."
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• BUST by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr
• THE MAX by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr
• SLIDE by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr
Related posts:
- Bust
- Q&A with THE MAX’s Jason Starr
- The Max
- Slide
- Once Were Cops
- Killer Year: Stories to Die for … from the Hottest New Crime Writers
- 9 Fake Books I Wish Someone Had Published This Year
- NEWSGASM >> 10.1.07
- The Trafficked
- These Guns for Hire
