Stoked to learn Preston Lang will be back soon with his second crime book, The Blind Rooster, a “crude slice of American Noir, sunny side down”. Echoes of Jim Thompson and Elmore Leonard? Bring it.

Preston Lang released his discreetly funny debut, The Carrier, last spring, weaving three narrative threads into one heartless tale. Drug courier Cyril and stick-up girl Willow pursue a hazy trail of money, drugs, or gold across the great American heartland in a game of betrayal and counter-betrayal, but the treasure can’t belong to both and their relationship must end in an unmarked grave. Betrayal also lies at the broken heart of the second narrative, as sex-offender Danny Chin and his beefcake partner Marcus pursue Cyril and Willow for a score: Chin for money, Marcus to win the love of his girlfriend. But Duane and Inez get in the way, too good for the criminal enterprise to which they belong—which isn’t saying much. After all, mastermind Pat Sajak is withering under the influence of his own narcotics and is hobbled by strange sexual proclivities like having plastic army men tossed at his wiener.

Often dead funny, The Carrier entertains without pretense before racing through a brutal, breathless, corkscrew finish. Full review.