<![CDATA[Caught Stealing (Hank Thompson #1)]]>

false <![CDATA[Caught Stealing (Hank Thompson #1)]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167321241m/21278.jpg 21278 6 It’s three thousand miles from the green fields of glory, where Henry “call me Hank” Thompson once played California baseball, to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where the tenements are old, the rents are high, and the drunks are dirty. But now Hank is here, working as a bartender and taking care of a cat named Bud who is surely going to get him killed. It begins when Hank’s neighbor, Russ, has to leave town in a rush and hands over Bud in a carrier. But it isn’t until two Russians in tracksuits drag Hank over the bar at the joint where he works and beat him to a pulp that he starts to get the idea: Someone wants something from him. He just doesn’t know what it is, where it is, or how to make them understand he doesn’t have it. Within twenty-four hours Hank is running over rooftops, swinging his old aluminum bat for the sweet spot of a guy’s head, playing hide and seek with the NYPD, riding the subway with a dead man at his side, and counting a whole lot of cash on a concrete floor. All because of two cowboys, two Russian mafia men, and some of the weirdest goons ever assembled in one place. All because of Bud. All because once, in another life, in another world, the only thing Hank wanted was to take third base—without getting caught. From the Hardcover edition. 2406776 book 2004 Caught Stealing: A Novel total:671|5:222|4:267|3:136|2:33|1:13| 671 2665 971 152 3 1 false false Tue Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Wed Sep 05 16:41:09 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 05 16:43:06 -0700 2007 Charlie Huston – 1st book
Ballantine Books, 2004 – Hardcover
Bartender Hank Thompson agrees to look after his neighbor’s cat, Bud, for a few days and, as a result, is beaten so badly he loses a kidney. He is chased, beaten, tortured, and ...more...]]> 2 3 false false Mon Oct 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 09:45:56 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 10:04:50 -0700 2009 4 2 false false Tue Mar 31 09:16:10 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 16 19:17:33 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 31 09:16:10 -0700 2009
"Oh, really?" I thought, "We'll see about that."

After one day, the score is currently Blurb: 1, Wil: 0.

I'll write a full review when I'm finished with it, but b...more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Mar 12 11:37:30 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 12 11:38:37 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sun Feb 15 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 14 08:23:07 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 15 22:20:58 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat May 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu May 28 09:15:27 -0700 2009 Sat May 30 08:57:22 -0700 2009
I suppose one of the central messages of this book is that no good deed goes unpunished. Other messages, in no particular order, are:

- Alcoholic bartenders on a downward spiral can ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Apr 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 17 10:53:46 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 17 10:57:35 -0700 2009
Maybe it was that the main character, Hank, was such a sad sack I had to see what happened. Maybe i...more...]]> 1 0 false false Sun Jul 19 21:19:16 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 19 21:25:36 -0700 2009
In some ways, I felt like I was reading one of Thomas Hardy's works (e.g. The Mayor of Casterbridge or Tess of the d'Urbervilles) because Henry Thompson gets in too deep ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jul 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 08 18:59:05 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 08 19:03:42 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Sep 09 16:49:10 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 09 16:49:10 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Wed Apr 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 09 07:13:15 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 09 07:20:23 -0700 2009
What is Nietzsche's old saw? "That which does not destroy us, makes us stronger" - that describes Hank Thompson's path progress in this book.

Hank is obviously very gifted, but has been beset by tragedy a couple of tim...more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Feb 20 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 20 14:48:14 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 20 14:59:12 -0800 2009
Ingredients:
* party-boy bartender
* dirty cop
* Russian gangsters
* entrepreneurial gangsters
* mysterious key
* placid cat
* lots of money

Blend with Sharp Knife
* bullets
* booze
* lousy kid...more...]]> 4 0 false true Sat Apr 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 10 13:29:02 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 21 14:05:40 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Apr 07 10:31:05 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 12 12:50:41 -0700 2009
While the book makes attempts to create a human element (which I cannot fault for its effort), the...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Oct 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 11 13:59:34 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 11 14:05:01 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Dec 29 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 01 09:30:17 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 01 09:31:08 -0800 2009 Raymond Chandler, but amped up for the modern day reader. If you like fast paced thrillers, this one is for you. I couldn’t put it down and stayed up until 2:00 in the morning just ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Dec 23 19:29:18 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 23 19:30:48 -0800 2008 When Doing the Right Thing Becomes Increasingly Impossible

Caught Stealing was a fantastic novel from the beginning to the very end. I started reading this book and literally (and figuratively) did not put it down until it was over, several hours later.

There is an all star cas...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Oct 05 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 02 15:54:27 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 06 09:14:32 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Oct 06 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Mon Aug 25 22:30:56 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 25 22:31:27 -0700 2008
Hank Thompson, a once California high school baseball star destined for the "bigs", is permanently sidelined in a stolen base gone bad, and now, some ten years later, is tending bar in New York City. Part time alcoholic a...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Aug 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 13 15:10:53 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 12 15:20:53 -0700 2009
Caught Stealing is a...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=21278