It’s three thousand miles from the green fields of glory, where Henry “call me Hank” Thompson once played California baseball, to...
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Dec 17, 2009
LJ
rated it: 
CAUGHT STEALING (Amateur Sleuth) – G+
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 friends murdered by a pair of Russians, a red-headed Asian, two brothers, and a dirty cop all because of a key found in the bottom of Bud’s carrier.
*** Many of likened this book to a Tarantino movie a More...
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 friends murdered by a pair of Russians, a red-headed Asian, two brothers, and a dirty cop all because of a key found in the bottom of Bud’s carrier.
*** Many of likened this book to a Tarantino movie a More...
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Oct 12, 2009
Jim
rated it: 
I read it for 50 pages. The style is a turn off, but the writing & the plot are pretty good. If I didn't have anything else to read, I'd continue, but I have a LOT of other stuff & I just find this style too irritating to continue.
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Mar 31, 2009
Wil
rated it: 
On the back of this book, there's a blurb about how it's nearly impossible to put it down.
"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 based on about half of Caught Stealing, I can attest that that particular claim is not mere hyperbole.
"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 based on about half of Caught Stealing, I can attest that that particular claim is not mere hyperbole.
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Mar 12, 2009
Mykl
rated it:
A guilty pleasure reading experience: in a good way. Plenty of action and great dialogue make this book difficult to put down. Classic literature? Not a chance. Just one hell of a lot of fun!
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Nov 20, 2011
Sonya
rated it: 
I heart Charlie Huston. Seriously. In a big BIG way.
I picked this book up a while back, having never heard of him. It took me a second to get used to his style of writing, but once I did, I was hooked. Caught Stealing is about a guy who does something stupid in high school and screws up his life. Afterward, he moves across the country and starts over. He's just trying to live his life in peace. He doesn't bother anybody, minds his own business. He gets roped into helping out a friend, More...
I picked this book up a while back, having never heard of him. It took me a second to get used to his style of writing, but once I did, I was hooked. Caught Stealing is about a guy who does something stupid in high school and screws up his life. Afterward, he moves across the country and starts over. He's just trying to live his life in peace. He doesn't bother anybody, minds his own business. He gets roped into helping out a friend, More...
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Aug 16, 2011
Jason
rated it:
4 stars
This is my first Charlie Huston book and I am already sold. This is a straight up noir type thriller that starts fast and ends even quicker. It a story about a young man that thanks to some bad luck and bad timing gets involved with things that will change him forever.
Hank is somewhat likable but easy to identify with as we all know people who seem to have everything going their way until fate reaches up and smacks them in their face and down into humble town. I t More...
This is my first Charlie Huston book and I am already sold. This is a straight up noir type thriller that starts fast and ends even quicker. It a story about a young man that thanks to some bad luck and bad timing gets involved with things that will change him forever.
Hank is somewhat likable but easy to identify with as we all know people who seem to have everything going their way until fate reaches up and smacks them in their face and down into humble town. I t More...
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Apr 30, 2011
Morgan
rated it:
It's an intriguing, violent "wrong man" plot. It reads well and got me into it quick. I liked all the back story bits, and love how he cared as much as he did about his secondary and tertiary characters. While, I thought it was a fun read, it screamed first novel - occasionally stiff and creaky. The blame for where this book fails falls firmly on the shoulders of his editor (although, who knows what it looked like before the editor). The book is entrenched in NYC and attempts to e
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Jan 14, 2011
Tony
rated it:
Huston, Charlie. CAUGHT STEALING. (2004). ****. This was Huston’s dazzling debut into the world of crime fiction. It doesn’t get any darker than this. He manages to keep up the fast pace throughout the book, though he does occassionally have to kill an innocent bystander or two to keep our attention. It is the story of a nice young man from California, Henry (Hank) Thompson. Hank grew up loving baseball, and excelled at it on every team he was on – from t-Ball onwards. In his senior yea
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Jan 04, 2011
Loren
rated it:
From ISawLightningFall.com
THREE-AND-A-HALF STARS
Ever find yourself asking where JUST ENOUGH turns into WAY TOO MUCH? I know I wonder where the line falls between an extra hour's sleep on Saturday and pure laziness, between adding an interesting side project and falling into scattered slothfulness. Usually, this behavioral platting occurs when I'm trying to rationalize something away, to say that, hey, no one can really tell when an action moves from mildly indulgent to fl More...
THREE-AND-A-HALF STARS
Ever find yourself asking where JUST ENOUGH turns into WAY TOO MUCH? I know I wonder where the line falls between an extra hour's sleep on Saturday and pure laziness, between adding an interesting side project and falling into scattered slothfulness. Usually, this behavioral platting occurs when I'm trying to rationalize something away, to say that, hey, no one can really tell when an action moves from mildly indulgent to fl More...
Feb 15, 2009
Laura
rated it:
This is my fourth Charlie Huston book and I have to say that he can really write. His books are heavy on the violence and certainly aren't for everybody; in fact if someone had described them to me before I read one I would have said that they weren't for me either. But I started another of his books, Already Dead, without knowing much about it and once I did I was hooked until the end.
That being said, I think that Caught Stealing reads like what it is: Charlie Huston's debut novel. More...
That being said, I think that Caught Stealing reads like what it is: Charlie Huston's debut novel. More...
Feb 23, 2010
Brandon
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
May 30, 2009
Jim
rated it:
Not a bad sentence, nor a wrong word. This is easily one of the best books I've read this year.
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 also be good guys.
- Good guys in bad situations often must do bad things.
- Some people care deeply about big bags of cash.
- Being cruel to cats brings on some wick More...
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 also be good guys.
- Good guys in bad situations often must do bad things.
- Some people care deeply about big bags of cash.
- Being cruel to cats brings on some wick More...
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Apr 05, 2011
Marcus
rated it:
Caught Stealing is like Cormac McCarthy channelling his inner Quentin Tarantino.
I can see why a lot of people didn't like the writing style in this book especially when dialogue looks like:
- I hate this.
- Really?
- Really.
- Been to the park?
- Nope.
- Really?
- Really.
No quotation marks, no dialogue tags (e.g. he/she said), long stretches where you can lose track of who is saying what, ergo my Cormac McCarthy reference. And yes, th More...
I can see why a lot of people didn't like the writing style in this book especially when dialogue looks like:
- I hate this.
- Really?
- Really.
- Been to the park?
- Nope.
- Really?
- Really.
No quotation marks, no dialogue tags (e.g. he/she said), long stretches where you can lose track of who is saying what, ergo my Cormac McCarthy reference. And yes, th More...
Jan 13, 2012
Jim
rated it:
In order to understand this story you need a little background on the protagonist. At one time Hank Thompson had been a gifted young athlete, a baseball player with major league scouts at all of his games. It looked like he would be able to live his dream, but then a career ending injury made that dream impossible. Later on Hank is driving fast, late at night, when a calf wanders into the road. He swerves to avoid it, but a tire blows, the car flips end over end and his best friend dies in the
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Apr 21, 2011
David
rated it: 
This is a book written by an author who set out to write something "edgy" and "hip", vowing to take noir fiction to the "next level". Not even close. The book is a nihilistic hodgepodge of drug taking, drunkenness and gratuitous violence. "A tale told by an idiot signifying nothing" is an apt description. One by one the author beats and/or kills just about every character in the book. Wow, great accomplishment, that's so rad, man.
I don't rea More...
I don't rea More...
Oct 07, 2010
Elke
rated it:
Being a fan of the Joe Pitt series, I purchased this book as a gift for a friend who likes to read crime novels. But he returned the book to me after reading only a few pages, arguing he didn't like the slightly disgusting introduction (is such a thing really necessary to write a good crime story?!) and did not want to find out what the rest of the book would bring.
I was immediately tempted to find out for myself wether the book was really that bad. So I started reading and after the first More...
I was immediately tempted to find out for myself wether the book was really that bad. So I started reading and after the first More...
Jan 05, 2010
SF_Reads (Mod)
rated it:
I just read the first 2 in his Hank Thompson Trilogy. Caught Stealing & 6 Bad Things. They are in a crime noir style. The protagonist Hank (Henry to his parents) is a hapless funloving kind of guy.
You meet Hank in Caught Stealing. He's ended up tending bar in new york after an accident in highschool that ruined his chances at a professional baseball career. He's also haunted by another incident in HS that may have prompted his move and kept him in the holding pattern he's been in fo More...
You meet Hank in Caught Stealing. He's ended up tending bar in new york after an accident in highschool that ruined his chances at a professional baseball career. He's also haunted by another incident in HS that may have prompted his move and kept him in the holding pattern he's been in fo More...
Sep 24, 2011
Neil
rated it:
This is a great crime novel. The protagonist is a genuinely decent guy (a nice change from the anti-heroes I usually read in crime) who gets caught up in some truly disturbing circumstances. This makes it very easy to empathise with Hank as well as rooting for his revenge. Even though the villains are pretty twisted and evil, they are none-the-less very entertaining and each one has a very distinctive appearance and voice. The dialogue is excellent throughout and you can tell who is speaking eve
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Jan 23, 2010
adventurat
rated it:
This book starts off at a dead run and keeps going from there, pretty much, but it doesn't sacrifice characterization or plot for action; it's all of a piece and it pulls you along inexorably. Things get steadily worse for Hank Thompson - the trouble he's in gets stickier and the options for getting out narrower and narrower - until although you're certain that he'll do it, you're dumbfounded as to how he can possibly manage it.
Hank has had some bad breaks in his life, but they are More...
Hank has had some bad breaks in his life, but they are More...
Apr 17, 2009
John
rated it:
This was a strange one. If I were to take a hard look at the book, I'd say it was only mediocre *but* I couldn't put it down. There is something I can't define or explain that kept me going.
Maybe it was that the main character, Hank, was such a sad sack I had to see what happened. Maybe it was that the characters were just interesting that I didn't want to give up on them.
There's a lot of "oh now they didn't" events in the book as the battle between Hank and those More...
Maybe it was that the main character, Hank, was such a sad sack I had to see what happened. Maybe it was that the characters were just interesting that I didn't want to give up on them.
There's a lot of "oh now they didn't" events in the book as the battle between Hank and those More...
Apr 03, 2010
Tim
rated it:
When bartender Hank Thompson is asked by his next door neighbor to watch his cat for a few days while he goes out of town, hank reluctantly accepts. After all, how much trouble can one cat cause? Well it turns out to be plenty, because soon Hank is beaten to a pulp, and chased around the length of Manhattan by goons, gangsters and crooked cops all looking for a key that Hank's neighbor hid in the cat's bed. This was Huston's first novel and the over the top pulp is fast and furious. Hank is the
More...
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Jul 19, 2009
Brad
rated it:
I bought all three of the Henry Thompson books at once because I had read and liked some other Charlie Huston stories.
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 through no real fault of his own and then is completely destroyed by the turning of fate.
However, that isn't a level of bleakness that has any appeal to me. I read Thomas Hardy in school More...
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 through no real fault of his own and then is completely destroyed by the turning of fate.
However, that isn't a level of bleakness that has any appeal to me. I read Thomas Hardy in school More...
Jul 08, 2009
Michael
rated it:
Fun read. The plot is in the spirit of Elmore Leonard - too many folks chasing a big bag of money, and double crosses that happen so fast you don't hive time to think about if they make sense. Also sparse in the same way Leonard is sparse. Not many pages devoted to setting the scene. It's all action and dialog.
Much more violence than you get with Leonard, but I found this book much more palatable than the Dennis Lehane I've read. Lehane delights in details about all manner of horrif More...
Much more violence than you get with Leonard, but I found this book much more palatable than the Dennis Lehane I've read. Lehane delights in details about all manner of horrif More...
Aug 16, 2010
Monique
rated it:
Read this short crime noir off the reviews I saw one day and must say I was confused, intrigued, bored, disgusted, sad, incredulous and finally finished..This is the story of a recovering alcoholic and his night from hell as he is beaten to a pulp by some Russian mobsters and loses a kidney..Stone cold sober he remembers he offered to babysit his neighbor's cat and the rest goes on and on as the cat owner returns and cowboys, red haired Asian gangsters and tragic characters enter this crazy tale
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Apr 16, 2010
Brett
rated it:
A great 1st novel by Charlie Huston!
"Caught Stealing" has been on my short list of books to read for quite awhile!
Finally, I took the plunge and read it straight through in one night!
Henry "Hank" Thompson is a great character, he turns from nice average guy to cold blooded killer towards the end of the book.
The book has alot of well written so called bad guys, the action is good!
I really liked the direction Char More...
"Caught Stealing" has been on my short list of books to read for quite awhile!
Finally, I took the plunge and read it straight through in one night!
Henry "Hank" Thompson is a great character, he turns from nice average guy to cold blooded killer towards the end of the book.
The book has alot of well written so called bad guys, the action is good!
I really liked the direction Char More...
Nov 29, 2010
dani-elle
rated it:
Great read - finally, a crime novel with its head on straight and not all into glamoring the shit out of being a bad ass (but don't get me wrong, the whole trilogy is full of actual bad-assery). Same goes for the other two Henry Thompson novels. Very smart, very practical and realistic while fostering great sympathy and empathy with the main character.
Also a great introduction into the wily writings of Charlie Huston - believe me he only gets better with each novel.
Great pac More...
Also a great introduction into the wily writings of Charlie Huston - believe me he only gets better with each novel.
Great pac More...
Dec 20, 2009
Jon
rated it:
I bought this when it first came out, but quickly put it aside. It was difficult for me to adjust to the punctuation. You know, dashes instead of punctuation marks. Then 'Six Bad Things' was offered as a free download on Kindle. Cheap is good, but free is better.
Download it I did. I got past the dashes and thoroughly enjoyed the book. I then looked around for Caught Stealing. I had already tossed it. So, I paid for it again, this time on Kindle, and enjoyed it.
L More...
Download it I did. I got past the dashes and thoroughly enjoyed the book. I then looked around for Caught Stealing. I had already tossed it. So, I paid for it again, this time on Kindle, and enjoyed it.
L More...
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Apr 09, 2009
Chompa
rated it:
My first Charlie Huston book, but not my last.
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 times. At the start of the book, he's a borderline alchoholic bartender with bad feet who gets in way over his head with crooked cops, criminals and the Russian mob.
I don't want to say much More...
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 times. At the start of the book, he's a borderline alchoholic bartender with bad feet who gets in way over his head with crooked cops, criminals and the Russian mob.
I don't want to say much More...
Feb 20, 2009
Laura
rated it:
Forget plot summary. Think recipe:
Ingredients:
* party-boy bartender
* dirty cop
* Russian gangsters
* entrepreneurial gangsters
* mysterious key
* placid cat
* lots of money
Blend with Sharp Knife
* bullets
* booze
* lousy kidney
* fear
* dollop of conflicted conscience
Vigorously Mix
* violence
* non-stop action
* surprisingly realistic plot
* great characterization
Bake More...
Ingredients:
* party-boy bartender
* dirty cop
* Russian gangsters
* entrepreneurial gangsters
* mysterious key
* placid cat
* lots of money
Blend with Sharp Knife
* bullets
* booze
* lousy kidney
* fear
* dollop of conflicted conscience
Vigorously Mix
* violence
* non-stop action
* surprisingly realistic plot
* great characterization
Bake More...
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