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Tough Luck
by
Jason Starr
Mickey Prada's a nice kid. He works hard at a neighborhood seafood market in Brooklyn putting fish on ice. He’s got a nice girlfriend. He even delayed college a year, to help his sick dad. But Mickey’s got a problem. A customer at the fish store, Angelo Santoro, keeps asking Mickey to place bets for him and Angelo keeps losing. As Angelo gets further in the hole, his bad l...more
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
January 1st 2003
by Vintage
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Reviews of Starr often refer to his "spare, snappy crime writing" and call him a throwback to Jim Thompson and James M. Cain. Here's an example: Finally, one afternoon after school, Sal Prada took Mickey to a pet store on Avenue N and Mickey picked out a Tabby. Mickey named the kitten Spunky. Mickey played with Spunky all the time and he took good care of him. He always made sure there was fresh food and water in Spunky's dishes, and he changed his litter box two times a week.
Seriously, that's j...more
Seriously, that's j...more
Crime Fiction
Mickey Prada is a good guy, working at a seafood market, saving money for college, living at home and watching out for his father, who has Alzheimers.
Mickey's life gets complicated when a customer keeps asking Mickey to place bets for him -- bets that keep losing. And the guy won't pay up, Mickey placed the bets for the guy, so is Mickey going to have to pay the bookie?
Mickey is loathe to take his hard earned money from college out of his bank account to pay the bookie. When his bud...more
Mickey Prada is a good guy, working at a seafood market, saving money for college, living at home and watching out for his father, who has Alzheimers.
Mickey's life gets complicated when a customer keeps asking Mickey to place bets for him -- bets that keep losing. And the guy won't pay up, Mickey placed the bets for the guy, so is Mickey going to have to pay the bookie?
Mickey is loathe to take his hard earned money from college out of his bank account to pay the bookie. When his bud...more
Mickey Prada is, in a manner of speaking, a lost soul. He spends his days working in a fish Market in Brooklyn. He longs to begin college and, over the years, has saved a couple of thousand dollars which he has carefully guarded. Mickey is pretty much a lonely guy. He lives with his father, a man in his seventies and suffering from dimentia. His mother was killed years ago in a tragic accident. Because he tries to be honest he's ridiculed by those he thinks are his friends. His naievity lead him...more
Zumindest bei seinen Krimis erzählt Starr mehr oder weniger immer dieselbe Geschichte: Wahnhafte Charaktere stolpern auf einer rasanten Talfahrt ihrem privaten und beruflichen Niedergang entgegen.
Auch bei »Tough Luck« (dt. »Dumm gelaufen«) funktioniert das einmal mehr wunderbar. Trotzdem die Charaktere hier nicht ganz so wahnsinnig sind und der Plot etwas weniger Spannung und Raffinesse bietet, als man es von Starr sonst kennt. Ob Hollywood ausgerechnet deswegen demnächst »Tough Luck« unter der...more
Auch bei »Tough Luck« (dt. »Dumm gelaufen«) funktioniert das einmal mehr wunderbar. Trotzdem die Charaktere hier nicht ganz so wahnsinnig sind und der Plot etwas weniger Spannung und Raffinesse bietet, als man es von Starr sonst kennt. Ob Hollywood ausgerechnet deswegen demnächst »Tough Luck« unter der...more
Nov 29, 2008
David
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
noirboiled,
noirboiled-hall-of-fame
Mickey Prada is a throwback to the noir anti-heroes of old, a Seemingly Good Guy who gets in deeper and deeper after he makes one unfortunate decision, agreeing to place a bet with his bookie for a man who claims to be a member of the mob. As Mickey's life unravels, he makes more bad (and sometimes criminal) decisions, but he keeps reader sympathy because he is, after all, a Seemingly Good Guy. Jason Starr manages the affair with great skill and finishes with a closing line that is almost perfec...more
There is a fabulously funny scene in this book about a trip to Aqueduct racetrack where Mickey Prada just doesn't get it -- clothes are wrong, attitude is wrong, betting is wrong, everything is wrong. But Mickey thinks he is a very cool guy.
Just like one of those Springsteen songs where the guy's just doomed from the start. This was pure gold.
RATING: 1.5
07/24/05 #126
TITLE/AUTHOR: TOUGH LUCK by Jason Starr
RATING: 4.5/B+
GENRE/PUB DATE/# OF PAGES: Crime Fiction, 2003, 248 pgs
TITLE/AUTHOR: TOUGH LUCK by Jason Starr
RATING: 4.5/B+
GENRE/PUB DATE/# OF PAGES: Crime Fiction, 2003, 248 pgs
Enjoyed it. Read it one afternoon. Jason Starr is a hell of a writer.
Dec 29, 2012
Yinzadi
marked it as to-read
Dec 14, 2012
Vesra (When She Reads)
marked it as to-read
Shelves:
tbr-2011,
fiction,
c-yellow,
mystery-thrillers,
author-s,
paperback,
pc-200-299,
pub-vintage,
noir
Dec 02, 2012
Allen Richards
marked it as to-read
Oct 29, 2012
Xaver Zimmermann
added it
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