Fast Bang Booze

by Lawrence Maddox

After seeing Frank deliver an impressive ass kicking in a bar fight, Russian mobster Popov hires him to be his driver. What Popov doesn't know is that when Frank is sober, he's inhumanly fast, deadly, and mute; when Frank is on the sauce, he's a useless twenty-something wiseass.

Double-crossed in a drug deal gone bad, Frank and Popov have one night to recover their stolen cash or get wiped off the map. Frank's special abilities put him in the spotlight, and he struggles to keep it all together as Calendar, a dangerous Latina model, and Janie, a burgeoning love interest, go along for the ride.

Fast Bang Booze is a beat-the-clock thrill-ride that races through 1993 Los Angeles to a rollicking, deadly climax.

140 pages, Paperback

Published March 23, 2018

Reviews

[Preston Lang · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one really moves. Shootouts, mobsters, a main character with a bizarre drinking problem. I enjoyed it all and finished it in one sitting.

[Beverly Diehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. This fast paced, noir novella, set in Los Angeles, is told from the viewpoint of Frank, who is both blessed and cursed with a condition like you probably haven't seen before.

Except me; I've seen it before, because, disclaimer, I'm personally acquainted with the author and had read earlier drafts, many moons ago. THIS final version knocked my socks off, and I won't spoil it for you by telling you what's going on with Frank.

There are Russian mobsters, calendar models, Rope Doms, lots of shooting and car chases and a tremendous amount of drinking. If you're celebrating your sobriety and fictional drinking tempts you, this may not be the right story for you. If you're not, bottoms up!

[Liam · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Chris Rhatigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a raucous ride this book is. Action from the first page and never lets up. It's feels like a flash story from A Twist of Noir or Shotgun Honey but over more than a hundred pages. And it's funny and includes several memorable characters.

[Earl Javorsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast Bang Booze is the spiritual successor to Jonathan Lethem's classic Motherless Brooklyn: a verbally challenged outsider hooks up with a small-time mobster's crew and survives the inevitable mayhem by virtue of an odd talent. Readable, relatable, memorable. The writing is crisp and clear, and the structure is interesting: when the two timelines converge, they both make a new kind of sense--very clever.