Citizen Vince in Around the World in 80 Books

Jan 18, 2019 Tony rated it really liked it

Shelves: novels, setting-us-west, crime

Redemption is one of the big themes in fiction and narrative film. Alas, the sheer pervasiveness of redemption stories means that they really have to sparkle to stand out. Here, Walter flirts with greatness but never quite achieves it with a semi-crime story set in the days leading up to the 1980 presidential election. Vince Camden is a donut-maker in Spokane, Washington, living a fairly quiet routine of work, sleep, and late nights of cards at Sam's Pit -- a place kind of like Cheers, but with Redemption is one of the big themes in fiction and narrative film. Alas, the sheer pervasiveness of redemption stories means that they really have to sparkle to stand out. Here, Walter flirts with greatness but never quite achieves it with a semi-crime story set in the days leading up to the 1980 presidential election. Vince Camden is a donut-maker in Spokane, Washington, living a fairly quiet routine of work, sleep, and late nights of cards at Sam's Pit -- a place kind of like Cheers, but with cops, crooks, and hookers as patrons. (This was a real place at 528 E. 2nd St. that shut down in the early '90s after several police raids.) The reader quickly learns that Vince is in the FBI's witness-protection program, having given evidence in a small-time New York mob case after getting stuck with a loan he couldn't repay to people that really don't like it when you don't repay loans. In addition to his donut gig, Vince is building up a little nest egg by running the same credit card number scam he ran in New York and dealing a little pot. He's even got a little romantic interest, with a crush on legal secretary who comes in for donuts every day, plus the hooker with a heart of gold he met at Sam's Pit. With his new identity, he's even eligible to vote for the first time, a symbol of his "rebirth" that becomes a totem of his new life.

However, as in all the great noir films, the past comes a-knockin'. First, his partners in the credit card scam start getting all squirrelly on him, and then a face from "the world' shows up. "The World" is, of course, the East Coast mob scene he ran away from. And like all good heroes from Mythology 101, Vince realizes he must journey to the underworld to face his demons in order to actualize his redemption. In his case, it means a harrowing journey back to New York to face up to the mobsters he wronged--including a dangerously capricious young John Gotti. Meanwhile, in Spokane, sharp rookie Detective Dupree realizes Vince is at the center of the bodies that are starting to pile up, and is hot on his trail.

This is all pretty normal crime genre stuff, but Walter makes it sparkle and sizzle with vivid scene-setting and crisp dialogue. Some of the scenes, such as Vince's epic poker game back in New York are simply scream to be filmed. Many of the characters are larger than life, but they never really get over the top. It's quality stuff that brings to mind another young American writer, David Benioff (The 25th Hour). It's not perfect though -- Walter gets a little ambitious and tries to weave in a whole parallel thing about the Reagan/Carter election and the zeitgeist of the country, and it doesn't really work. Two portions which imagine the inner thoughts of the presidential hopefuls are too precious and self-conscious, although I did like how he worked an Anderson volunteer and a local Republican candidate into the action. But Vince's agonizing over who to vote for and his insistence on casting his ballot end up feeling rather forced by the end. Still, it's a good read and one that will have me checking out more of Walter's writing in the future.
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