The Shortcut Man

AUTHOR: P.G. Sturges

PUBLISHED: 2011

GENRE: Mystery

Dick Henry is a shortcut man. 

Say you’ve got a tenant who won’t pay the rent, but won’t move out.  His mother died (despite having died already), and he’s in bankruptcy (despite continually lugging in new electronic equipment), and he knows his rights, so he’s not going anywhere.  You call Dick Henry, and that tenant will be moved out by the next day.  Just make sure you’re not too squeamish about his tactics.  Come to think of it, just don’t ask about his tactics. 

Dick Henry’s other hobby is Lynette, his lover, who appears and disappears whenever she pleases.  Henry wants to end it but can’t walk away from the explosive chemistry they share.  But when Henry, Lynette, and a really big job get all mixed up together, that explosive chemistry threatens to turn deadly.*

This is the debut novel of P.G. Sturges, who is the son of playwright and screenwriter Preston Sturges, who, according to Wikipedia, elevated the genre of slapstick to another level, which makes me like him.  Sturges, Jr. is a strong writer and the story moves quickly, but once again I find myself asking the practical questions.  No one minds that this guy is going around town beating people up on a regular basis?  “He’s really good friends with the police department” is the explanation we get.  Really? The entire Los Angeles PD? (Go ahead, make your joke about the LAPD and beating people up now.)  He asks a lot of his few friends, including but not limited to having them lie, having them steal, and having them misuse a dead body.  But maybe I just need to relax and go with the flow. 

I read this entire book while in the back of our van on a recent trip to my in-laws’ house.  (My husband set up a nice little resting space for me, knowing that I would be far more likely to get out of bed at 4 a.m. if I could be assured there would be another bed in my near future.)  It was a very pleasant way to pass the time on what is normally a very long trip.  The next time we head down south, I just might have to take Sturges’s next novel.

LENGTH: 224 pages

MAINSTREAM OR NOT?: Sure.

SO, SHOULD I READ IT OR NOT?: The fact that I read it in the back of a moving van**, and that I couldn’t really remember the ending 4 days later should probably speak to you about the depth of the story.  Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable read and a good debut.

*I think my next job should be writing promos for Crime TV television movies, given my penchant for summaries that could easily end in “DUM DUM DUM!”. 

**That’s a van that’s moving, not a van that hauls boxes from one house to the next.  But that’s neither here nor there.  Hey, I made a pun.  Moving?  Here nor there?  No?  Okay, never mind.