“Dark and mordantly funny . . . a real machine-gun narrative—the man can tell a story, oh, yes, indeed.” —T. C. Boyle
What could cause Bob to give up his job at the Los Angeles pathology lab that demands so little of him, where he can play Tetris and Web surf whenever he wants? What could lead him to walk out on his beautiful girlfriend, who makes her living as a masturbation coach? What could make him risk everything and ultimately transform him into Roberto, a kingpin in the Los Angeles Mexican mafia? An erotic tattoo. But not just any naughty skin ink, the Mona Lisa of erotic tattoos, painted on a severed arm, which lands on Bob’s desk one morning.
Bob may have fallen for the woman in the tattoo, but he’s not the only one who wants the arm. There’s the telenovela-addicted mobster who lost it, the jefe who needs to keep it out of the clutches of the police, a backstabbing cannabis aficionado/Wharton MBA, and a wine snob LAPD detective who knows that the arm is the evidence he needs to bring down the entire Mexican mafia.
"Smith's energetic thriller is an ode to the hard-boiled Los Angeles of Raymond Chandler and James Ellroy spun out in brighter-than-life Starburst colors."—Los Angeles Times
"Smith proves he knows how to get the adrenaline pumping. Fans of hiply skewed jackhammer action will appreciate this debut."—Publishers Weekly
“The most bracing new voice since Carl Hiaasen!”—Max Allan Collins, author of Road to Perdition
“Blending fresh characters, snappy patter, sex, a mind bender of a plot, and a little more sex, Smith has mixed up a killer cocktail of a first novel and given the LA crime scene a new paint job in the process. Buy this book, get your passport stamped, and spend a little time in Mr. Smith’s world.”—John Ridley
“A weird, darkly hilarious contribution to crime fiction.”—Los Angeles Daily News, “Six Great Crime Novels Set in Southern California”
“Be in no doubt—this hilarious and fast-moving crime novel is politically incorrect in just about every possible way, but that doesn't mean to say you shouldn't read it. Lie back, place your tongue firmly in your cheek, crack open a beer and lose yourself for an hour or two in the shady world of Los Angeles' Mexican mafia.”—Booktrust (UK)
“Process Carl Hiaasen’s South Florida through an Elmore Leonard filter, then shake well and pour over Los Angeles. . . . Mark Haskell Smith has produced a terrifically engaging and wonderfully bizarre caper novel.”—Jeremiah Healy, author of The Only Good Lawyer and Spiral
“Reading this book is like eating the worm out of a bottle of mescal. You’ll get drunk, hallucinate, and laugh dementedly.”—Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, writers of Ed Wood and The People vs. Larry Flint
“One of the funniest books I have ever read.”—MostlyFiction.com
“[A] funny, sexy thriller.”—Jane Adams
“Read this weird, crazy book.”—St. Petersburg Times
“[A] fast-paced page-turner . . . Smith’s storytelling is quick and sharp and funny.”—Weekly Dig
