Been "Caught Stealing", Once When I Was Five...

Any writer that can utilize the Astor Place Cube to knock out a man is OK by me.

In less than 24 hours, I ripped through Charlie Huston's "Caught Stealing," a pulpy little novel recommended by a friend of mine. It's a damn good read. This -- his 2003 debut novel -- has a very distinctive feel to it, and is extremely hard to put down.

Largely taking place in the East Village, Hank Thompson is an ex-college baseball star who has hit hard times and is now bartending in the Lower East Side to make ends meet. He's bamboozled into taking in his neighbor's cat-- which leads to a bunch of caricature-heavy ne'er-do-wells after him. Something his neighbor possessed, and which Hank now has, is something very dear to them; Hank is consequently on the run.

The only thing I can think to compare it to is something Shane Black might write if he were a little more gritty, a little more Pelacanos-y. Or, alternatively, a Jason Starr novel, if that novelist were actually any good.

I'm trying right now to get my hands on its follow-up, "Six Bad Things", which came out last year. Huston's debut is definitely recommended-- seek it out and also, while you're at it, check out his website, pulpnoir.com.