Trouble Comes Back

Jason Keltner and his buddies Martin and Robert have moved from the manor to a house in Venice, but they're still in Southern California, a place as much a mindset as a location, with a worldview and lifestyle all its own.
Donna Cooper is the daughter of a drugged-out rocker called Uncle Trouble, and someone is threatening to kidnap her. The only person Donna seems to trust is Robert, and the only people he trusts are Jason and Martin. The three of them have to protect the little girl in a world in which everyone else is suspect and family values have little to do with innocence.

Hip and witty, the third Jason Keltner mystery (after Show Control, etc.) finds the young Southern California musician/composer helping his friend Martin. Martin's mom has taken up with yet another unworthy boyfriend, a drug dealer named Ed. Joined by a third pal, aspiring actor Robert, Jason and Martin manage to scare Ed off. Through a series of unlikely coincidences, this bit of do-gooding leads to a meeting with one of Ed's clients, rock legend Dwight Cooper (aka Uncle Trouble). Dwight shoots dope to escape the stress of life on the road and the threats of his ex-wife, supermodel Lissa Court, who wants custody of their daughter, Donna. Little Donna takes an instant liking to tall and tender Robert, so Dwight hires the guys to provide security for the tyke. When Lissa shows up, they leap into action, scaring her off, but they sense that something's not quite right, for Lissa acts less like a kidnapper than a loving mother who longs to see her child. Then Donna is snatched, a band member is shot, Dwight almost kills himself on his motorcycle and it is Lissa who comes through with the money for the ransom. Further complications ensue, but Jason won't let go of the case until he resolves the trouble, all the while fending off a lustful ex-wife. Snyder's dialogue mercifully forgoes macho posturing clich?s; his heroes' conversations are often eclectically erudite. The plot line slips along at a pleasant clip with a number of twists and turns. Few of these truly startle, but, then, neither does much else in this enjoyable but lightweight mystery. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Jason Keltner, Robert Goldstein, and Martin Altimarano are lifelong friends. They eke out a living on the edges of the entertainment industry in Southern California and fall into thwarting an occasional criminal caper. This time out, a chance encounter with burned-out rock legend Dwight Cooper, aka Uncle Trouble, turns them into bodyguards for Dwight's young daughter, who is in danger of being kidnapped. There's art in the artlessness of this deft little crime novel. The plot and pacing seem a little haphazard, but the three main characters are well crafted, complex, and whole. Lesser characters are vividly drawn, and the interplay between characters is skillfully handled. Snyder has an especially fine way with dialogue, and the verbal shorthand that longtime friends might employ rings true. And, maybe best of all, the obscure, playful allusions to such philosophers as Godel and Heisenberg reflect the author's respect for his readers' intelligence. A delight for discerning crime-fiction fans. Thomas Gaughan

Jason, Robert, and Martin, three nonconformist Long Beach, CA, buddies, agree to watch over a wasted-by-drugs rock star's threatened daughter. A ponytailed techno-music composer, an extra-tall, Jewish part-time actor, and a short, dark-skinned former drug addict, the three nevertheless share a laid-back, off-the-wall lifestyle, a strong sense of ethics, a wicked sense of humor, and mutual loyalty. As the "boys" play baby-sitter but fail to foil murder and kidnapping, they get grief at the hands of the child's noncustodial mother and others. Snyder's (Coffin's Got the Dead Guy on the Inside) latest Jason Keltner mystery is a riot to read, with clever, sometimes graphic remarks. Strongly recommended.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.