I mentioned Citizen Vince by Jess Walter here, but it really was in passing and so, just to be clear, the book is outstanding.
It is a well-written mafia thriller chocked full of everything you would expect. It has the really bad criminal, the moderately bad criminal, the smart criminal, several really dumb criminals, John Gotti makes an appearance, a couple of okay people with darker desires, a dude, a lawyer in quotes and (of course!) the hooker with a heart of gold.
All of these characters fulfill what you would expect them to and it definitely delivers on the crime novel aspect, but with a twist.
The protagonist (Vince Camden) is in the witness protection program and finds himself able to vote for the first time in his life. So, all the crime thriller stuff happens with the backdrop of the 1980 Presidential campaign.
It is hilarious. As you might expect, Camden thinks (and takes it incredibly seriously throughout the entire novel):
Which of these stupid fucks are you supposed to vote for? (39)
Who hasn’t thought that once or twice?
The downside of the book is that the bad guy is just a little too bad and the hooker with the heart of gold is a little too good, but I am able to get past that and enjoy the story.
My favorite line, and the actual quote of the day, is the stated reason for why Vince only starts books (a habit he picks up after learning – in prison – that Great Expectations has more than one ending):
After all, a book can only end one of two ways: truthfully or artfully. (50)
What is the literary obsession with truth?
Next up, The Zero
PS – Citizen Vince ends artfully
