Mike Faricy

I've read a few Dev Haskell books now, but this one didn't impress me. Dev basically gets his "a$$" kicked throughout the entire book. He just does one intelligent thing, but mostly, he gets lucky. I don't mind if the hero gets knocked down a few times, but he should be the one who triumphs, not some ancillary character. But that's what happens here. Will I read another? Absolutely.

Russian Roulette was a fun read. Much of it, especially the beginning, is evocative of 40s noir. A blonde bombshell with a French accent walks into a seedy bar and hires our hero, a PI who is so down on his
luck that he doesn't have an office, to find her sister. The only clue to her sister's whereabouts is a nude photo of the sister taken at a lake. The PI, Devlin, pounds the streets searching for the mysterious sister
and often searching for his missing client. In between, Devlin is shot, show more assaulted, and hunted by everyone from the Russian Mafia to the FBI. A worthwhile read. show less

Being a big fan of the movie Fargo, I was shocked—shocked, I tell you—that none of these characters spoke in that dialect I call Arctic Creole. But Dev Haskell was good company on this winding trail of “intrigue, rank ineptitude, and raucously entertaining one night stands.” I’ll definitely tag along on other cases in this series. You betcha. Darn tootin’. All righty, then.

Wow, the events in this one live up to the title - not one but two wins for Dev. I dread seeing Tubby appear in the plot, but this situation shows him having an almost-human emotion! Dev has progressed from a bumbling, unlucky protagonist in the first few books to a, well, less-bumbling and wiser PI! I'm sure he will still face his nemesis (es?) in future adventures, but perhaps a truce is on the table for at least one of them. Another fast-paced page-turner from Mike Faricy!