Dietrich Kalteis

In Dietrich Kalteis’s crime thriller The Get, it’s the mid-1960s and Lenny Ovitz has his hands more than full. Lenny’s boss, short-fused Ernie Zimm, runs a protection racket fronted by a travel agency in Toronto’s Kensington Market, and Lenny and his partner Gabe are his collectors, sent out each day to terrorize local shopkeepers into coughing up the dough. But Lenny’s growing nervous. A while back he let Gabe talk him into an ill-advised real estate purchase. To make the deal show more happen they had to borrow money from a brutal loan shark. But the buildings they bought are derelict and require major repairs. A return on his money is years away, and Lenny’s facing pressure to start repaying the loan now. His only chance to make good is to re-mortgage his house, but how does he manage that without tipping off his wife Paulina, who knows nothing about the loan? To make matters worse, Gabe is out of control, having been picked up by the cops after killing two people while out collecting for Ernie. Word on the street is that in custody Gabe has turned rat, telling the cops everything he knows about Ernie’s operation. On the home front Lenny’s got more to worry about. Fed up with his secrets and lies, Paulina has kicked him out of the house and is demanding a divorce. Lenny needs to cash in on the value of their property but he’s afraid that in a divorce Paulina will take everything, leaving him high and dry. He needs her out of the way, permanently. The Get—unpretentious, seamlessly plotted, dripping with atmosphere—never pretends to be anything other than what it is. Kalteis writes a nothing-fancy brand of hard-boiled fiction that moves at breakneck speed and doesn’t indulge in sentiment. Amidst the action there are plenty of laughs as Lenny—no criminal mastermind—tries to scheme his way out of the mess he’s got himself into. In the end, the narrative threads converge and everyone gets what’s coming to them. The Get is sure fire entertainment for fans of high-octane crime fiction from an author who knows how to get the job done. show less

I received an advance copy of this book. Thank you very much. My rating really is 4.5 stars.
I really enjoyed this book. The Characters are great. The two main characters are: Fitch, a widowed retired cop, who has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer and Wren, a 16yr old runaway from an abusive foster home.
Before the two meet, Wren, tired and cold, wanders through a casino parking lot, looking for an open car to rest in, and hopefully find something to eat. She falls asleep and when she show more wakes, the owners have returned. Not realizing she's there, they talk about their latest robbery. Realizing she can't remain in the car, she manages to jump out, only to have the two pursue her. Thinking she's evaded them; she finally decides to find something to eat. When walking into a diner, she meets Fitch who tells her how great the Weekly Meatloaf special is. No sooner do they order; does she realize the two men from the car are at the counter. She escapes through the bathroom, and they soon chase her. This gets Fitch to jump into action. Grabbing his cane, he asks the waitress for the can of cooking spray and a lighter, and off he goes... Gets your attention right from the beginning.

One of my favorite lines from the book (well really a couple) are as Fitch and Wren are getting to know each other. She heatedly declares that she can take care of herself.
His response: "Matter of fact, my first impression when I saw you, I thought, now there's a kid that needs no adult supervision."
She replies: "Yeah, you know when I first saw you? I wondered why you were out with no caregiver. Next thing, you beat up those two guys."
How great are those lines!
My only disappointment with the book was that it was so short. 249 pages. I really think and wish that Dietrich Kalteis could have developed and gone on with the book. I would have loved to hear more about this duo.
Great Read!! show less

Zero Avenue is an infamous address in British Columbia on the border between Canada and the US, and was a tempting route for moving pot. This is a hardboiled crime novel set in the punk music and marijuana scene of Vancouver in the 1970s and the writing style matches that atmosphere. I enjoyed all the local mentions and the crimes being committed against those already breaking the law. The bald, brutal, fast tempo writing is masterly, but I found the story less appealing.

I can comfortably give this audiobook 5 stars because it was engaging throughout and even riveting at times. The narrator's voice was rich and interesting. My only complaint was that sometimes his tone was too masculine for the female dialog and I would not be sure who was talking. Otherwise, an excellent read or listen.

The story was about a real-life romantic outlaw couple and I looked up their pictures.

Recommended!