by SE Mathews

Created on: February 28, 2009

Title: Six Bad Things (Book 2 of the Hank Thompson trilogy)
Author: Charlie Huston
Published in US by: Ballantine Books, June 2005
Category: Drama/Neo-Noir/Crime/Mob

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

Summary: Henry "Hank" Thompson emerges in Mexico, living life on very low profile with his adopted cat, Bud.

But right when he thinks he might be able to escape the crap he found himself in

Caught Stealing (Book 1), some backpacker with an accent comes along and reminds Hank that his past is about to catch up with him.

After three years of relative peace and anonymity, Hank is racing back home to save his family and get rid of the money.

Yet, in Hank's world, there is always a trade off and while he'll get one thing, he'll lose another and hope that it is worth it.

Impression: Six Bad Things is the follow up to Caught Stealing. When we meet up with Hank, three years have passed since he ran from New York City with a hot $4 million that the Russian mob and a whole slew of bad guys wanted for themselves, but Hank couldn't get rid of.

He's still got Bud, the cool cat that came with the $4 mil, twenty pounds on him, and a dream of being left alone while he lives quietly on the beach bungalow and getting his drinks at The Bucket.

When a guy named Mickey sidles up to him one day, it brings back bad memories of the six bad things that Hank can never escape from. When it becomes clear that Mickey is not a backpacker on vacation, Hank knows that his idle time is over especially when his family is threatened.

His answer to the question of "What would you do if someone threatened your family?" was "I'd kill him."

And that answer begins the transformation of Hank Thompson in this sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet, mostly violent and chaotic journey of man into the darkest part of black.

The most poignant scenes are of Hank and his parents. The love between the average parents and the beloved, but troubled, son is acute and painful given all that they have suffered and all that Hank has done and not done.

This poignancy is offset by the craziness that surrounds Hank from the crooked Mexican cop team that get in his way to home, the two nutcase surfer dudes who he can't quite shake, and of course, the Russians who still want their money.

If Caught Stealing was Hank's unwilling lurch to the door of Hell then Six Bad Things is when he opens the door and makes the final deal with the Devil.

All the while, the reader is reminded that Hank is a good guy but is willing to do bad things. One character even calls him "a dangerous man." And he is dangerous because he'll do what he has to do to survive and it is getting easier and easier for him to do it.

Huston continues to show his flair for dialogue that is sharp and realistic for the world that Hank and his cast populates. These guys (and gals) aren't saints and they don't talk like them either.

The action is non-stop but in some ways, it seems like overkill. There were times when I wanted pace to slow down just a little to let me breathe before getting Hank into another awful spot, but while I might criticize it, the pacing is part of the wall-to-wall-action genre that Six Bad Things is part of.

Although there is a recap paragraph or two of Caught Stealing in Six Bad Things, it is recommended that a reader get Caught Stealing before reading Six Bad Things. Hank's situation and the sadness that comes from it in Six Bad Things makes a lot more sense if Caught Stealing is read first.

Overall, Six Bad Things is a great follow up to Caught Stealing. Characterization and dialogue is excellent, but I do feel that it suffers somewhat from the breakneck pacing.

A solid 4-stars.

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