Product Description

The literature of larceny welcomes a newcomer with some serious chops, as Steven M. Thomas muscles his way to a place at the table–elbow-to-elbow with Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen–courtesy of a harrowing, hilarious, two-fisted, hard-boiled thriller that’s pure heaven for anyone who loves a hell of a crime novel.

Robert Rivers is a crook. No excuses, no apologies. Breaking the law is his calling, crime is his rush, capers his reason for getting up in the morning and staying up late at night. But he’s a thief with honor, plotting and pulling off carefully choreographed heists where no shots are fired, no blood is spilled, and nobody gets hurt . . . except in the wallet. After a brief stint behind bars back in the day, he’s managed to carve out a comfortable existence, cheerfully plundering the sunny Southern California community whose streets he tools in the tweaked-out Cadillac DeVille that’s his pride and joy.

But now Rob (whose name has become ironic) is pushing forty, and–like his trusty partner, Switch, who’s got a pregnant girlfriend and a hefty stash of loot–he’s thinking about quitting the game. But then he and Switch, pulling their latest Butch and Sundance, score a payday that could end up costing them plenty. Inside a strongbox packed with greenbacks rests a disturbing black-and-white photo of a beautiful young girl, eyes full of fear as naked as she is. It’s an image that Rob can’t shake, and a wake-up call: There are rules even he won’t break. It’s also his one-way ticket into the underbelly of the underworld–a lethal landscape of sex slaves, sadistic psychopaths, and sawed-off shotguns, where honor is for fools, and trust is for suckers, where very bad people do even worse things and nice guys don’t finish at all. They just get finished off.

With its alluring setting, quirky characters, and restrained and subtle prose, Criminal Paradise has something for every thriller fan. And with sharp natural instincts and writing skills as serious as his humor is sly, Steven M. Thomas shows as much promise as any author on the suspense scene.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #44233 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-26
• Released on: 2008-02-26
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

From Publishers Weekly
This California noir, Thomas's first novel, fails to deliver on its promising opening. When smalltime crook Robert Rivers and his partner, Switch, rob the Cow Town, a restaurant owned by Orange County entrepreneur Lewis McFadden, they discover more than a lot of cash in the safe. A photograph of a naked Vietnamese girl who looks like an underage teenager suggests McFadden is into the flesh trade. While Switch is out of town, Rivers and his biker friend Reggie England break into McFadden's house, where they find the Vietnamese girl, Song, tied to a bed. After they bring Song back to Switch's place, England rapes her while Rivers is gone. Soon afterward, Rivers has sex with Song, who's actually 19, that might or might not be consensual. These scenes not only undermine sympathy for Rivers, they also conflict with the subtlety of earlier chapters. From then on—through Song's recapture by McFadden, a sex slave auction and an unconvincing final chapter involving the revelations of Rivers's landlady—overblown sex and violence hijack the plot. 5-city author tour.(Mar.)
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From AudioFile
CRIMINAL PARADISE starts off sounding like an unusual story about the workings of a small-time criminal's brain. Soon we realize that Robert Rivers may be a thief, but he's also a pretty good guy, a hero. Patrick Lawlor sounds a little young for the 40-something lead character, but he's suitably menacing as the real villain and totally convincing as the "hero's" two henchmen. Lawlor does justice to Thomas's story of conscience and crime, lending a solid storytelling style to a disturbing tale. In a case of a semi-bad guy versus a really, REALLY bad guy--guess who wins. This is one of those books for which a happy ending seems impossible, but the author pulls it off. M.S. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Review
Advance praise for Criminal Paradise

“Criminal Paradise is one hell of a story. Robert Rivers is a superb character: the wry voice, so full of compassion and weary knowledge; women would kill for this guy. The style is truly like Elmore Leonard. Send me anything Steven M. Thomas writes; he’s the rare and real deal.”
–Ken Bruen, author of The Guards

“Dark, violent, twisted, yet with a heartwarming understanding of an intelligent criminal mind–Thomas snags you from the robbery on page 1, convincing you that felony is a regular day job, and defining greed as a man’s deserved dreams.”
–Vicki Hendricks, author of Cruel Poetry

“Steven M. Thomas, master of the nugget of wisdom, is a perfect tour guide for the underside of Orange County, California. From comic lowlifes and menacing sociopaths to thoughtful, literate burglars, Thomas knows his people. He is a welcome addition to the ranks of Chandler, MacDonald, and Kellerman, a talented writer whose SoCal characters walk–or rather drive–right off the page.”
–David Carkeet, author of Double Negative

“Both Steven M. Thomas and his case-hardened but humane thief Rob Rivers make striking debuts in this suspenseful slice of Southern California noir. The plot is the kind of gritty tale James M. Cain would have admired. And the hard-boiled yet poetic descriptions of Orange County flora, fauna, and criminal depravity read as if Raymond Chandler had somehow reemerged and moved his action a little to the south.”
–Dick Lochte, author of Sleeping Dog