The boss glowered at me when I walked into his office, his shoulders hunched and hangover tense, a condition that had to exacerbate the pain in his ribcage. Before he had a chance to snap at me I dropped the bag with the Hycodan on the blotter that sat atop his massive mahogany desk. “Instructions are written on the side of the bag.”

It was as though a state of grace washed over him just then. His musculature relaxed visibly, and he exhaled as though he’d been holding it in all morning. His torn ear got redder, his eyes brightened and he opened the bag like a little kid digging into his Christmas stocking. “Morphine. Hot Diggety”

“Isn’t morphine. Something new. Better than morphine.”

“The hell you say.”

“Fix you right up, is what the doc says.”

Without reading the directions he unscrewed the bottle top and tossed one into his mouth and crunched it.

Book Review:

Review by Chuck Barkdsale  AUG 5, 2011)

The Adjustment, Scott Phillips latest novel, World War II veteran Wayne Ogden (from The Walkaway) returns to work in Wichita Kansas for Everett Collins, the rich, but lazy owner of Collins Aircraft. Although Ogden is supposed to be the head of the Publicity and Marketing Department, he spends more time finding women, alcohol and drugs for his boss and also helping the women get abortions that his boss has impregnated. Ogden is not above sharing in the alcohol and women despite having a very attractive and pregnant wife at home. He also likes going to the abortion doctor in Kansas City to see his favorite girlfriend Vickie.

This is not a book that everyone would enjoy especially since most of the men, including the main character, are not particularly likeable, or at least shouldn’t be likeable. You really need to check your morals at the first page and just enjoy the book for what it is. Many would also not find it funny, but it is very funny, again as long as you don’t let yourself be offended. Relax, it’s fiction. Wayne Ogden is not that good a person, but his treatment of his sleazy boss is fun to read as the excerpt above shows. If you haven’t read anything by Phillips, but have seen the movie The Ice Harvest, based on Phillips’ first book of the same name, you’ll get a sense of what to expect in this book. Overall, I really enjoyed Phillips style in the first person novel.

While still missing his days in the service and adjusting to his life at home, Ogden starts receiving strange messages, starting with this first one:

YOU SON OF A BITCH THIEF THERE’S BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS. ERUPOEAN LADYS ARE DELICATE AS FLOWERS.

Ogden figures this and the other messages he gets must have something to do with his time in the service when he was a supply sergeant with the Quartermaster Corps. Of course, true to his nature, Ogden used his time there to occasionally do what he was paid to do, but spent more time overseeing his sale of prostitutes, alcohol and other items. His skills honed in the service were now in use working for his boss Everett Collins. Nonetheless, this work often led him to meet some violent people in both jobs and he becomes concerned about what he may have done to result in these disturbing notes.

Up to now, the only thing I had read by Scott Phillips was a short story in Damn Near Dead 2. I had seen him speak at Noircon in November, 2011 and have since picked up a few of his books, including the free (with a donation of your choice) book, Rut issued by Concord Free Press. After reading The Adjustment, I’m glad I have more to read.

AMAZON READER RATING:	from 4 readers
PUBLISHER:	Counterpoint (July 26, 2011)
REVIEWER:	Chuck Barksdale
AVAILABLE AS A KINDLE BOOK?	YES! Start Reading Now!
AUTHOR WEBSITE:	Scott Phillips
EXTRAS:	Reading Guide and Excerpt
MORE ON MOSTLYFICTION:	Read our review of: Damn Near Dead 2 edited by Bill Crider Fun and Games by Duane Swierczynski

Bibliography:

• The Ice Harvest (2000)
• The Walkaway (2002)
• Cottonwood (2004)
• Rum, Sodomy and False Eyelashes: Stories (May 2011)
• The Adjustment (July 2011)

“He and Manny had been robbing dealers for about a year. Had been in the life for a long time before that, of course. Stole cars, broke into houses. They had met in Juvie, a place called Lima, out in Delaware County. Taking off dealers wasn’t something you could do if you didn’t know who was who, what to look for. You had to score dope to know dope dealers, or know people who did. Where to go, what to watch for. Manny had been in rehab and knew people who were out copping every day.”

Book Review:

Review by Chuck Barksdale  (MAR 26, 2011)

Dennis Tafoya’s first novel, Dope Thief, published in 2009 is an excellent novel and more emotional  of a book than I thought it would or could be. Ray, a young man of 30 who has spent time in “Juvie” and prison for much of his life, has found a way to get some money with his friend Manny by stealing from independent drug dealers. These mostly small-time dealers are unlikely to seek help from the police or the mob in getting back their money or drugs. Ray and Manny even have the DEA jackets to scare the dealers into submitting to them. This seems like a good deal for Ray and Manny until they find much more money and drugs than they expected from some hick drug dealers working out of a farm in northern Bucks County, Pennsylvania.  Unfortunately, these drug dealers were associated with dealers in Connecticut that were moving into the area that are not too happy about the theft. These men use quick and violent methods to try to get their money and drugs back. This leads to some scary situations for Ray and Manny as they try to avoid these very dangerous and violent men and seek the help of Philadelphia area drug dealers who may not want the Connecticut competition.

This book is told in the third person perspective of Ray that makes it almost seem like a first person novel. Through this perspective, often through flashbacks, we learn of Ray’s guilt over the death of his high school girlfriend Marletta who died in a car accident while Ray is driving. Even though Ray was not at fault, he did not fight his conviction and imprisonment when the girl’s grief-stricken state trooper father framed him. Ray’s inner struggles are the best part of this book especially when he later meets Michelle in a Doylestown book store and struggles with finding the strength to become a better person and develop a meaningful relationship with her.

Ray also struggles in his relationship with his now dying father Bart but is fortunate and definitely appreciates the love and support he has received from Bart’s live in girlfriend Theresa. Theresa, who Ray sometimes calls “Ma” stays to raise Ray after his father is sent to the prison in Chester. Theresa’s positive influence on Ray becomes more evident as Ray struggles with his personal decisions about his future.

Dope Thief is one of the best first novels I have ever read and possibly the best, rivaling my favorites by Michael Connelly (The Black Echo), Steve Hamilton (A Cold Day in Paradise) and William Kent Krueger (Iron Lake). I was surprised to find that Dope Thief missed being nominated for the Edgar, Anthony, or Barry awards for best novel or best first novel in 2010. Dennis was nominated in 2010 by Spinetingler Magazine in the New Voice novel category but lost to The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville.

As I was reading Dope Thief, I was reminded of George Pelecanos’ The Way Home, another excellent book I had read several weeks prior. In both books, a young man struggles to find his way toward a better life, free of crime and drugs. However, Ray of Dope Thief grows up in a much more difficult home with a mother who gives up on him and a father who spends most of the time in jail, while Chris Flynn of The Way Home grows up in a fairly normal middle class home with parents that try to help him to succeed.

Since I’m from the Philadelphia area I was more impressed about the negative aspects of the area that fortunately I have not had to experience. I’ve driven by the prison in Chester where Ray’s father is incarcerated without giving it much thought other than being surprised at how nice it actually looks from the outside (except for the barbed wire…) However, I never had to visit anyone there or had to go visit my own or anyone’s child in a reform school that is just a few miles away. I’ve been very fortunate with my family but Dennis Tafoya in writing The Dope Thief made me realize it even more. Of course, the Delaware County portion of the Philadelphia area (where I have lived all of my life) has many great places and not just the prison, reform schools and drug dealers depicted in this book. Maybe I need to talk to Dennis about these nice parts the next time I see him. They are not so interesting though to a crime novelist I guess. Dennis does portray his own Bucks County much more favorably and I certainly enjoyed reading about the various parts of that area.

I became interested in Dennis Tafoya after seeing him at Noircon in Philadelphia in November, 2010 and then even more so after reading his story, “Above the Imperial” in Philadelphia Noir. I enjoyed the story and actually edited out a discussion of the story in the review to keep it from getting too long. I was certainly expecting to enjoy the book and expected to read about crime, death and the ugly parts of Philadelphia but did not expect the book to be as well written and deep as it is. I’m glad I still have The Wolves of Fairmont Park (2010) to read, and hopefully many more future books.

AMAZON READER RATING:	from 16 readers
PUBLISHER:	Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (April 28, 2009)
REVIEWER:	Chuck Barksdale
AVAILABLE AS A KINDLE BOOK?	YES! Start Reading Now!
AUTHOR WEBSITE:	Dennis Tafoya
EXTRAS:	Excerpt
MORE ON MOSTLYFICTION:	Read our review of: Philadelphia Noir The Way Home by George Pelecanos

Bibliography:

• Dope Thief (2009)
• The Wolves of Fairmont Park (2010)

Found in these collections:

• Philadelphia Noir (2010)
• G.I. Joe: Tales from the Cobra War (April 2011)