"Among Thieves" by Douglas Hulick (Roc)

Among Thieves
Douglas Hulick
432 pp. Roc. $7.99
Pub. Date: 4/5/2011
ISBN-13: 9780451463906

Thieves. Fictional ones rock. Don't believe me, ask anyone who salivates over "Reservoir Dogs" or "Heat". They'll let you in on how badass a thief can be. Only a few things are more interesting to people than fictional crooks. One of them is death. Put the two together and you have every piece of mobster mythology ever created. People will line up out the door for that, ten dollar popcorn in hand, Milk-Duds at the ready.

But the real criminals--they have a special place in hell waiting just for them. Anyone who has stood in front of their burglarized car or home, taking inventory of what was sticky-fingered away--Really? why would someone jack my miniature Russian nesting dolls, and my Blu-Ray copies of "Reservoir Dogs" and "Heat". Hopefully the irony trips them and they swallow a glass-encrusted pipe bomb--can attest loudly to this.

But the biggest difference between the real thieves and the fictional. The fictional ones have skills; their toolbox has more in it than smash-and-grab. They aren't just people, they're legends. They are usually cleverer than everybody else, always one step ahead, and they often have the muscle and fighting skills to overcome those they cannot outwit. They have serious advantages, making their play field far from level.

But what happens when you take away those advantages. You get a character like Drothe the Nose, the protagonist in Douglas Hulick's incredible debut "Among Thieves".

An aside: The cover above is the UK cover. Posting the American version is a crime against humanity and nature--it is that awful, looking like the dirty love child of a Harlequin romance and "Pirates of the Caribbean". A cover so bad, it makes you thankful for e-readers. It is targeted to the wrong audience, which is a tremendous shame because "Among Thieves" deserves a huge audience, not just the ones lured in expecting kinky criminal sex.

What makes "Among Thieves" such a fabulous debut is the way the legend of Drothe is built. He is not a super-thief, he is not blessed with advantages. He meets overwhelming challenges, and the reader constantly asks throughout the novel, "How will he overcome this?" That he does is a testament to Hulick's writing wizardry. It is an impressive accomplishment. Make no mistake, Drothe is a badass, but it is very subtle, and not a direction most writers would take.

"Among Thieves" is the best thief-centric novel since Scott Lynch's "The Lies of Locke Lamora". It is definitely more complex than Lynch's debut with criminal politics that are more reminiscent of "The Godfather" or one of Martin Scorsese's mobster films.

To call "Among Thieves" excellent would be an understatement. It is much better than that. It is a novel that would benefit from multiple readings. Easily the best debut so far of 2011.

Final Grade: 9 out of 10  

"God's War" by Kameron Hurley (Night Shade Books)

God's War
Kameron Hurley
288 pp. Night Shade. $14.99
Pub. Date: 1/18/2011
ISBN-13: 9781597802147

Bug-tech, Boxing, and Bel Dames. Sounds like a law firm. One with high-priced legal eagles, resplendent in Armani, and not the shysters who monitor police communications, and chase after EMTs, mouths slavering as they slip business cards into clammy hands.

Instead, bug-tech, boxing, and Bel Dames--just think of it as a bounty hunter, though a Bel Dame would play hacky-sack with your tender parts if you called her that--is part of the mash-up behind Kameron Hurley's excellent debut, "God's War".

As the book's title might suggest, another part is the ongoing religious war between the countries of Nasheen and Chenja, which serves as the backdrop for the story. Both cultures aren't thrilled with the others' interpretation of religion, and have taken up arms to correct this--let the righteous win. The decades of war have taken a heavy toll; it is ugly and devastating, particularly for the men fighting. Only the old and very young avoid the fighting. So not surprisingly, Nasheen is matriarchal, women run nearly everything at the highest levels.

Plopped in the middle of this is Nyx and her team of bounty hunters, who take a note that thrust them into the very heart of the confrontation.

To call "God's War" unique may be understating the truth. The bug technology running Hurley's creation is the prime example of this. Calling it technology isn't right, though. I still don't know how bugs are powering things scientifically, but I also don't care. They just do, and it is easy to accept. While there are science-fiction aspects to the story (like spaceships), the novel is, at heart, a fantasy. This is important, because if you expect science fiction, you'll be disappointed in the lack of science in "God's War". If you expect a fantasy, the novel digests much better. And if you don't know what to expect, you might be in the perfect frame of mind for this little gem.

The world building is tremendous, probably the novel's greatest strength. It's deep, and consistently engaging. For those familiar with video games, it had a post-apocalyptic Fallout-type feel to me, which was a big plus. The land is bleak and hard, a wasteland and desert, and the characters match this. Nyx is a hard, hard woman, a survivor, which you would expect considering the Hobbesian nature of her world. The characters feel organic to the world, just what you would expect to evolve out of the ass-backward shithole of the universe.

The only negative for me was story line was fractured at points in the novel, not quite cohesive and smooth in its execution. It struck me as a collection of scenes which lacked something to bind them together, making the plot seem flighty. Huge strengths in all the other areas of the novel made this less of an issue, though.

I can't recommend "God's War" enough. If you are searching for something different, this is an excellent place to start. I can't wait for Kameron Hurley's next book.

Final Grade: 8 out of 10

"The Company Man" by Robert Jackson Bennett (Orbit)

The Company Man
Robert Jackson Bennett
464 pp. Orbit. $13.99
Pub. Date: 4/11/2011
ISBN-13: 9780316054706

Unique settings in speculative fiction novels are a rare thing. Take Robert Jackson Bennett's "The Company Man." Set in 1919-20, the book inhabits the fictional city of Evesden, a monstrous, Orwellian megapolis which serves as the home base for the McNaughton Corporation. But McNaughton isn't any ordinary corporation--this is a rule the world type of company. Think Microsoft. Then run that through your factorial machine. Now you are getting close. McNaughton is ubiquitous, seemingly omniscient and all-powerful with the coolest whiz-bang technology available.

It also has a vault full of company secrets; secrets which their Security department work hard to keep out of public purview. Cyril Hayes is a Company man, a fixer who takes care of problems, snips loose ends, and plugs holes in the McNaughton informational dike. He is, also, a tragedy on two legs, held together by narcotics, his best friend Detective Garvey, and his new assistant Samantha.

A seemingly random murder leads Hayes through the underbelly of Evesden, where secrets even he wasn't aware of are finally revealed as he travels further down the rabbit hole.

Unfortunately, the city of Evesden is the most interesting character in "The Company Man." The rest are drawn from the handbook of detective noir cliches. Hayes is such a flawed protagonist, it is hard to believe him competent enough to execute his job. Not making things easy for the protagonist is understandable, but Hayes self-inflicted problems really stretch believability. And his character isn't developed enough to make the reader think he has the level of strength of character to pull himself out of the gutter. His assistant Samantha and his pal Garvey are too thin, and their respective character arcs are obvious. In particular, Samantha doesn't have much point in the novel, her character mostly along for the ride. She is wide-eyed innocence confronting the big city--the real world--for the first time in her life. Her naivety doesn't add to the novel; it just seems contrived.

I was disappointed in some of the mysteries underlying "The Company Man." One of the main ones: where does McNaughton's technology come from, was predictable. The others left me unsatisfied. Bennett has a real handle on the language and tone of the genre--it is the story that lets him down. If the characters had been  more vivid and personal and the plot more engrossing, "The Company Man" could have been a special novel. Instead, it feels like going through the motions. It is mental mind candy that leaves your stomach sour after consuming it all. There just isn't enough substance here for a recommendation.

Final Grade: 6 out of 10