Synopsis/blurb ....
Car thieves and the chop shop that buys from them combine to create high-octane stories of hot cars, hot crimes, and hot times in Dallas, Texas.
In “The Cadillac Job,” loyalty beyond the battlefield sends Carly and Knuckles on one last mission to save a dying teammate.
When Carly isn’t slinging drinks at the local VFW, she boosts cars—a job much like the one she had on a vehicle recovery team in Afghanistan.
Except her team isn’t the same.
Sweets is dying. And the last time Knuckles scouted for a Mustang, he ended up at a dude ranch off highway 175.
Her commanding officer is different, too.
She no longer answers to Captain Shrader. She answers to Huey, and the consequences for disobeying orders are deadly.
Determined to save Sweets, Carly steals cars to pay for a lifesaving surgery. But progress is slow, and Sweets is running out of time—until the Cadillac Job. The payout is big. So are the risks. If Carly succeeds, Sweets lives.
My kind of story here. Our main characters; a tight group of ex-military who served together, stealing cars to order to raise funds for a life-saving transplant operation for one of their own. Added pressures of time, with the clock running down on Sweets, leading to some ill-judged choices. I'm a sucker for a story where the main POV or sympathies are with the outlaw or villain; where necessity leads a decent person down the crooked road..
Great writing, tight, lean prose. Hardly a wasted word with no extra padding or fluff. I was engaged throughout and the finale didn't let me down.
An enjoyable 90 minutes or so's reading!
4 from 5
Try and cross paths with more from Stacy Woodson and get stuck into the second in the Michael Bracken/Down and Out Books' Chop Shop series - Joseph S. Walker and Run and Gun.
Read - February, 2024
Published - 2024
Page count - 69
Source - Kindle Unlimited
Format - Kindle
So glad to see you blogging again, Col! I like the idea of a chop shop as a context for this sort of crime novel. And yes, the idea of a decent person being forced to do some ugly things can be a really powerful premise. Glad you thought this worked.
ReplyDeleteMargot thanks. I'm hoping to get back to it with a bit more frequency. My reading tastes haven't changed in my absence!
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