Tricky

by Josh Stallings

Overview

ONE OF THE 10 BEST CRIME FICTION NOVELS OF 2021—LIBRARY JOURNAL

2021 CRIME FICTION PICKS OF THE YEAR—DIVERSE VOICES BOOK REVIEW

HONORABLE MENTION, THE BEST CRIME NOVELS OF 2021—CRIMEREADS

HONORABLE MENTION, THE BEST NOIR FICTION OF 2021—CRIMEREADS

ONE OF THE "MOST ANTICIPATED CRIME BOOKS OF 2021."—CRIMEREADS

PICK OF THE MONTH—MysteryPeople

Does your past define you forever?

That's the question LAPD homicide detective Niels Madsen must answer after he gets in the middle of a standoff between two uniformed officers and Cisco, an intellectually disabled man. Cisco is found armed and standing over the body of a man with Down syndrome. Cisco swears the dead man was his good friend, and he didn’t hurt him, but in his earlier life, Cisco had been gang member, a brilliant and brutal killer. After he was badly beaten, brain injuries left him him—if he is to be believed—with the intellectual intelligence of a child. Madsen's search for the truth leads him through the special needs community, East LA gang life, and pits him up against the corrupt LA Sheriff’s Department.

More than a police procedural, Tricky explores questions of human nature: Whether a man can change, for better or worse, and whether redemption is possible.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781951709198
Publisher:	Polis Books
Publication date:	01/19/2021
Pages:	292
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)
Age Range:	15 - 18 Years

About the Author

Josh Stallings' Moses McGuire trilogy found itself on over fourteen best of the year lists, and YOUNG AMERICANS, a standalone, was nominated for the Lefty and Anthony awards. His short fiction has appeared in Beat To A Pulp, Protectors Anthology 1 and 2, Blood and Tacos, Crime Factory, and Muder-A-Go-Go. Born in Los Angeles, and raised by counter-culture activists (and sometime Quakers) in Northern California, he grew up undiagnosed dyslexic and spent some time as a petty criminal and failed actor before becoming a movie trailer editor. He, his wife, and various four legged fiends now live in the San Jacinto mountains. His latest novel, TRICKY, was written in honor of his son, Dylan, who is intellectually disabled. Website: http://joshstallings.com/ Twitter @Josh_Stallings

Editorial Reviews

11/23/2020

LAPD homicide detective Niels Madsen, the protagonist of this engrossing mystery from Stallings (Young Americans), is on his way to work when he comes across an armed standoff between a rookie cop he knows and considers trigger-happy and a man at a bus stop. Madsen manages to disarm the stranger, later identified as Francisco Gutierrez, who was left intellectually disabled after a severe beating two years earlier. Gutierrez is standing near the body of David Torres, a low-level thug who apparently was shot with Gutierrez’s weapon. Gutierrez denies killing Torres, whom he considered a friend. But Madsen questions that denial after learning of the suspect’s violent past, which includes a first-degree murder conviction when Gutierrez was 14. Madsen must sort out whether Gutierrez, who doesn’t recall whether he fired the shot that killed Torres, is innocent. Stallings makes Madsen a well-rounded lead, even as he keeps the reader guessing. Those looking for an alternative to standard police procedural whodunits will be rewarded. Agent: Amy Moore-Benson, Meridian Artists (Canada). (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

• "A witty, gritty love letter to Los Angeles... Stallings manages to entertain while advocating for criminal justice reform and calling out unexamined societal biases.”—Mystery Scene
• "This is a finely crafted novel. Noirishly hard-boiled, the book is much more than a police procedural; it’s an exploration of some serious themes, such as personal redemption and the societal prejudices against the disabled."—Booklist
• "Stallings makes Madsen a well-rounded lead, even as he keeps the reader guessing. Those looking for an alternative to standard police procedural whodunits will be rewarded."—Publishers Weekly
• "Punk-rock poet Josh Stallings has written an intense new crime novel about the power of people to change. A moral tour-de-force that explores essential questions of reform and justice, Tricky is not to be missed."—CrimeReads (One of the "10 Novels You Should Read This January")
• "So far, I haven't read anything this year that comes near it. It hits all the things you want from the genre with a wonderful left-field approach to character, emotion and themes that ground it in a world of real people. TRICKY is a great cop thriller and so much more. It straddles the works of Michael Conelly and Craig Johnson with a style and voice all its own.”—Scott Montgomery, MysteryPeople
• “TRICKY blew me away. Josh Stallings has written a gritty, vibrant, riotously entertaining crime novel filled with unforgettable and deeply human characters.”—Lou Berney, Edgar Award-winning author of NOVEMBER ROAD
• "A fun, intense, thoughtful read that takes off from the get-go, TRICKY is a blast."—Malcom Avenue Review

From the Publisher

★ 01/01/2021

Just 15 minutes before his shift ends, LAPD homicide detective Niels Madsen rolls up on a scene that could destroy his career. The veteran cop sees a rookie holding a man at gunpoint at a bus stop. Madsen intervenes, only to discover the man has a gun, but he's protecting the body of another man. Because of the body, Niels and his new partner take control of the crime scene. It appears that Francisco "Cisco" Gutierrez shot his friend, David. But appearances can be deceiving. Once a notorious gang member, Cisco now appears to be intellectually disabled. Madsen wants the truth for the victim's family. A territorial dispute with the sheriff's department, which sends over Cisco's file but also wants to claim the suspect as their catch, muddies the case. Once Niels meets others who know Cisco now, he decides to prove the man did not kill David. The sheriff's deputies seem to be waiting for Niels to make a mistake. It's a setup for a violent conclusion. VERDICT Stallings's (Young Americans) challenging must-read for police procedural fans reflects today's society. Forced to ask questions about bias, intellectual disability, police actions, and redemption, Niels stands in contrast to cops who resort to violence.—Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

Library Journal