(reviewed by JD Jung)
“I’d still have to be Manis in name. I had his license, his passport, and his spotless record with the law. Manis was employable. Tom Gantry, the fugitive embezzler who’d violated parole in Illinois, was not.”
Gantry did well in prison and the structure was just what he needed. When he was released and the routine was gone, trouble followed.
When he met Manis, a friendship ensued. After a fateful event, Gantry took over his identity and started a new life. The problem was that in addition to the lack of structure, he kept hearing Manis’ voice in his head.
We meet Gantry, (or should I say Manis) in Las Vegas, the city where trouble is always looming. When he’s down to last dollars, he decides to cut his losses and heads to Napa, California. Here he hopes to lead a quiet life with structure. providing technical support to people who live in the valley.
As can be expected, trouble continues to follow him and he falls hard for the femme fatale, the married and unbalanced Marilyn Dupre. He gets caught up in all her stuff including deception and murder. Throughout this, police detective Lou Eisenfall has his suspicions and won’t leave Manis alone.
It seems that lately I’ve been reading novels about self-destructive men falling for the wrong woman. These men often possess unmerited views of superiority, coupled with degrees of mental illness.
So, even though the plot was somewhat formulaic, and far from original, this fast-paced thriller hooked me from the start. The author dangles enough in front of readers to keep us engaged and eventually deceives us with a surprise ending.
Fans of modern-day noir without the shamed and flawed ex-cop may enjoy To Hell with Johnny Manic .
