Vinnie's Head
by Marc Lecard
Published by St. Martin's Minotaur
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Reviewed by Sharon Broom
Vinnie's Head is Marc Lecard's debut novel.
Johnnie LoDuco is a small-time New York crook whose recent run-in with the police has given him reason to stay clear of them. Especially since he's jumped bail. He'd served some hard time (hard when you consider the beatings he took from the other prisoners), and he doesn't want to return to jail.
While fishing, he snags the head of one of his cronies, Vinnie McCloskey-Schmidt. Johnnie just knows this 'find' is going to cause him some mighty big problems. Johnnie finds himself a 'person of interest' and stays one step ahead of a bounty hunter, crooked cops, mobsters and then there's the girlfriend... He's not sure why everyone has zeroed in on him, but he'd better find out, that is if he wants to stay alive.
Lecard's plot is fun and fast-paced, the characters are a bit over-the-top, but memorable. Lecard's characters have the buffoon qualities seen in Kinky Friedman's novels with the edginess of Elmore Leonard and the quirkiness of Carl Hiaasen thrown in for good measure. And he's not as smart as Donald E. Westlake's Dortmunder.
I liked this novel and look forward to his next.
Armchair Interviews says: A good read, however it had just too much of the 'f' word.
Author's Web site: http://www.MarcLecard.com