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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN num: 9780843959666
ISBN number: 0843959665
Label: Hard Case Crime
Manufacturer: Hard Case Crime
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 220
Printing Date: August 26, 2008
Publishing house: Hard Case Crime
Sale Popularity Level: 24466
Studio: Hard Case Crime
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Rated by buyers 
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I've never understood how two people can co-author a work of fiction, and I've read a few that shouldn't have been written by either! Ken Bruen and Jason Starr, however, have mastered the team approach and seem able to craft these noir novels with ease. One must enjoy the darkness of their characters, and an interest in the Irish ethos is a real plus. If that's the case, an enjoyable read awaits. I only wish the books were longer.
Rated by buyers -
This was a fun read. Max and all the characters are totally off the wall and that is the point. This is not a "serious" book, but one to laugh along with the improbable plot. I discovered this publisher by visiting the book store in Houston that gave it a start. So far, I have not been disappointed by any of the offerings. Try "Money Shot".
Rated by buyers 
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This book is a joke. It is actually meant to be a joke. If you want a hardboiled noir, don't buy it. Mildly entertaining, thus 2 stars.
Rated by buyers -
Hilarious, ironic, and entertaining. Thoruoughly enjoyed this guilty pleasure and I loved the femme fatale! LOL
Rated by buyers -
In the genre of comic crime novels, the undisputed master is Donald Westlake. Westlake, however, has been writing these books for over four decades, so eventually he will have to have a successor. Ken Bruen and Jason Starr are making their endeavor to take that mantle with their books about Max Fisher and Angela Petrakos. The Max is the third book in this series and the very first one I've read.
The Max consists of several storylines that will take most of the book to converge. In the main storyline, Max Fisher is sent to prison for crimes he committed in previous novels. This middle-aged crook has an over-inflated sense of self-importance that makes it hard to grasp the gravity of his situation. Briefly a drug lord, he thinks that prison will be almost a vacation, but he doesn't get much respect, at least not until a rumour goes around about a certain mutilation he once did. Then he is King of the Cons, but he will still have enemies.
Meanwhile, Angela, Max's beautiful ex-lover who is willing to prostitute herself for any worthwhile cause (as long as there's something in it for her) has fled to Greece where she takes up with Lee Child look-alike Sebastian. Sebastian is a con artist himself, leading to an edgy relationship that doesn't improve when Angela kills her sleazy landlord after a sexual assault and she makes Sebastian cover up the crime. Soon enough, he will ditch her and she will wind up in jail herself, where it will take her feminine wiles to break loose.
A third storyline follows minor mystery writer Paula Segal who spends more time thinking about being a best-selling writer than actually doing anything about it. As her fiction flounders, she takes on a true crime assignment about Max's life, getting her tangled up with Fisher in the process.
The Max is filled with characters that are unpleasant but somehow still somewhat likeable (or at least interesting). It is also designed for mystery fans: if you are unfamiliar with the genre, you may not get much of the humour which is filled with inside jokes. It's a fun enough book and I may go back and read its predecessors. Bruen and Starr may not (yet) be the new masters of comic crime fiction, but they are at least not out of the running.
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