My fave thing about this crime novel's self-discovery ride? How funny it is. Madcap, smart-aleck, wry-wit humor keeps you invested in protagonist Nico and his predicament. Chuckles and snorts aside, it's a damn fine gumshoe yarn that tweaks expectations, updates archetypes, and features an evolved masculinity that detoxifies the genre.

Johnson's knowledge of place shines. South Brooklyn, East Village, Sunnyside, Williamsburg. Even if you don't know O'Connors from the Blue and Gold, you sense the interiors of these bars.

Like Jim Gavin, Johnson delivers scathing observations on life's absurdities while churning through clever, fast-moving plot.

Fun, poignant, memorable. Read it.

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