Bad Men andWicked Women

Ken Swift, the central bad man in Dickey's latest novel (Finding Gideon; Naughtier Than Nice), is vexed by his estranged daughter Margaux. Swift's job is to hurt people for money, but he is disturbed that his daughter has bleached her skin and now passes as a bitter white goth woman. Margaux also demands $50,000, hotly calling him a deadbeat dad. Swift senses someone is blackmailing her but puts all that aside and moves on to the next contract with scene-stealer Ghanaian Jake Ellis. The pair of hired enforcers target Dick and Elaine Garrett, who refuse to pay big money to mysterious boss San Bernardino, but that's just another tally to Swift's troubles, which all seem connected. Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction comes to mind as Swift and Ellis cruise through Los Angeles's wealthy neighborhoods debating issues of racism, inner-city poverty, and the lingering effects of slavery, only to shift from intellectual curiosity to explosive violence.