Yard Dog

November 1, 2018
In this first volume of a projected series, ex-con Jack Palace intends to retire from the life of crime, but before he can do so, he needs to repay a debt. Tommy, the son of a Toronto organized-crime kingpin, saved Jack's life when Jack was behind bars; now Tommy's father is nearing the end of his life, and Tommy wants Jack's help to ensure a smooth transition when Tommy takes over the family business. As Jack soon discovers, there is no such thing as a smooth transition when you're talking about crooks. The writing here is very impressive: gritty and profane but also (in the right places) tender and quite moving. The author's previous novels are decidedly offbeat (Why Not a Spider Monkey Jesus?, 2010); this book is much more mainstream, but it's not without its idiosyncrasies (Tommy, for example, seems to have wandered in from a comic caper novel, but we're happy he did). Let's hope the second Jack Palace is published soon; otherwise, readers might get impatient waiting for it.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)