Turn Left at Doheny

March 24, 2014
At the outset of this flat crime novel from Freedman (Fallen Idols), a lowlife called Wycliff steals a car in Arizona and drives to L.A., where he hopes to inherit money from his estranged brother, Billy, who’s dying of AIDS. Despite their mutual hostility, Billy agrees to let Wycliff check him out of the hospital and supervise his home care during his final days without promising Wycliff a cent. Meanwhile, Wycliff is certain that Charlotte, a mysterious woman who picks him up in a bar, wants something from him, but he has little luck discovering what that might be. Wycliff meets another woman, Amelia, with whom he feels a romantic connection, but continues to see Charlotte. (At one point, Amelia pulls him into her bedroom, “where they fell onto the bed, making out like bandits.”) Unconvincing as either a loving brother or a potential soul mate for Amelia, Wycliff remains pretty much the same clueless loser throughout. Agent: Steve Kasdin, Curtis Brown.

April 1, 2014

Wycliff, a small-time criminal, heads to Los Angeles fully intending to take advantage of his brother's condition (he's dying from complications from AIDS) state. But a strange thing happens: Wycliff turns into a good guy and ensures that his brother's final weeks in hospice care are comfortable. If only he had paid such good attention to his own matters. Duped badly by a female grifter who sees Wycliff as the perfect mark for her schemes, he ends up committing murder and will take the fall if he doesn't wise up fast. It's almost as if Wycliff is two people--one villain and one saint. Despite his emergent moral compass, his greed may win out. VERDICT Freedman's (In My Dark Dreams) addictive stand-alone is coated with a patina of dread, for surely nothing good can come from this doomed scenario. While the characters never attain any depth, the well-crafted plot is perfect for an afternoon read on the Santa Monica beach.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2014
A drifter who can't catch a break, Wycliff travels to L.A. after learning that his brother, Billy, is dying of AIDS. Wycliff hopes to inherit some of Billy's considerable estate, but he knows it will be a tough sell since the brothers hate each other. After agreeing to take Billy home to die, hoping to convince him to change his will, Wycliff meets Charlotte, the most exciting woman he's ever seen. He knows she's dangerous, but he can't help but be captivated by her glamorous sexiness. A few days later, he meets an attractive nurse who's clearly a better deal than Charlotte, but Wycliff figures he can keep two women on the go. Although Wycliff begins to morph into a nicer person, he can never quite shake his need to go for the big score. Painful as his rise and decline are to witness, it's hard to feel much sympathy for a man who's weak and foolish. Still, there are plenty of unexpected twists here, leading up to a car crash of an ending, to keep readers turning pages.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)