A Long Crazy Burn

August 14, 2017
Johnson’s frenetic follow-up to Lucky Supreme opens with a bang when, early one morning, a bomb destroys Lucky Supreme, the tattoo parlor owned by Portland, Ore., tattoo artist Darby Holland in the city’s Old Town. Thanks to a last-minute phone warning, Darby leaves the store shortly before the explosion. Darby sets out to find those responsible, but the two federal agents who interview him right after the bombing harass him constantly. A prostitute provides him with his first clue, which leads him to a pimp who gives him a vicious beating. Despite this setback, Darby persists in following a convoluted trail that brings him up against seemingly untouchable villains such as Russian real estate mogul Oleg Turganov. Less than half way in, Darby has killed a man, stolen a ton of cash, and robbed a junkie. “It was a start,” he muses. Darby eventually concocts a devious plan to even the score with the bombers, get the feds off his case, and restore Lucky Supreme. Johnson takes readers on a wickedly rough, terribly strange, oddly amusing trip.