Caught Stealing

Henry Thompson had his leg broken attempting to steal a base, ending his baseball career in high school. Then he drives a car too fast and kills a buddy. Moves to New York from California with a girl only for her to get a traveling job and leave him in the dust. When the novel starts, Henry Thompson is a bartender in the middle of a bender, but actually living a decent life of a loser without real prospects. Then he gets beaten up by Russians, who it turns out are looking for Henry's neighbor next apartment over, who has skipped town leaving Henry to watch his cat. Stuck in the cat's carrier is a key and criminals want it.

I was hooked. Henry makes bad decisions, but not "go back into the chainsaw room in a horror film" bad. So Henry pinballs around the story between various criminal factions trying to get hold of the key, never making a choice that made me groan.

Despite being the kind of alcoholic jerk I would hate in real life, the story gives enough of a peek into his internal thoughts while trying to be decent that I liked him and wanted to see him make it.

And there's just enough hook in the story that I wanted to see how the conspiracy that envelops Henry came to be, and how it turns out for everyone. What's the key to? Will Henry remember where he put the key? Why are two groups of criminals looking for it? Is there anyone who can help Henry? Huston's well-crafted writing reveals just enough at the right times to keep me wanting to know what will happen next.

I'm going to attempt to put a content warning with a spoiler in a follow-up reply. Check that if certain kinds of violence make you squeamish.