True Grift

In trial lawyer Bunker’s highly entertaining first novel, set in the Inland Empire of California’s Riverside and San Bernardino counties (with excursions to Vegas), a scam to grab some easy money spins wildly, delightfully out of control. Al Boyle, a senior insurance claims manager soon to be exiled to a remote office in Weed, has the idea. Lawyer J.T. Edwards needs money more desperately than Al. From a casual conversation in a golf course bar, J.T. quickly pulls together a team and escalates the stakes. Wanda, a waitress looking out for herself, and Mack, a dim-witted handyman, will marry, and after they stage an accident, J.T. will sue for loss of consortium (a claim for damages involving a spouse or other family member). Meanwhile, mobsters Frankie Fresh and Vinnie Fangs lurk on the edges of the scheme. This caper novel is a fun, fast read, kind of like Elmore Leonard meets Donald Westlake, or the Golf Channel hosting a season of Better Call Saul. (Nov.)