It takes a finely tuned ear to write dialogue that rings true, and Stella (Charlie Opera
, etc.) has it. With his hapless crooks and wry humor, he belongs in line behind Elmore Leonard and Donald E. Westlake. Former New York City bus driver Reese Waters, a naïve black man unjustly convicted for car theft, becomes friends with his prison cellmate, Pete Rizzo, after they protect each other from assaults by, alternately, Mafia-connected and Black Muslim inmates. The day they're both released, Pete plans to collect $50,000 he says his ex-wife Janice owes him, but he's shot to death. Reese determines to find the killer, get the money and bury his friend. As Reese, assisted by a former bus driver buddy and new lady friend, weaves through New York, he unknowingly interferes with a merry round-about of overlapping plots involving the cops, the FBI, Janice's skinflint father, Pete's obnoxious family and assorted, mostly inept, Mafioso, among many others. As the title suggests, most of them live on the cheap; the worst is Janice's father, who steals packets of artificial sweeteners from restaurants and buys discounted damaged pastries. Reese accomplishes his goal in a breathless finale that Stella orchestrates from seven different viewpoints. Readers will eagerly await the next book from this talented author. Agent, Bob Diforio. (Mar. 8)
