The Big Crush

Schow (Upgunned) keeps the banter light and the gunplay heavy in this furiously paced spree of a thriller. The trouble begins when L.A. DVD inspector Dave Vollmand, whose job is “to technically vet the DVDs you rent, buy or download,” impulsively looks up his old high school crush, Daisy Villareal, through an online locator site and arranges to meet her. Bad news: it turns out that Daisy is an assassin for hire with numerous kills to her credit. Worse news: Daisy is being targeted by Rolf Dettrick, an important player in a professional hit organization, who owes Daisy serious payback for betraying him. Dave and Daisy are soon on the run from Rolf and a goon squad that has dibs on both for past indiscretions that gradually come to light. Schow presents alternating chapters from the viewpoint of characters with a variety of different aliases, then torques the plot with so many outrageous twists that they cease to be unbelievable. His mordant reflections on the hazards of social media and on how sharply reality deviates from the action portrayed in movies based on stories like this one give this novel’s wild events surprising gravity. [em](Feb.) [/em]