A review by romonko
Fadeaway Joe by Hugh Lessig

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I received this book as an audiobook from NetGalley.  The book will be out near the end of August.  I highly recommend that you try to get your hands on a copy.  i'm only speaking for the audiobook because that is how I listened to it.  Come meet Joe Pendergast, an ex-enforcer for a local loan shark who has just recently lost his job by his long time friend and boss, Maxie Smith.  Joe has just been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's so he knows his time is limited, and he has one goal; to kill Maxie Smith for firing him after 40+ years of working for him.   To keep himself occupied while he plans this big hit, he operates a food truck in the town where he lives.  During the course of his business he meets a young woman who appears to have many of her own problems.  He determines that this young girl is probably responsible for whatever happened in Joe's boat.  He found it full of blood and a lot of grey hair.  The two conspirators start working together.  Each has their own agenda which is to bring retribution to two separate illegal operations--Maxie Smith and his loan sharking business, and a trafficking ring that Paula Jessop had been inadvertently involved with.  The book is hilarious from start to finish, even if a bit violent.  It is not clear throughout the book whether the unlikely alliance that these two perpetrators forged will succeed in their objectives or not.  I loved the book, and the premise.  A very different crime novel, where I found myself rooting for the lesser of two evils, Paula and Joe. Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Book Publishers for giving me the opportunity to listen to this book.   Highly recommended.