Think of combining Henry James and Robin Williams and setting the result loose on a romp through the nooks and crannies of Los Angeles in the person of Junior Bender, a burglar for our own times. The somewhat strange title quickly makes sense as Hallinan weaves a story that involves our cultural penchant for trying to replicate big successes. I really did laugh out loud and even read a few of the passages out loud to my wife. Junior is hard not to like. It was a treat to read. I will be back for more. ( )

Read 11/16. Enjoyable though often over-the-top. Will probably continue reading this series. Found as 2014 Shamus Award Finalist. Series of 12. ( )

The author has developed a smart and smart-mouthed thief in the character Junior Bender. He tells a involved story that has to include the motivation for the thief to be obligated to figure out a crime and deal with the issues involved in his complicated life. I'm sure I'll be ready to go on another Bender. ( )

First of all it only gets 3.5 stars because the narrator is annoying. I don't think the protagonist's voice is suppose to be that annoying. If I was reading it, I would have given it 4 stars.
Junior Bender, professional burglar is blackmailed into to helping a crooked cop clear his crooked uncle of a recent murder. Along the way, Bender's current landlord asks him to find her missing daughter.
Great plot, nicely woven and intricate. Just when you think it's going to be over, another mystery slides it way in. New characters are presented and compelling, old characters, such as Junior's daughter, Rena, are further developed. Although, I don't enjoy the narrator, I enjoy this series and will continue on. ( )

One picks up a book by Tim Hallinan to have fun. There’s a little murder, sure…sometimes a lot of murder…but it’s usually the bad guys that “get it” and we rest easy, knowing there is someone out there who’d rob us blind if he could, but who won’t take more than we can afford to lose.

Hallinan’s creation, Junior Bender, is the kind of guy you might ask back to your house for a party, after he’d robbed it, just to ask how he did it. He’s that amusing.

The Junior Bender series of books is based in Los Angeles and captures the vibration of southern California precisely. If you’ve ever found yourself missing the place, you might want to pick up one of Hallinan’s books for a cure. Hallinan lasers in on defining characteristics, and picks up those things we thought we’d fixed with botox, or managed to hide with designer advice. He is brilliant at describing environments, in this case an old art deco apartment building with a view of the city purchased by crooked Koreans. Crumbling and unkempt on the outside, it is gloriously restored on the inside, with secret escapes and hidden garages, just perfect for hiding ill-gotten gains or for a man on the run.

Junior has a code of ethics that is not taught in any religion, but like many southern Californians, is just something he created out of whole cloth and “evolved” into. But we like this code, just as we like him. He is a thief, yes, but his heart is in the right place. Everyone wants his help at some time or another, even the cops, and if they don’t, well, mostly they want to lock him up or kill him. Which keeps Junior on his toes.

Junior has a family, and in this episode, his thirteen-year-old daughter, Rina, shows she is growing up into someone he can admire. Do I need to say she has computer skills that put her father to shame? And while she is not old enough to have a boyfriend, she has a friend that is a boy who is as special and interesting as everyone else in the family. We yearn to see more of him, and watch him grow.

Hallinan writes crime novels that defy the type. One can imagine finding a sprung-binding massmarket paperback of his with its delicious, distinctive single-color cover and woodcut silhouettes and opening to the first page…only hours later surfacing to reflect that one had found gold.
( )