The Kind One

By Tom Epperson

Book Overview

In the kill-or-be-killed criminal underworld of 1930s Los Angeles, "Two Gun Danny" Landon has a distinct disadvantage. According to the fellas, he used to pull all kinds of shoot-ups and shenanigans...but damned if he can't remember a thing from before last year, when he got hit over the head with a lead pipe. Sadistic mobster Bud Seitz -- known to friends and enemies alike as "The Kind One" -- seems to have big plans for him, but truthfully, Danny can't stomach the dirty work. His aim is off, the other wiseguys laugh at him, and he'd gladly trade in the drunken parties and the endless broads for a day at the movies with his colorful and mysterious neighbor Dulwich and eleven-year-old Sophie, whose deadbeat mother delivers an endless stream of emotional and physical abuse. But when Bud's beautiful girlfriend Darla begs Danny to help her escape the Kind One's dark, brutal world, Danny must confront a dangerous test of loyalty that could irrevocably change his future -- and his past -- forever.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B002RAR3SS
• ISBN13: 9781416596981
• Release Date: April 2009
• Publisher: Gallery Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.2" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

THE KIND ONE on a DARE

I read "The Kind One" on something of a personal dare. A friend thrust a copy of the novel into my arms and insisted, "Read it. You'll like it." I thought "Never!" I hate gangster films. I never see them. And a gangster novel? What could be worse! But since this book was a gift from a good friend, I felt obliged to actually read the damned thing. And so I did it with an I-dare-you-to-make-me-like-it attitude. I lost the bet -- big time! But in this case, losing meant winning -- I gained a thrilling read. To label this book a gangster novel does not do it justice. It is really a first-rate character novel about an interesting, likable fellow, two-gun Danny, who just happens to be thrust into the world of gangsters. How he got there is precisely the issue -- and one he keeps asking himself since he has lost his memory of his past life. He does not seem to fit into the thuggish world of his truly frightening boss. As he struggles to figure out his past, he meets several other misfits, both in and outside of the gangster world. For me, the most interesting set of characters were those he met in his Hollywood apartment complex, each of which is sharply drawn and wonderfully memorable. Epperson deftly weaves all of their lives together in surprising twists as this psychological thriller unfolds, with their lives converging at the end. By the time I approached that end, I found myself reading more slowly to draw out the pleasure of remaining with the characters. As I closed the book cover, I wondered: is this really a gangster novel if Epperson's artful, psychological portraits made me forget his characters were largely in a gangster world?

MOLLS, MURDER, AND MEMORY

Tom Epperson's The Kind One works the miracle of making an iconic genre original again. Set in 1930's Los Angeles, this noir gangster tale is deep, nuanced, and breathtakingly true to its material. Noir has always harbored a soul of kindness and justice, the harshness and squalor of circumstance suppressing that fragile core. Eppersons's hero Danny perfectly embodies the goodness which must don the garb of cynicism to survive in a miserable world. While Danny has lost his memory, Epperson more than compensates by showing us that world from the inside out. This is not a re-creation, but a loving and contemporaneous depiction. Epperson's prose has the eloquence of verisimilitude - always true and always rooted in its subject matter. The story is tight and active through all its twists and turns, but the plot never spins away from the necessity of the vivid characters that drive it. The Kind One is a wonderful and immensely enjoyable book.

Both Entertaining and Enlightening

With the creation of Danny Landon, author Tom Epperson has given us a wonderfully nuanced character who simultaneously provides an outward glimpse of wildly colorful 1930s LA as well as a clever existential peek inward at a truly lost soul. Yes, "The Kind One" contains all the fun and picaresque adventures one would expect from the City of Angels. But Epperson is going for so much more, and it's immensely satisfying to realize how successful he is. One would have to go back to the Argentinean master Borges to find such a skillful exploration of identity and its ontological implications. All that and gangsters shooting it up--what's not to love in this exciting and thought-provoking novel?

Los Angeles Times Rave

". . . Although it may not be hard to imitate a genre's cliches, it's difficult and exceedingly rare to transcend the cliches and produce a work that can appeal to readers who are not necessarily aficionados of the given genre. Tom Epperson has managed the uncommon feat of writing a genre novel that can hold its own alongside (if not best) other works considered more literary. On every page, the language is crisp and fresh, the details sharp and keenly observed, the dialogue real, never forced. When Epperson elevates his prose to the lyrical, he reads like a streamlined Joseph Conrad. . . . the novel itself is of the highest caliber in its genre and makes the leap into literature, as do the best works in all genres." The complete article can be viewed at: http://www.calendarlive.com/books/la-et-book2feb02,0,4451483.story

A Thrilling Read.

Tom Epperson's thrilling Hollywood noir echoes the greats--Chandler, Cain, Ellroy--while at the same time introduces a hugely original new voice to the genre. Though as hard-boiled as the best of them, "The Kind One" moves beyond category with the artistry of its character depth and descriptive eloquence. Epperson's 1930s Los Angeles is portrayed with time capsule clarity, every page in the novel filled with fascinating (and well-researched) period detail. This is a book that will stay with you long after you've turned the last page.