A Man Named Doll

Kidney. The test for whether crime fiction will appeal to readers often involves whether the protagonist comes across as authentic and interesting. In his novel titled, A Man Named Doll, Jonathan Ames introduces readers to Happy Doll, a Los Angeles private detective who prefers to be called, “Hank.” Ames passed the character test for me because I came to really like Hank, a former cop who loves his dog and shleps from one predicament to another. Queasy readers will find some gruesome violence here, and it’s not too much of a plot spoiler to say that Hank loses a kidney in a nefarious scheme in this novel. There’s a sense that most of life for Hank is a close-run thing, and somehow or other, he’s likely to come through. A series featuring Hank is off to a great start with this novel. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase A Man Named Doll from amazon.com.