Low Rider

Philip Reed doesn't waste any time getting down to business in his second book about a slightly bent but basically good-hearted Los Angeles car dealer named Harold Dodge. On page one, right after a bunch of gangbangers on the 405 freeway give thumbs-up approval to his lime green '64 Chevy Impala SS with 300-horsepower engine, Harold begins to muse: "He had lived here his whole life until he was forced to leave the country last year because of a couple of murders he didn't commit. Now, he was back to straighten things out. Repair the damage he had done to Vikki's life, and his own, and--who knows?--make some nice money in the process." As readers of Reed's Edgar-nominated debut novel, Bird Dog, know, Vikki is the widow of Dodge's former employer, a man killed because of a crooked car deal by the woman who became Harold's lover. Reed's second outing is as complicated, colorful, and full of great cars as his first--and judging by the tire tracks left at the end, there's a good chance that Mark III will soon be in your showrooms. --Dick Adler