Bagmen (A Victor Carl Novel)

I enjoyed the previous Victor Carl novels, but not this one. The problem is two fold; 1) the premise of the story is not credible and 2) although Victor Carl's wit and snark comes through from time to time, overall this is a dour and dark book. Now to the premise: Victor bumbles across massive political corruption in the form of "big butter," which translates to big corporate money flowing to phony candidates. So far so good. But in this case big butter comes in the form of a rich fat evil slob with boils all over his body that loves to torment people and purchase politicians to do his bidding. In this case the politician is an equally evil conservative politician. Now think about this. Victor lives and works in Philly. How does he stumble across a prominent evil conservative politician? He's in a "blue" state and Philly is like most other major cities in that it's been run by one party for many, many years. Evil conservatives are about as common as saber tooth tigers. But of course his opponent is true blue and hates the vitriol of modern campaigns. Instead he chooses to focus on saving the planet from global warming. And oh yeah, the evil conservative politician even fornicates with his sister. So what would be more believable? How about a one party city that is close to bankruptcy because of a circle of corruption (hey, good title) in the form of taxpayer funds used to pay public sector employees, who in turn repackage a portion of the money in the form of campaign contributions for elected officials. These same elected officials then oversee contract negotiations with the public sector employees that send them the contributions. Now what could go wrong?? Perhaps bloated contracts that result in bills that cannot be paid when the chickens come home to roost (like now). Now that sounds like big butter to me. But it would take balls to publish this story because this time you would not be waving your pen at a windmill, but instead a real dragon. And this dragon will remove you from the social A-list AND more significantly unleash a very successful tactic in the form of contact from big butter itself in the form of tax audits, safety inspections, etc. And the beauty of this tactic is you don't even have to be guilty to suffer because the process is the punishment. That's why when it comes time to nut up or shut up, so many authors reach for the cup of shut up and invent something like this.

Lashner never disappoints. While this is not his best, you can count on the same wit, dark humor and on learning something you didn't know or weren't sure of about human nature and the world's turning. You may come out more trusting, but most likely not!

I'm so glad to have Victor Carl back. Lashner is in rare form with this piece on his anti-hero's latest effort to reinvent himself as a rich, suave political fixer. As usual, the despicable and desperate characters that populate the story are unforgettable, but for a daring change of pace Lashner doesn't give readers another legal thriller. This is a political thriller every bit as noir as Victor's previous catastrophic forays into the dark side of criminal law in the big city. I rate it as possibly the best Victor Carl story of all; certainly up there with any reader's favorite. I hope Lashner writes more about the tireless but largely futile attempts of Victor's to rise above his penniless existence. Next time, with any luck, he'll bring back the redoubtable Skink, one of the most memorable private investigators in fiction.

I might not have been disappointed with Bagmen if I had not read two other William Lashner novels that kept me interested and involved all the way to the final chapter. Having read The Accounting and Barkeep, I can only assume that Lashner was under pressure to get another novel out and figured this would be an easy target. In Bagmen, Lashner has his popular anti-hero Victor Carl engaged in the seemy underbelly of payoffs to political figures, judges and city officials. Carl falls into the business by happenstance and then decides it is a good way to improve his financial position. But along the way, he discovers that murder also has become an option when powerful people are attempting to control political outcomes.The concept is a good one and I can see why Lashner chose it. But he creates such one dimensional characters that he makes Bagmen almost laughable rather than achieving the drama that he could have. He creates a secret fraternity of Bagmen who smoke too much, drink too much and brag about how they get the job done while staying out of the newspaper headlines. By the end of the book, I was just reading to finish it. I discovered Lashner through Amazon and loved his other books. So I haven't given up. But Bagmen doesn't show the writing talent I know he has.

Even with a gun to his head, Victor Carl's biggest fight is always with himself. If may be true that the size of the dog doesn't matter so much as the fight in the dog but the fun really begins when Victor struggles to be the biggest dog only to be defeated by his well hidden character.Have no fear, you will still find Victor lovable in his greedy, self-serving cynicism surrounded by friends as colorful as jailhouse graffiti. Victor's choice in bed partners has never been worse. It's during a ride through the seediest side of politics where Victor feels most at home that his Rescue Complex awakens from remission and a full on race to the truth begins.Welcome back, Victor.

I have fun reading Lashner's work. He might be a genius ! Somehow all of the puzzle pieces get laid out on the card table in little little he helps you see what the puzzle looks like once the pieces begin to come together . The finish is never predictable , never ends prematurely , and leaves one in suspense until the very last chapter . I like to read what William Lashner writes.

I have read every Lashner ( Victor Carl ) novel since the beginning. They are always entertaining and quick reads. Victor Carl is the ongoing everyman anti hero Philadelphia lawyer who seeks truth, justice and the American way of life in the series. Carl deals with the upper crust and the underworld with equal awkward aplomb. I see Author William Lashner's writing style as a combination of John Grisham and Robert Parker.

I bought this on a whim because Amazon has it on offer for £1. Having never read a Lashner novel I had no idea what to expect. Starts well, the initial chapters are very polished and slick. Really entertaining. I couldn't help thinking it ran out of steam by the middle though. The gags slowed, it lost some of that easy flowing feel and at times it felt a bit laboured. By the end it picked up slightly but still not as punchy and captivating as it started. Entertaining throughout and still worth a read.

If like me you are a fan of William Lashner you will not be disappointed with his latest offering. Victor (I feel I can call him by his first name, as you would with an old friend) is on fine form after his prolonged absence. I am just a quarter of the way through the book and already slowing down, as you would with a fine meal or glass of good malt, you don't want it to end. If you have never read William Lashners books I suggest you start doing so immediately. Start with the first one and work your way through. You won't regret it.

The hero, a lawyer, is lead astray by an old college pal into the corrupt world of American politics and law enforcement. Without the staccato delivery of Ellroy or the humour of Chandler the author nevertheless chimes with these to greats of the genre. Not to their standard perhaps but still scratches an itch left by them. Relatively good pace is maintained throughout and you are left with a very uncomfortable feeling about "The Land of the Free"

'Flawed' lawyer Victor gets himself in hot water again, I enjoyed this one a lot - if you like devious characters and clever plotlines you should try this series.

Took time to "get into it" but once in thoroughly enjoyed it. Thankyou