Rating: 4 stars (Spotlight Review)

Jimmy Boone is a big-hearted former Marine and ex-con; having done time for beating up the husband of the family he was hired to protect, after being told the little girl in his charge was being molested by her father -- turns out it was just the revenge of the angry, ignored wife. Now, out of prison and trying to get his life together, Jimmy serves as the handy-man for the bungalow apartments where he lives and bartends at a local Hollywood joint with a rotund bouncer named Robo, who moonlights as an amateur PI to make a quick buck. When Oscar, a Guatemalan immigrant, dies from infected dog bites on a local bus, Robo is hired by Oscar's grandfather to find out what happened and Robo talks Jimmy into coming along as his "cop buddy".

Reluctant to get involved, Jimmy eventually gives in. Robo manages to uncover a bit of information that leads them to Oscar's girlfriend and baby son and a few of Oscar's immigrant friends. A visit to the friends fills in a few more gaps of Oscar's last days, including a job in the desert, from which he returned home with multiple dog bites and in such fear for his life from "them" that he refused to seek medical attention for his wounds. Oscar also brought a dog with him -- a severely scarred pit bull with no teeth -- for whom Jimmy promptly offers to buy for $60. At this point, Robo feels he has enough information and is done with the case. For Jimmy, it's just the beginning.

Torn between making things right and staying out of prison Jimmy walks a razor’s edge, getting himself in deeper with each new lead. When Jimmy finds himself on the wrong side of town, shooting up the backroom of a local gangster, he knows there's no going back and he must see this through. Along the way Jimmy gets involved with an angry stripper out for revenge, drug dealers, murderers, crime bosses and a dog fighting ring; to top it off, Jimmy must save his new girlfriend, Amy, who has been kidnapped by the stripper and her drug-crazed brother. In an effort to get justice for Oscar and now save Amy, Jimmy finds he must make amends to old friends for past mistakes; only to get them involved in worse things.

I can't really say there's anything different about This Wicked World, it was just "a story"; yet, somehow, Richard Lange managed to make it exceptional. The story progressed rapidly and with such imagery, you could almost feel the desert sun beating down on you. Every character was so well-developed, with excellent personality and depth. Although the dog fighting scenes were very difficult to read, Lange did an excellent job of taking a tough (and touchy) subject and weaving it into the plot; leaving you revolted, yet riveted.
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Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Pub. Date: June 2009
ISBN-13: 9780316017374