FRIENDS HELPING FRIENDS

A hapless young jailbird agrees to infiltrate a white supremacist compound in Colorado in exchange for being set free, only to realize the deal offered by police has big holes in it.

The jailbird, Bunny Simpson, whose polite manner barely conceals his violent streak, gets sent to prison along with his best friend, Jerry LeClair, after a quick moneymaking scheme goes south. Helen McCalla, an attorney to whom Jerry sells steroids to support her new bodybuilding habit, hires him to beat up her two-timing ex-husband, a local judge, during one of his morning runs. Jerry (whose unlikely relationship with Helen is surprisingly touching) promptly calls on the reluctant Bunny to handle the physical stuff. After a botched encounter in the park leads to the arrest of Bunny and Jerry, a pair of suspect cops make their offer, knowing that Bunny’s Uncle Willard is behind the white supremacists. He runs the car dealership that serves as a cover for the high-stakes drug operation that funds the compound. The cops are after the codes to the Bitcoin account from which the money flows. Bunny has never liked Willard, his drug-addicted mother’s brother, who mysteriously disappeared years ago. Hired by the dealership before surprising Willard with his presence, Bunny is quickly transferred to the compound, where, under intense pressure from the cops and at great risk, he snoops around for the evidence they demand. Some heavy late developments throw the book out of balance. But Hoffman makes us care for characters who in other hands wouldn’t pass that test, and he is masterly in combining humor and suspense.

Memorable characters plus deft plotting equals enjoyable page-turner.