Reviews for Kind One

The average rating for Kind One based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-02-24 00:00:00 Victor Cherdsuriya I picked this novel up from a bargain table at Border's because the author, Tom Epperson, had co-written the script for One False Move, a movie that still haunts me to this day. According to the back of the book, this novel is "soon to be a major motion picture" but it's already quite cinematic . . . in a good way, not in a film script-y kind of way (where you hear the plot creaking). The setting is 1930's Los Angeles and the narrator is Danny "Two Gun" Landon, a former enforcer for a mob boss, Bud Seitz (the "kind one" of the title). Danny still works for Seitz but after a traumatic brain injury a year before, Danny is left with no memories of his former life and a pronounced limp. Danny's current assignment is to drive Bud Seitz's girlfriend, Darla, around but even that minor role puts Danny into contact with a world he no longer has much taste for. More and more, Danny enjoys spending time with two of his neighbors--Dulwich, a somewhat flamboyant British neighbor (who's also a vet of World War 1) and Sophie, an 11-year-old girl, whose spirit seems undaunted by the stream of losers her slutty mother brings home. Since this is a noir novel, you know that secrets will be revealed, people will die, and hearts will be broken. The fun of this novel is seeing how Epperson pulls it off and how realistic a hero Danny is. For what it's worth, I'd see the film too.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-05-29 00:00:00 Edward R. Fisher Terrific read set in 1930's Los Angeles. Danny Landon (known in the criminal underworld as "Two Gun Danny") has been recovering for the past year from an attack that has left him without any of his former memories. He's returned to work for mobster Bud Seitz, known ironically as "The Kind One". But Danny no longer seems to have the stomach for the violence and fear that the others seem to revel in. Bud assigns Danny to bodyguard his newest girlfriend Darla, but things get complicated when Danny develops feelings for her. Although there were scenes of extreme and graphic violence in this book it also contained a lot of heart, which brought to mind Charlie Huston's novels. This story had a great premise, a great setting, some great characters and fine writing with some nice twists in the plot. I enjoyed it a lot and thought it was unique. Four and a half stars.