Description

With Criminal Paradise, his gritty, satirical take on the criminal underworld and the society it preys on, Steven M. Thomas earned comparison to such masters as Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen. Now Thomas has devised a new adventure for his charismatic hero, the small-time crook Robert Rivers, who has dreams of making the big score and the brains to pull it off–if only his partner, Reggie, wouldn’t keep getting in the way.

Indeed, Rivers is back and the stakes are high: He’s on the trail of a diamond necklace worth a small fortune. The necklace belongs to beautiful Southern California socialite Evelyn Evermore, but Rivers has a foolproof plan to remedy that. Unfortunately, the plan is not Reggie-proof, and when the dust clears, the necklace is gone and the cops are in hot pursuit.

But when Rivers learns that Evelyn is mixed up with a Venice Beach spiritual guru known as Baba Raba, the necklace seems to be within reach once more. Only the deeper Rivers digs, the more it appears that Baba Raba is a dangerous fraud intent on the same prize Rivers is pursuing. Worse, Rivers finds himself developing a soft spot for Evelyn, who isn’t the shallow socialite she seems to be.

Soon Rivers and Reggie are barreling headlong into the not-so-harmonious heart of a Southern California crime cabal–an adventure full of safecracking, gunslinging, seduction, treachery, family drama, and even a touch of romance.

With Criminal Karma, Steven M. Thomas has written a smart and sexy crime thriller that more than meets the promise of his acclaimed debut.

About the Author

Steven M. Thomas is the award-winning author of Criminal Paradise and many short stories, essays, and poems that have been published in more than fifty literary and small-press magazines in the United States and England. Until recently, he served as editor of OC Metro, a high-circulation magazine based in Orange County, California, where he lives.

Praise for Criminal Karma…

“This novel is more than a wonderful thriller and a classic caper-gone-wrong.
It’s a morality tale and a jaw-dropping tour of Southern California at its most crazy and compelling. I loved it.”—T. Jefferson Parker, author of The Renegades and L.A. Outlaws