Criminal Paradise: A Novel

Plot

Robert Rivers is a crook. No excuses, no apologies. But he’s a thief with honor, plotting heists where no shots are fired, no blood is spilled, and nobody gets hurt–except in the wallet. After carving out a comfortable existence in sunny Southern California, Rob is thinking about quitting the game. But then he and his trusty partner, Switch, score a payday that could end up costing them plenty. Inside a strongbox packed with greenbacks rests a disturbing photo of a beautiful young girl, eyes full of fear as naked as she is. It’s an image that Rob can’t shake, and it compels him to venture into the underbelly of a lethal landscape of sex slaves, sadistic psychopaths, and sawed-off shotguns, where honor is for fools and trust is for suckers, where very bad people do even worse things and nice guys don’t finish at all. They just get finished off.