Rough Riders by Charlie Stella

Full disclosure – Charlie Stella is at or near the top of my power rotation. Here we go.

Rough Riders is the follow-up to Stella’s first novel, Eddie’s World. At the end of that book, hustler James Singleton is trying some scam while turning state’s evidence, but ends up getting shot in the face, losing his eye and part of his cheek, and finally spirited off into witness protection.

Fast-forward about 10 years. Singleton wears half a facemask, is still working some scams, and lives a protected life in Minot, North Dakota under a new identity as Washington Stewart. Enter Colonel Robert Schmidt, MD and licensed helicopter pilot. A while back he stumbled onto a couple punks bringing in a load of heroin to the air force base and sees a big score if he can get help unloading it. It also looks like his wife cruises the Internet for sex and the Col. Dr. has simply decided he wants her dead. And our boy Singleton/Stewart has some answers and the contacts. But he also still harbors a bit of a grudge against Eddie Senta (namesake of Eddie’s World) for his disfigurement.

So let’s see if I can put all this together in less than 10,000 words. A college kid dies of an overdose. Singleton sends a couple guys back to NYC to kill Eddie and his wife, but the hit fails and both end up in the hospital. Eddie’s wife hires Alex Pavlik, one of the cops from Eddie’s World, to track down Singleton as she is sure he is behind the attempt, but Pavlik's girlfriend is worried about his safety. Singleton tries to get Senta again and the creeps he sends are no better the 2^nd time around. And the witness protection FBI handler is kind of dicey. Pavlik works his way to ND, meets up with a Lakota lawyer who helps out (and I hope Stella finds a way to bring the lawyer back in a future book), follows a couple clues to Minot. Singleton arranges for the Col. Dr.’s wife to meet a nasty end and this brings out the local cops, namely Det. Dale Hehn, a good guy investigator and former suitor of Miss North Dakota who now serves drinks at a hotel bar and who makes a play for Alex Pavlik causing his guilt meter to redline. And don't forget the FBI trying to get a couple Vegas accountants to roll on their mob boss so they use Singleton and promise him another new identity and address, I think.

And believe it or not, it all funnels down to Singleton. He tried to arrange a long distance hit – twice. Arranges for Col. Dr.’s wife to get dead. Works with the doc to help fly a copter and the drugs out of ND to Mexico. Had some connection to the drugs given to the college kid, jerks his handler around to hide his plans with the doc. Kills (or his girlfriend kills) a couple more locals. Runs over one cop. A junkie freezes and big bucks defense lawyer shows up way too frequently. And I’m sure I’ve left out maybe a dozen other critical characters and side plots and apologize to the author for messing up my summary. 

MRB fav Stella is a whole lot better at developing the plot than I. No way I could do this clever storyline any justice. His deft skill at juggling plots and characters is what makes Stella one terrific, if undiscovered and underappreciated, storyteller. Some authors make the scene come alive, Stella makes the characters so alive it’s like the reader is less an observer and more of a bit of a participant, or at the very least an eavesdropper. Take equal parts Bruen, Higgins, Pelecanos, and Leonard, stir in realistic, believable, characters that you can identify with, and even sympathize with (including some bad guys), season with local color from both NY and ND, and top off with sex, drugs, rock and roll and some cool cultural references for a rough ride through the wild winter of ND. Sort of like Goodfellas meets Fargo. Check out Eddie’s World and start right in on Rough Riders. You’ll love the ride.

Then read everything else he’s done.

East Coast Don