Do You like book Marked Man (2006)?
I read a bunch of Lashner several years ago now and really enjoyed his 'better than he wants to be' protagonist, Victor Carl. As is the way sometimes with series for me, though, I at some point stopped reading without ever having actually lost interest. So I was happy in a bit of a reading lull to pull this one off my shelves.As usual, Victor is still hoping to be the bad boy who makes a killing without regard to scruples, but unfortunately for him, he still has some. That's what we know about him that he doesn't seem to know about himself, although to his regret, he's slowly realizing it. In the quest for one Chantel Adair, whose name has quite literally been tattooed on his chest without his consent, and while trying to pay back a family obligation by bringing an errant son back to his dying mother, Victor of course finds himself in more trouble than he ever anticipated. Series regulars like Victor's law partner Beth and the private eye he hires, Phil Skink, have their roles here, but for the most part Lashner breaks out into new territory with a new cast of characters. I find this a greatly enjoyable series with a comic undercurrent, and wish Lashner was better known than he appears to be, at least out my way.
—Seana
Another in the author's Victor Carl series. Here we find lawyer Victor waking up after a rough night out with a tattoo on his chest with a girl's name on it, trouble is he has no idea who she is or how it got there..... Victor is a bit of a mess, he wants to be a `player' but has not got a nasty enough streak to do it, so he lurches along wanting to make the jump to the big time, but some deep rooted morals keep him from the edge. In Marked Man, Victor is trying to re-unite a wanted man with his mother while trying to return a stolen painting. At the same time he is trying to find the girl whose name is on his chest and finds there may be a connection with his case. This is perfectly entertaining if a little uneven in pace, Victor is an entertaining lead character and the author also introduces some interesting peripheral ones. The plot is interesting enough although a couple of the twists were rather obvious. So while not one of the author's best, it's not bad.
—Nick Brett
Sixth in the Victor Carl, Philadelphia criminal defense lawyer, series.Not everyone has the ability to wake up in the morning after an admittedly drunken night out and find himself tattooed over his left breast with a heart and the name of a woman he’s never met. This might strain the credulity of some, but then they’ve never met Carl. Still, the plot isn’t really thick enough to quite carry this off, and while the book is good, is is not as good as the five others in the series. True to form, Lashner has created another excellent one-off character, and there are satisfactory twists and turns. But still.Recommended for hard-core Victor Carl fans, but the first five books are better.
—Joyce Lagow
