Karma Doll

"Ames’ expert plotting and spot-on descriptions of Mexican and stateside environs and denizens makes “Karma Doll” another excellent installment of what is, happily, proving to be a long-running series."—Paula Woods, Los Angeles Times

"Ames fans know what to expect: a plot that never quite goes where they expect it to, characters who are a lot of fun to hang out with, and a prose style that somehow manages to be whimsical and noir at the same time (no small feat). Ames seems clearly to enjoy the act of writing, and it shows on every page: a laugh here, a turn of phrase there, an unexpected character revelation over there. His novels are gifts to readers who want a rich and satisfying story, and this one is wonderful."—David Pitt, Booklist

"Idiosyncratic PI Happy Doll returns for another violent, darkly funny adventure in Ames’s outstanding sequel to The Wheel of Doll...Ames delivers lurid action, sterling prose, and a top-shelf cliff-hanger in one deliriously entertaining package. The next installment can’t come soon enough."—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"The offbeat Hollywood private eye Happy Doll has his third hard-boiled misadventure in Jonathan Ames’s “Karma Doll.” A pot-smoking former cop, Doll describes himself as “a deeply confused person in a violent profession.” He feels regret over the several men he’s killed in self-defense and guilt over the collateral victims of his star-crossed investigations. Years of hard drinking have led to psychoanalysis and his intermittent embrace of Buddhism (“I’m not very good at it”). What, he wonders, with some apprehension, will be his ultimate karma?"—Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal