Seattle's own Leo Waterman is back--along with the very motley crew of once and future alcoholics like Nearly Normal Norman who help him with his investigations. While looking for a missing member of the group, Leo and Co. stop a rape and get involved in the overdose death of a famous Seattle musician who might remind you of recent headlines. As in his two previous books in the Waterman series, Who in Hell is Wanda Fuca? and Cast in Stone, both available in softcover, G. M. Ford writes pungent, hilarious dialogue and manages to make us care about the lives of people we walk past on the street every day.


The New York Times Book Review, Marilyn Stasio
G.M. Ford is a decent writer, when he isn't pushing it. His plots hang together, his cityscapes of Seattle are worth the trip and his private detective, Leo Waterman, does his job with an easy grin--when he isn't pushing it. The Bum's Rush shows Mr. Ford once again sabotaging his own fine form with his leaden style.


From Booklist
Now in its third installment, Ford's Leo Waterman novels have leapfrogged the competition among Seattle detective series. This time out, Leo has plenty on his plate: one of the "boys," the homeless cronies he often uses for legwork, has gone missing; he's hired to find a librarian who has scammed the city's automated acquisitions system out of 200 grand; and he's on the trail of a record producer who may have arranged the overdose of a grunge rock star. The various plots and their joint resolution come together seamlessly--aided by some nifty online sleuthing--but what really makes this series shine is the ensemble interplay between Leo and his crew of homeless assistants. Like the "rude mechanicals" in one of Shakespeare's dark comedies, Waterman's supporting cast not only adds humor to the proceedings but also offers ironic commentary on the lead characters and their mainstream world, undercutting pretentiousness while displaying their own character flaws with a believable mixture of panache and melancholy. A fine series that keeps getting better. Bill Ott


From Kirkus Reviews
A hunt through Seattle's darkest neighborhoods for Ralph Batista, one of the Irregulars who helps shamus Leo Waterman solve cases and put away booze, leads not only to sozzled Ralph, but to an unexpectedly helpful ally: savvy streetperson Selena Dunlap, who tells Leo where Ralph is likely to be staying, stands up to a police grilling when the Irregulars' rescue mission turns irregular, and casually mentions that she's the mother of Lukkas Terry, the rocker who'd been on top of the world until the cops found him with a needle sticking out of his arm. It's something for Leo to mull over while he gets on with his newest paying job: finding Karen Mendolson, the enterprising librarian who skedaddled with her underwear, her desktop computer, and $193,000 of the public library's money. Since the two cases don't come together till the last few pages, fans of Leo's first two outings (Cast in Stone, 1996, etc.), like the detective himself, will have to make do with shuttling back and forth between a computer- guided search for the larcenous librarian (not much to chew on here, though habitu‚s of the DorothyL conference site will crack a smile) and poking around among the supernova heirs of the Terry estate trying to raise some hackles without getting Selena Dunlap killed. Both plots go flat in the end, but Ford's way with dialogue and characters--he's well on his way to becoming the Raymond Chandler of Seattle--may keep you from noticing. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Book Description
Packed with all the outrageous shenanigans that quickly marked Who in Hell is Wanda Fuca? and Cast in Stone as two of the most original mysteries in years, G.M. Ford crafts a devilishly funny and bat-out-of-hell paced novel featuring his smart-aleck yet irrepressible Seattle-based p.i., Leo Waterman.

Nobody loves you when you're down and out--except maybe Leo Waterman. As a man who has transformed a gaggle of residentially challenged devotees of cheap alcohol into a crack surveillance team, Leo has a soft spot for society's downtrodden. When a homeless woman says she's the mother of a deceased rock idol, Leo takes it upon himself to investigate the lady's claim, thereby embroiling the Boys, his dissolute deputies, and his own already bruised body in a high speed, life-threatening pursuit of the truth.


About the Author
G.M. Ford is the author of Fury, the critically acclaimed debut of Frank Corso, as well as six highly praised mysteries featuring Seattle private investigator Leo Waterman. A former creative writing teacher in western Washington, Ford lives in Seattle and is currently working on his next Frank Corso novel.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In a world where few can be trusted, loyalty and friendship are hard-won and tightly held. So when one of "The Boys" - the down-and-out, mostly-on-the-street people who often assist Seattle p.i. Leo Waterman in his investigations - goes missing, Leo is right there to lead the search. He couldn't have known where the hunt was going to take him, but even if he had, Waterman would never have backed down. The simple investigation turned quickly into a deadly tangle: Looking for Ralph led directly to saving a homeless woman from being beaten to death. Having saved her, Waterman felt responsible for her, even though she kept telling him to butt out. But he couldn't, especially not after finding the connection to the mysterious death of a local rock star. Tracing the ties between the two investigations is time consuming and the clock is ticking loudly. Someone in Seattle is taking the homeless in...and doing them in soon thereafter. Moving from the downtown alleys to the world of quick wealth and sudden fame of the music industry, The Bum's Rush will delight all fans of G. M. Ford.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Seattle PI Leo Waterman continues to deliver on the lively promise of his first appearance in Who in Hell Is Wanda Fuca? In his third case, following Cast in Stone, Leo stumbles into a battle for the riches of a young pop star, Lukkas Terry, who died of a seemingly accidental heroin overdose. While tracking a missing member of his group of homeless friends, known as "the boys," Leo is given some help from Selena Dunlap, a skid row alcoholic who says she's Lukkas's long-lost mother. Leo checks out her story and believes it, especially when some hoods come looking for her. Who might want to deprive Selena of Lukkas's estate? His manager, music impresario Gregory Conover? Or his spacey girlfriend, Beth Goza, now pregnant with his child? Leo coaxes his homeless pals out of their boozy haze to help him find the answer and trap a killer once again. Leo exhibits just the right mix of grit and wit, surviving two murder attempts and the unpredictable antics of his offbeat pals, whose surveillance work is invisible because, as he observes, society has trained itself to ignore them. Ford demonstrates real skill with Leo and his "residentially challenged" cronies in this fast-moving tale, portraying them sympathetically but without sentimentality. (May)

Kirkus Reviews

A hunt through Seattle's darkest neighborhoods for Ralph Batista, one of the Irregulars who helps shamus Leo Waterman solve cases and put away booze, leads not only to sozzled Ralph, but to an unexpectedly helpful ally: savvy streetperson Selena Dunlap, who tells Leo where Ralph is likely to be staying, stands up to a police grilling when the Irregulars' rescue mission turns irregular, and casually mentions that she's the mother of Lukkas Terry, the rocker who'd been on top of the world until the cops found him with a needle sticking out of his arm. It's something for Leo to mull over while he gets on with his newest paying job: finding Karen Mendolson, the enterprising librarian who skedaddled with her underwear, her desktop computer, and $193,000 of the public library's money. Since the two cases don't come together till the last few pages, fans of Leo's first two outings (Cast in Stone, 1996, etc.), like the detective himself, will have to make do with shuttling back and forth between a computer- guided search for the larcenous librarian (not much to chew on here, though habitués of the DorothyL conference site will crack a smile) and poking around among the supernova heirs of the Terry estate trying to raise some hackles without getting Selena Dunlap killed.

Both plots go flat in the end, but Ford's way with dialogue and characters—he's well on his way to becoming the Raymond Chandler of Seattle—may keep you from noticing.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING