"Defined by a brilliant economy of style， a no-nonsense world view， and a lack of clich??....This bleak， funny...tale of used-car corruption， murder， and sex in a seamy， unremitting L.A. combines unlikely， grittily real characters with tough， clean prose，" raved The Boston Book Review of the author s debut thriller， Bird Dog. Now， Reed brings back hardluck L.A. hero Harold Dodge in the eagerly awaited sequel to his "savage but jovial black comedy...[and] formidable set of wheels" (Literary Review). Life continues to throw Harold Dodge some wicked curves. But sometimes， the more wicked the curve the better. Take Vikki Covo， widow of Harold s former boss at the Joe Covo car dealership. She s a blonde， she s beautiful， and she s angling for a million-dollar settlement on her husband s life insurance policy. Vikki s a curve in the shape of a dollar sign， a woman Harold could learn to love almost as much as he loves his 64 Chevy Impala. If only she handled as well.... The deal: if Harold negotiates the insurance settlement， he ll get ten percent， plus Vikki s everlasting gratitude and affection. The problem: the police are treating Joe Covo s death as a suicide， meaning no payout on the insurance. And when Harold suggests the cops rule it a homicide instead， they re all too willing to oblige， figuring him as their number-one suspect. Staring a murder rap in the face， Harold must descend into a rogue s gallery of low-riding gangbangers， car thieves， chop-shop operators， and collection agents. Mixing business with pleasure is always a risky affair， and in this case Harold s in so deep he s getting the bends. From cowboy cops to jealous lovers， just about everybody wants a piece of him. Worst of all， the bad guys have sunk to a new low: they ve stolen his Impala and stripped it for parts. Harold s going to find his Chevy and put it back together...even if it means going to hell and back in Vikki s four-cylinder rice-burner. From the moment the key is turned in its ignition， Low Rider takes off on a supercharged， high-speed adventure you ll wish would never end. "Reed does for low-life L.A. what Hiaasen does for Florida -- turns it into a seriocomic carnival of suspense" (Publishers Weekly).