I hope that you read and still remember THE WHITE VAN, Patrick Hoffman’s debut crime novel. If you did, and do, you will want to stop, drop and roll over to your bookseller of choice and get EVERY MAN A MENACE without delay. The considerable bar that his first book set is not just exceeded by his latest effort; it is blown to shards and splinters by this haunting transcontinental tale of bad deeds and hard deaths.

EVERY MAN A MENACE is divided into five parts, all loosely connected, full of haunting, strange characters that weave into and out of the narrative. The first paragraph should be cut out and framed (don’t do that, at least until you buy the book) as an example of how a narrative is baited, cast and irrevocably hooked. It begins with the release of Raymond Gaspar from prison. Gaspar is a bad guy but not necessarily an evil one; he’s just a career car thief who got caught. It rains on all in prison, however, and Gaspar had been fortunate enough to have a guy named Arthur on his side. Arthur owed Gaspar’s uncle a favor and, for whatever reason, has been able to safely traverse the multitude of conflicting and extremely dangerous alliances that exist in and out of the yard.

"Patrick Hoffman is a master storyteller. He breaks a number of conventional rules of the craft, but does so gently and always with good purpose. EVERY MAN A MENACE is one of those books that you read and wish would go on and on and on."

Arthur’s alliances and interests extend far beyond the prison walls; upon his release, Gaspar is tasked to oversee one of these, which involves the buying and selling on a regular basis of a great deal of ecstasy in San Francisco. Arthur has received word that one of his partners in this enterprise is acting eccentrically, and he wants Gaspar to check things out. It sounds easy enough, yet is anything but, as Gaspar finds himself exposed to a series of bizarre episodes and turns of events, culminating in an unexpected act that leaves Gaspar --- not to mention the reader --- irrevocably changed. And that is just Part One.

The remainder of EVERY MAN A MENACE slowly and exquisitely reveals what has happened before the event in Part One and what occurs afterward, shifting locales from Miami to Bangkok before returning to San Francisco. We meet a number of unforgettable characters along the way, including a wealthy nightclub owner whose reach in his side business exceeds his grasp; several Israeli expatriates with whom he is associated; a deceptively soft-spoken but very dangerous Asian businessman; and an alluring woman of mystery, who is much more than she seems to be. All are caught to varying degrees in webs of their own designs and desires, all of which have a common thread. Not all of them make it to the end of the book, but you will be more surprised by who does than who does not, and why.

Patrick Hoffman is a master storyteller. He breaks a number of conventional rules of the craft, but does so gently and always with good purpose. EVERY MAN A MENACE is one of those books that you read and wish would go on and on and on. Indeed, the conclusion leaves a thread hanging. If he wants to, Hoffman could write a sequel to this finely wrought tale, but it’s so wonderfully plotted and told that I hope he just leaves the novel and its characters as they are. It just does not get any better than this.