Lucky Bastard

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Advance Praise for
Lucky Bastard

“Browne hits the funny bone hard. . . . Smartly constructed fiction . . . that sets it apart from the crowd.”
—
Kirkus Reviews
(starred review)

“Full of witty writing and hilarious adventures . . . I laughed out loud many times. Read the book: it’ll be your good fortune.”
—
New York Times
bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson

“Lucky Bastard
is wonderful San Francisco noir, full of humor, irony, hot women, and cranial trauma. What more could you ask for in a book? The titular bastard may be in for a very bad day, but Browne’s readers are the lucky ones.”
—
New York Times
bestselling author Christopher Golden

Praise for S. G. Browne’s previous novels

“So unexpected and pitch-perfect that it’s obvious Creativity knocked Browne out of his chair and started typing herself.”
—
The Washington Post
, for
Fated

“These days there are very few American comedy writers bringing their A-game, but Browne is swinging for the fences. . . . Radically funny.”
—
Kirkus Reviews
(starred review), for
Fated

“Neatly mixes humor and extreme violence with a surprisingly tender love story, some witty social satire, and an extremely strong narrative voice.”
—
Publishers Weekly
(starred review), for
Breathers

Meet Nick Monday:
a private detective who’s more Columbo than Sam Spade, more Magnum P.I. than Philip Marlowe. As San Francisco’s infamous luck poacher, Nick doesn’t know whether his ability to swipe other people’s fortunes with a simple handshake is a blessing or a curse. Ever since his youth, Nick has swallowed more than a few bitter truths when it comes to wheeling and dealing in destinies. Because whether the highest bidders of Nick’s serendipitous booty are celebrities, yuppies, or douche bag vegans, the unsavory fact remains: luck is the most powerful, addictive, and dangerous drug of them all. And no amount of cappuccinos, Lucky Charms, or apple fritters can sweeten the notion that Nick might be exactly what his father once claimed—as ambitious as a fart.

That is, until Tuesday Knight, the curvy brunette who also happens to be the mayor’s daughter, approaches Nick with an irresistible offer: $100,000 to retrieve her father’s stolen luck. Could this high-stakes deal let Nick do right? Or will kowtowing to another greedmonger’s demands simply fund Nick’s addiction to corporate coffee bars while his morality drains down the toilet? Before he downs his next mocha, Nick finds himself at the mercy of a Chinese mafia kingpin and with no choice but to scour the city for the purest kind of luck, a hunt more titillating than softcore porn. All he has to do to stay ahead of the game is remember that you can’t take something from someone without eventually paying like hell for it. . . .

S. G. BROWNE
is the author of
Breathers
and
Fated
. He graduated from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, and worked for several years in Hollywood before moving to Santa Cruz to write. He currently lives in San Francisco. Visit him at
www.sgbrowne.com
.

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JACKET ILLUSTRATION BY ANDREW BANNECKER
AUTHOR PHOTOGRAPH BY LESLIE LAURENCE
COPYRIGHT © 2012 SIMON & SCHUSTER

LUCKY BASTARD

Gallery Books
A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2012 by Scott Brown