Citizen Vince (2005)

Who in his right mind enjoys managing an establishment called Donut Make You Hungry? Vince Camden does. It's the eve of the 1980 election and Vince, a former two-bit NYC criminal with Mob ties, lives quietly in witness protection in Spokane, Wash. He's befriended a hooker/aspiring Realtor and reads experimental fiction (Robert Coover, LeRoi Jones) to woo a pretty young legal secretary. Then a guy from back East arrives, and one of Vince's associates turns up dead. As Vince goes on the lam, Jess Walter introduces a few more quirky characters and narrative loop-holes. Citizen Vince is a cruller of a crime novel: Despite the empty calories, it's twisty, it's surprisingly light, and it goes down real easy.