Book Him Danno's Reviews > The Outlaw Among Us

Over the top, or OTT as we said back in the 80’s. I would like to think if you name your lead character/shady individual Johnny Outlaw you were going for ironic humor. If the author was going for irony then he was much too subtle for me to pick up on it.

Basically you have a master sociopath with unlimited funds who decides to befriend a neighbor – let’s just forget the fact sociopaths do not befriend anyone. That aside he takes several steps to isolate his target and bring him onto his team, including removing individuals who would derail that goal; like the targets wife. He seems to kill and without consequence (but to be fair you probably kill a random punk in the back city streets of New Jersey and get away with it). No one is immune to the charms or influence of Johnny Outlaw, no one.

From strippers, neighbors, cops, and federal agents; Johnny Outlaw just moves through life doing whatever he pleases. It is just that easy when you put your mind to it. It seems like the goal was to get the gritty realism of The Dark Knight (well, real when compared to) and yet we end up with the cartoonishness of Adam West with all the vibrant colors.

I guess I just wasn’t sure for what the author was going for. Maybe he achieved exactly what he was looking for, but it wasn’t made clear for the reader to know it. That said it was a fun read and the writing style was solid. This was an easy book to get through, but forgettable in a Holy Sitcom sort of way.