Hank Shaeffer

California Smoke Hank Shaeffer

"An impressive first novel ... schemers ... scammers ... witty wisecracks ... a rich supporting cast ... This is a puzzle box of a caper, each piece sliding snugly into place to create a gratifying and thoroughly enjoyable finale." - PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY "An enjoyable Tarantino-type tale . . . badass characters all fun in their own sleazy ways. A pulp fiction of weed, greed, sex, and trees." - KIRKUS REVIEWS

LEGALIZATION IS COMING, BUT THE BAD BOYS AREN'T GETTING DAY JOBS JUST YET.

Ex-vice cop Eddie Fuentes just got bounced from the Oakland P. D., not an easy thing to do. Now he's back in Redwood County, trying to figure out how his dope grower dad went off a bridge. And there's this very sexy redhead who's a little too good to be true.

Shanna Black is a drug lawyer in the crosshairs of a DEA investigation. She thinks Eddie could be part of her exit strategy - if only she can lure him into a certain situation without her client finding out.

Meanwhile, there's a professional killer with a maniac for a kid brother and a shotgun-toting mom. And don't forget Eddie's old pool hustler pal, Russell George, a Native American developing his own little project called the Redwood Casino.

Fast women, deadly drug lords, corporate connivers, adaptable environmentalists, and crooked cops all face off in Redwood County, where the biggest industry is definitely ... CALIFORNIA SMOKE!

"High-octane crime fiction of one-upmanship, sex, and violence set in Humboldt County, as California lurches from a cannabis industry of combustible hack-criminals to deadly spread-sheet yuppies." - Jack Pickering

"Jenny Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad, George Higgins' The Friends of Eddie Coyle, and Elmore Leonard's Get Shorty - at the same time!" - Webster Stone