Rating: 9 out of 10
Book Title: Steel Toes
Writer: Eddie Little
Publisher: LA Weekly Books
Edition: First Edition: November 2001 (Hardcover)
ISBN #: 0-312-28291-5

I got the first edition hardcover of Steel Toes, by Eddie Little for a birthday present. Normally I would've waited for the softcover, because I didn't think its prequel, Another Day in Paradise, was worthy of the extra money for the hardcover in order to get at it immediately. I did however underestimate Little's progress as writer. If you bought Another Day in Paradise, don't wait for Steel Toes to come out in softcover. Get it now. A truck could hit you, you could die of Anthrax¾and now that Bush pulled out of the ABM treaty, maybe the Russians will nuke you¾who knows? Pay the extra buck and read the damn thing now in case you die. It's worth the extra money.

I don't mean to dis Another Day in Paradise. I wouldn't even think about reading Steel Toes if Another Day in Paradise wasn't a good book. In fact I recommend that you read it before Steel Toes. It's just that Steel Toes is a much better book.

I'm writing this review a few months after I read Steel Toes, so my memory is a little fuzzy and my facts might not be completely accurate. Steel Toes continues where Another Day in Paradise left off. (Sort of. There really isn't a legitimate explanation of why Bobbie, the main character is doing so much time in juvenile prison, which, Bobbie seems a little old for.) The books are two separate works though, and there's no law that says they gotta mesh together like puzzle pieces. Also if my memory serves me correctly, the timing between the books seems out of whack as well, by about 10 years. Again, that's okay. These are two separate works.

Bobbie is a young dope addict. His deep yearning for opiates makes him desperate to escape the prison. His escape attempts are however placed into jeopardy by a race war he's reluctantly pulled into.

I won't tell how, but Bobbie and his buddies escape from the prison and head to a compound run by a bunch of religious/criminal/gun fanatic wackos. Not exactly Waco wackos, but pretty wacky. To get the full impact of this, you must read Another Day in Paradise. Bobbie goes to Boston with one of his buddies to do some criming. They end up getting involved with a big, big score.

I can't describe things for shit, so let me just sum this one up in as few words as possible: There are no dull moments. It keeps moving, keeps shocking, keeps coming at you. Towards the middle you are thinking, where is this book going? Is it going to fizzle out as many books do half way through? Nope, it doesn't. Everything in this book ties together and makes sense. The book stays strong right up until the end.

Little's prose, although altogether better than Another Day in Paradise is getting too terse. He's doing this intentionally to reflect the mood of the character, but it's just too jarring. Also, Little really must stop using clichéd shit like talking about things rocking Bobbie's world. When I hear about things rocking people's world I think I am with the unoriginal poets at the poetry slams. Little is too good to be doing stuff like that. I didn't take points off for this stuff though. Steel Toes barely missed getting a 10. It got a 9 only because I thought the relationship Bobbie had with a college girl was unrealistic, that a privileged college girl would not let her life fall apart to be with a junkie, professional criminal. But perhaps, that's my flaw and not Little's. Perhaps I am so clueless about women that I don't fully understand what they're capable of. I'm not trying to be funny when I say this.

A lot of people are going to compare Eddie Little with Edward Bunker (if they haven't already.) After all, they're both ex con crime writers. (They even have the same first names.) However, they really are different animals. Bunker's characters are always cool and aloof¾even in their darkest moments they're too cool to feel too much pain. Little's characters are just pretending to be cool, and they are fully aware of this. Inside they are just barely hanging on. Little's characters are real people¾they are vulnerable. Bunker is, and probably will always remain my favorite writer¾nobody can effect pathos like Bunker, but Little is his own man with his own vision. I think Steel Toes is a major novel worthy of some serious attention.