Richard Lange

"Set on the dark side of Los Angeles, the masterful new collection from an award-winning and highly praised "natural-born storyteller" (Ron Rash). In these gripping and intense stories, Richard Lange returns to the form that first landed him on the literary map. These are edge-of-your-seat tales: A prison guard must protect an inmate being tried for heinous crimes. A father and son set out to rescue a young couple trapped during a wildfire. An ex-con trying to make good as a security guard stumbles onto a burglary plot. A young father must submit to blackmail to protect the fragile life he's built. SWEET NOTHING is an unforgettable collection that shows once again why T.C. Boyle wrote, "Lange's stories combine the truth-telling and immediacy of Raymond Carver with the casual hip of Denis Johnson. There is a potent artistic sensibility at work here" (on Dead Boys)"-- "In these gripping and intense stories, Richard Lange returns to the form that first landed him on the literary map. These are edge-of-your-seat tales: A prison guard must protect an inmate being tried for heinous crimes. A father and son set out to rescue a young couple trapped during a wildfire. An ex-con trying to make good as a security guard stumbles onto a burglary plot. A young father must submit to blackmail to protect the fragile life he's built. SWEET NOTHING is an unforgettable collection that shows once again why T.C. Boyle wrote, "Lange's stories combine the truth-telling and immediacy of Raymond Carver with the casual hip of Denis Johnson. There is a potent artistic sensibility at work here" (on Dead Boys)"--

Forming a partnership with a prostitute, a down-on-his-luck con man recklessly agrees to a friend's request to orchestrate a theft in a Los Angeles apartment, where a crew of soldiers is reputed to have stashed millions in cash smuggled out of Afghanistan.

"Margaret Marie O'Hara is bound and determined to marry the wrong man!" And Maggie's guardian angel is concerned. Maggie is supposed to fall in love with and marry Timothy Richard Ryan. Together Maggie and Ryan are supposed to have a very important daughter who will have a profound and positive effect on the world. Only, time is running out. Despite all kinds of celestial maneuverings--why, they even have Maggie and Ryan working in the same building, for heaven's sake!--nature just isn't taking its course. Maggie is dating the wrong man. She doesn't even notice Ryan's incredible ... appeal So what's an angel to do except come to Earth as an adorable, abandoned baby who needs the help of a hotshot lawyer and a down-on-his-luck private eye. And heaven help them!