ANGELS IN HEAVEN

An amusing hardcover introduction to six-foot-seven San Fernando Valley p.i. Vic Daniel, who, together with his sidekicks- -Benny the boyish-looking scam artist and Sara the punk poet—heads for the Yucatan to spring his boyhood chum Billy from jail. With bribes, a strategically positioned photograph of J. Edgar Hoover, and a loud cracking of gum, they wrest control of Billy from the federales and head for the coast and a boat to Belize—but Billy scampers off to retrieve his ill-gotten fortune; their boat-ride never materializes; and the convoluted plans to return home suddenly depend on the touring Harlem Globetrotters, blackface, and more bribes. Wispy plotting, but the offbeat humor, nutty characters, and (mostly hapless) V. Daniel may find you hunting up the trio of previous Vic paperbacks.