Rag Man

Rating:
Summary: Revenge with a twist
Review: Hautman usually writes books that combine comedy and larceny. Rag Man is less humorous than his preceding books, but no less entertaining. The fact that the two central characters both have redundant names, Mac Macwray and Lars Larson, tells the reader that not everything that happens should be taken seriously. Mac and Lars were partners in a garment business, hence the title of the book, but when Lars takes off with company funds Mac discovers he was taken by a con artist who set him up from the start. Mac undergoes a major personality changed during the novel, effectively turning into Lars. The plot is laced with sex, murder, blackmail, and other assorted goodies. Rag Man is a quick and entertaining read that doesn't disappoint Hautman fans.

Rating:
Summary: Where's Joe Crow?
Review: It pains me to throw mud at one of my favorite writers. I loved MORTAL NUTS (set at the Minnesota State Fair), THE RING GAME, and DRAWING DEAD, all featuring my man Joe Crow and an assemblage of minor characters who steal the show every time.
I guess you can't really blame Hautman for wanting to stretch.
He's got the full-fledged premise (If you try to be somebody you're not, you'll lose everything); he's got the interesting little tidbits about the Rag trade; he's got the layered perspectives.
Okay then, here's what's wrong: He kills off the most interesting character, Lars Larsen, almost immediately. Lars is a con man who cheats Mac MacWray (What's with the alliterative names?)out of the money the fool borrowed from his in-laws to start his own business. After Lars is gone, we're stuck with Casper Milktoast and his wife Dogbody, who get involved in soap opera shenanigans we're all read before. I also didn't buy the fact that Mac just happens to find Larson at Isla Mujeres. No set-up, no nothing. We're just supposed to believe it's a small, small world. Then there's the ending. Mac finds his way back to Mexico; he's a ruined man. He visits the edge of the cliff where his descent into treachery began. I kept screaming, "JUMP! JUMP!", but if he did, Hautman doesn't tell us he did. Maybe we were supposed to believe that Mac was essentially a good man and that he's there eating his liver for letting Lars Larson die or that he was trying to somehow turn back the clock so he'd have another chance to reach down and pull Lars out of the jaws of death. We learn about this epilogue through the eyes of the Mexican cop we met earlier, who just happens to be there at the right time to provide a denouement.
Oh well, I still have a few Joe Crow novels to look forward to. By the way, what the heck did you do with the Buddy Holly glasses, Pete?

Rating:
Summary: Ragman - A great look at people and what they are capable of
Review: Mack MacWray is a typical guy. He lives in a average house, has an average wife, and an average job. He's not
aggressive, goes with the flow. The kind of guy most people don't notice. He works as a "ragman". He's the guy in a
clothing factory that keeps the machinery working, the cloth flowing. And in this position for a large manufacturer
he
meets Lars Larson. Lars is smooth. Everybody like Lars. He's the people guy. A great salesman.

And Lars talks Mack into starting his own company. Together they form Mac-Lar. Mack handling the floor and the
running
of the business. Lars, the people guy takes care of sales. And together with a beautiful bookkeeper he handles the
money.

And then one morning Lars is gone. And Mack discovers that the money is too. And at this point the story really
begins.
Mack starts to change. And we get to watch as Mack goes from a mild mannered, timid, nice guy to a ruthless
businessman.
It's a fun thing to watch as Mack starts to surprise himself. And it's scary to see at the same time. As he is
juggling
more and more things in the air, you know eventually something will fall. And you want to see what goes first, hoping
it
won't, but knowing it has to. Or does it? How well has Mack learned his new art?

This book is engrossing. I was afraid to put it down for fear I would miss something, as if Mack would make a move
with
out waiting for me to be there to read it. I try to make good books last, reading a bit at a time. But I couldn't
with
this book. The only reason I stopped was to sleep. And I picked it up as soon as I woke up and finished it. I forgot
to
eat. This is one of the best books I've read in years. I highly recommend picking up a copy.

Jon Jordan

Rating:
Summary: An exceptional tale
Review: Mack MacWray ran the sewing operation of Linkway Sportswear when the firm hired Lars Larson as national sales manager. Gradually, the two men bond and become friends so when Lars decides to open up his own company to compete with Linkway, Mack joins him, forming a partnership, Mac Lar Manufacturing. Mack owns sixty percent and is president.

Mack believes everything is going perfect as demand is way ahead of supply and credit is readily available if needed. However, everything abruptly collapses when Lars vanishes, taking all the liquid assets with him. Some time later by either a cosmic thirst for revenge or just a colossal coincidence, Mack meets Lars in Mexico, an unexpected rendezvous that changes the ethical man forever.

Pete Hautman has written an exceptional tale centering on the impact of a con artist misjudging his mark. The story line is fast paced with plenty of action and credible characters especially the lead duo though the transformation of Mack from a caring brilliant individual into a cold clone of Lars seems abrupt. Still RAG MAN is a pleasant reading experience.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Didn't Find It All That Funny--Pretty Downbeat
Review: One of the books I read while I was away for a two-week vacation was Pete Hautman's _Rag Man_. The blurbs on the book led me to expect a rollicking, comedic story along the lines of Carl Hiaasen, but this was a pretty downbeat and ultimately depressing story.

The book follows what happens when Mack MacWray, a decent, amiable guy who works as a sewer for a sportswear company is conned into leaving and starting his own clothing company by the smooth Lars Larson. Larson will be the "people" man and Mack the "rag" man. Everything seems to be going just great until the day that Larson, the beautiful secretary, and all the money disappear. Mack is left holding the bag and sees his dreams, his life, go up in smoke. His wife, a part-time travel agent, convinces him to take a short trip to Mexico, to give them a breather before coming back to deal with the mess--the broken loan, the unfilled orders, the layoff of his workers.

While in Mexico, Mack just happens to stumble upon Lars. It turns out Larson is a con man who has done this same thing before to a number of other poor schlubs. The secretary, Rita, is actually his wife and they have a condo in Mexico where they live in between jobs. Mack confronts Lars on a clifftop and an accident happens, leaving him with the choice whether to save Lars or ignore his pleas for help.

When the MacWrays return to the States, Mack is strangely energized. All of a sudden, he has what it takes to be completely and utterly ruthless in his business dealings and, before long, not only has he climbed out of the hole that Larson left him in, but he's making plans to expand, leasing a Mercedes, and looking to buy a big new house. His wife's best friend is on the prowl for him and before too long, Rita shows up, looking for the contents of her and Lars' safe deposit box, which a man resembling MacWray cleaned out.

This was a very noirish book, although for a while, the hapless loser MacWray is able to turn the tables and ride roughshod over everyone of his tormentors. When he starts to lose some of his hard edge, the blackmailing Rita, the adulterous affair, the loans on top of loans, all start coming back to haunt him. When his wife begins to miss the old Mack, the sensitive, communicative guy she married, and starts to suspect maybe he's having an affair with Rita, the stage is set for a rather downbeat conclusion. I'm not sure I really liked the book, though it is certainly well-written.

Rating:
Summary: Didn't Find It All That Funny--Pretty Downbeat
Review: One of the books I read while I was away for a two-week vacation was Pete Hautman's _Rag Man_. The blurbs on the book led me to expect a rollicking, comedic story along the lines of Carl Hiaasen, but this was a pretty downbeat and ultimately depressing story.

The book follows what happens when Mack MacWray, a decent, amiable guy who works as a sewer for a sportswear company is conned into leaving and starting his own clothing company by the smooth Lars Larson. Larson will be the "people" man and Mack the "rag" man. Everything seems to be going just great until the day that Larson, the beautiful secretary, and all the money disappear. Mack is left holding the bag and sees his dreams, his life, go up in smoke. His wife, a part-time travel agent, convinces him to take a short trip to Mexico, to give them a breather before coming back to deal with the mess--the broken loan, the unfilled orders, the layoff of his workers.

While in Mexico, Mack just happens to stumble upon Lars. It turns out Larson is a con man who has done this same thing before to a number of other poor schlubs. The secretary, Rita, is actually his wife and they have a condo in Mexico where they live in between jobs. Mack confronts Lars on a clifftop and an accident happens, leaving him with the choice whether to save Lars or ignore his pleas for help.

When the MacWrays return to the States, Mack is strangely energized. All of a sudden, he has what it takes to be completely and utterly ruthless in his business dealings and, before long, not only has he climbed out of the hole that Larson left him in, but he's making plans to expand, leasing a Mercedes, and looking to buy a big new house. His wife's best friend is on the prowl for him and before too long, Rita shows up, looking for the contents of her and Lars' safe deposit box, which a man resembling MacWray cleaned out.

This was a very noirish book, although for a while, the hapless loser MacWray is able to turn the tables and ride roughshod over everyone of his tormentors. When he starts to lose some of his hard edge, the blackmailing Rita, the adulterous affair, the loans on top of loans, all start coming back to haunt him. When his wife begins to miss the old Mack, the sensitive, communicative guy she married, and starts to suspect maybe he's having an affair with Rita, the stage is set for a rather downbeat conclusion. I'm not sure I really liked the book, though it is certainly well-written.

Rating:
Summary: From Rags To Riches -- And Back Again
Review: Pete Hautman's Rag Man is a cautionary tale with a decidedly forties noir feel to the narrative. A good man has a bad experience with his crooked partner and sets out on a path of revenge. What happens when the two men hook up again in Mexico leads the good man to make a series of wrong assumptions about what's important in life, lessons he doesn't unlearn until it's too late. Not Hautman's best, or funniest, work, but compelling enough to keep me reading. For those looking for a funnier and more action-oriented crime novel, I suggest Niagara Fall by Stephen F. Wilcox; for those into madcap humor, try Tim Dorsey's latest, Triggerfish Twist.

Rating:
Summary: Maybe credible, perhaps not. Would make a good movie.
Review: The RAG MAN is Mack, partner with Lars in a small garment manufacturing enterprise. Mack keeps the machinery running, while Lars is "the people guy" - the salesman. Lars is also the one who's just absconded to Mexico with the firm's funds and the statuesque blond bookkeeper, Rita. Left to deal with an empty payroll account, unfilled orders and snarling creditors, Mack is like a deer caught in the high beams. To Mack's wife, Paula, he's safe, honest, kind and utterly predictable. As she wistfully muses, why can't he stand up for himself, maybe "scare her a little"? As they say, one should be careful what is wished for.

Mack shortly returns from a visit to Mexico a radically changed man. As he aggressively retakes control of his tottering business from the bank, his complete personality about-face alters the lives of those most closely associated with him and the Lars fiasco: Paula, Rita, and the local gumshoe assigned to the criminal investigation of the embezzlement, Detective Pleasant.

The principal characters, even the top-heavy Rita, are ones we might meet in real life. (Well, eye-popping bimbos like Rita are regrettably missing from the social circles I inhabit.) Their problems could just as well be ours, and you'd think that would cause the reader to extend sympathy. But, as darker sides surface, maybe not. And is Mack's transformation by serendipitous events in Cancún believable? Perhaps not. (Personally, I didn't think it was.) What I can say is that RAG MAN is an adequately entertaining work of dark humor that explores the repercussions and just desserts of actions taken (or not) without being particularly profound. With the proper casting and screen adaptation, it would make a wonderful, low budget film reminiscent of FARGO or A SIMPLE PLAN.

RAG MAN is a short tale that can be finished in a day, or 15 minutes if you're a speed-reader. Thus, if it falls short in your opinion, then little time has been invested. Then again, you may consider it a 5-star morality play.

Rating:
Summary: a modern morality tale
Review: What happens when you abruptly discover that after years of ordinary labor, acquisition of all the usual attributes and goods of a reasonably calm and settled life, there's a different person inside you? How do you react when you discover the dark side? What do you do when your moral compass breaks?

For decades, comfortably married Mack Wray has worked away in the garment business in the Twin Cities. He's good with machines, a hard worker and he gets the job done. Life in Minnesota is pretty much okay. If there aren't a lot of soaring highs, there aren't any disasters either.

But then comes Lars Larson, the people person. He persuades Mack to take a flier, to reach for that brass ring. Mack re-mortgages his house, borrows heavily wherever he can, including from his in-laws and quits his steady job. He and Larson are now in business together. They establish a new specialty garment manufacturing company. Mack Wray, the rag man, is in charge of production and Larson, the people person, handles sales.

The purchase orders pour in and Larson arranges with Mack's friendly banker to lend money against those purchase orders. Money flows and things are looking great. And then one day, Mack discovers that Larson has disappeared, and he's taken every cent of cash in the company accounts. It gets worse. Mack Wray discovers a whole web of theft, fraud and other assorted chicanery, all part of Larson's history.

What do Mack and his wife do as creditors circle? They take a free vacation to Mexico. What Mack discovers in Mexico, about Larson and about himself, will surprise and delight readers. In scene after snappy scene, the author brings us up short with sardonic and trenchant wit, with keen-sighted observation. The plot, well realized and fast-paced, has more than enough twists and reverses to satisfy the most ardent mystery/adventure fan. Hautman has peopled his novel with characters who climb off the page and dance you around the room. They are rich and multi-dimensional and their language is always true.

Through the length of this delightful and dark and often explicit novel, Mack Wray discovers dimensions to himself he never realized he possessed. You may not laugh out loud, but you'll experience many a satisfying chuckle.