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Bruen's first novel, Rilke on Black, did much to redefine the new urban noir crime scene. His second book, echoing the same themes and characters, necessarily falls under its shadow. Replace ex-bouncer Nick with ex-lag Cooper, gun weirdo Dex for Irish weirdo Doc, and black psycho Lisa for white psycho Cassie, and you know what to expect. Teutonic philosopher Rilke featured in the first, here it's Northern Irish poet Louis MacNeice. Plus ça change. Similar stylistic ingredients include Wodehousian phraseology ('I liked it a lot, said "I like this a lot"'), a smattering of film quotes - Predator is a key reference - and a slew of twisted aphorisms. But it's still a good read, despite the repetition. Cooper and Doc go round doing easy bank jobs, but when one goes badly wrong they turn to the lucrative car repo business, staying just this side of the law. But this uneasy situation is seriously unbalanced by the arrival of a wisecracking American femme fatale with a brother who looks like David Letterman, spinning tales of a daughter lost to the delights of Morocco. Familiarity aside, it's as engaging as Bruen's debut and in its brevity packs an even greater punch.