After forty years of loyal service as Max Smith's debt collector and bouncer at his boss' club, Joe Pendergast is kicked to the curb, and given a food truck as a consolation prize.

Joe was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease, and though beginning to struggle with his memory and focus, Joe has made a plan. A plan that sees him killing Max on the debut evening of his food truck. That Joe will be in jail or dead afterwards is immaterial; he's a man who has lived with violence a long time, and neither outcome displeases or concerns him.

The intervention of Paula Jessup during a critical moment derails Joe's plan temporarily; he figures out soon that Paula is on the run and needs his help, whether she realizes it or not.

For a dangerous man, Joe shows a surprising amount of gentleness and compassion to Paula. He takes her into his home and gradually shares his plan with her and the running of the truck with him, which proves beneficial to both of them: she has a safe place to hide from the people after her, and Joe has someone to interact with, challenge, him and keep his brain active and engaged.

Joe's neighbour Donna, a former club dancer, and now successful real estate agent, is concerned about and Paula's intentions. Meanwhile, Paula's friend Mia, in charge of a women's shelter, is equally concerned about Joe and reputation for violence.

Paula's situation and Joe's plan dovetail as Paula begins digging into both the ring of traffickers she's hiding from and Joe's former boss, which leads to attacks on the pair, more information about the traffickers, and a hotly contested plot of land in the countryside.

This was a surprisingly enjoyable read. Joe is tough on the outside, but has a softness and wistfulness about him that makes him unexpectedly endearing.

Paula's brashness was an interesting contrast to Joe's quiet and laidback attitude. Her connection with Joe was the centre to this book, and their relationship was an amusing study in contrasts. Donna was a welcome addition to the story, with her oversharing, caring, persistence in checking in on Joe, and her role in the resolution to Joe's plan (which was simplistic, but anything too convoluted would not have been in character with the man).

This wasn't deep, but was a fun book.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Crooked Lane Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.

I was on the fence after reading the first couple of chapters, thinking maybe what looked like a combination of depressing progressive dementia and a casual attitude towards extreme violence was not going to work out for me. Fortunately, then Paula comes along, and once Joe has someone to look out for the story becomes less horrifying and more compelling. These are tough people with difficult problems, but things start to be more about finding solutions together. Give Joe’s story a chance for a few more chapters if it doesn’t grab you right away.

Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for a digital advance review copy.

I really wanted to get to this one, as it seemed interesting. This was requested when I first found out about NetGalley and I had requested so many ARCs that I could not get to all of them before they were archived. If I can find this somewhere for a reasonable price, I will try to get it!

Hugh Lessig's debut crime thriller novel, "Fadeaway Joe," offers readers a captivating tale of revenge and redemption. This is a truly immersive read featuring compelling characters and a plot that moves along at a great pace. Joe and Paula are believably written. Enjoyable and recommended.

You cannot help loving Joe, the old man with a colourful past and a onset of dementia. His story and his characters are well done and he's good guy who did bad things.
There's a lot going on and there's fast paced and adrenaline fuelled final.
A good story, a tense thriller and a cast of well developed characters
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Joe, an aging tough guy, is out of a job after his sketchy boss decides to go legit. Joe did his boss’s dirty work for decades, but now he’s out because Maxie has plans to open a casino. A trip to the hospital after a fight with Maxie reveals Joe has early onset Alzheimer’s. Joe vows to get revenge on Maxie for kicking him to the curb. As Joe adjusts to his new life of running a food truck and managing his dementia, he meets Paula, a young woman with her own problems. Joe and Paula team up to help each other out of their sticky situations. Paula convinces Joe not to kill Maxie but hit him where it will really hurt- his wallet. The two unlikely friends form a plan to detail Maxie’s casino plan.

I really liked the premise of this thriller. It’s not often a thriller deals with an aging bad guy- especially one dealing with Alzheimer’s. Joe is a tough guy with a heart of gold. He realizes Paula is in danger and lends a hand.

I thought this was an entertaining and engaging thriller and I liked the characters. Joe’s nosey neighbor Donna even jumps in to help with their plan and to help Joe manage his illness. Paula’s storyline is a little messy and dragged out, but overall the story moves along at a good pace.

This is a good choice for readers looking for a different kind of revenge thriller.

3.5 ⭐️’s
For forty years Joe Pendergast has worked for Maxie Smith. Being Maxie’s enforcer and bouncer for all those years, Joe is no stranger to the violent side of life. When Maxie fires Joe unexpectedly, Joe doesn’t know who to blame, hurt beyond belief he’s not sure if it’s the early onset Alzheimer’s or if Maxie is just kicking him to the curb. Joe grovels for a bit, but his old flame Kathy comes up with a solution to keep him occupied and busy. Joe will be manning a food truck. As Joe plans retribution, he’s not quite prepared when he meets Paula, a young woman with her own set of problems. Soon the two are helping each other out, but how will it all end? Thank you to Crooked Land Books for an ARC of this book.

A debut crime thriller novel, Fadeaway Joe by Hugh Lessig is a pleasant thriller revenge tale. Joe is a sixty-two-year-old loan shark enforcer who is fired by his close friend and boss. As Joe is forced to run a food truck to survive, his deteriorating health makes him decide to get his revenge. He meets Paula Jessup, a twenty-two-year-old from a difficult family background, who is in need of protection and they form an unlikely friendship. Together they plan to halt a Cassino project and together risk their own safety in a climatic finale. A truly engaging read with wonderful characters that discover the strength in their friendship, which makes for a four stars rating. With thanks to Crooked Lane Books and the author, for an uncorrected advanced review copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own, freely given and without inducement.

“Fadeaway Joe” by Hugh Lessig was a quick read.

I enjoyed that this book was narrated by multiple people to express the different POVs of the main characters.

This story was well crafted and included a wide range of subjects from human trafficking to dementia.

Thank you to NetGalley, Hugh Lessing, and Dreamscape Media, LLC for this ARC. I enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading more from Hugh Lessig soon!

Joe did some questionable things for Maxie over the 40 years that he worked for him but now he's plotting revenge against him. Joe has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and while it's the early stages, he's not up to snuff for Maxie, who sets him up with a food truck. Odd choice but Joe's got a good support system around him, especially once Paula turns up. Both of them are are looking for revenge- Joe against Maxie and Paula against a host of others, This is as much about a found family as it is about their quest, It's an unusual set up but the characters are good. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Joe has been let go from his dream job at a club where he has worked his way up from bouncer to manager. But the books are coming up short even though he's not sure how. Feeling belittled he soon becomes angry and plots his revenge. Unfortunately, things get complicated quickly given that Joe's tough exterior is just hiding a tender heart.

Fadeaway Joe begins with a very unreliable narrator. Joe has woken up in his backyard in just his underwear and can't remember how he got there - he was warned that his early-onsight Alzheimer’s would be worst at night. When he finds his boat full of blood he wonders if he became violent during his late-night walkabout.

I didn't immediately connect with Joe. He is a rough old geezer. He was a bouncer at a club that hosts illegal poker games. I did feel for him as he deals with his recent diagnosis, but I wasn't sure if was going to be my kind of story. The opening scene with the bloody boat though did hook me enough to keep going with the novel.

And I'm glad I did as a second main character was introduced. I really liked Paula from the start. She's young, and kind of has an angry-at-the-world attitude but at the same time, I think she is struggling with what to do with her life.

The story is told in the third person, but the book switches back and forth between Joe and Paula being "center stage" so to speak. While Joe's chapter did become more interesting, I looked forward to Paula's chapters.

The plot is well-written. I liked how things are revealed slowly with hints dropped here and there. But it was the development of the characters that kept me reading. It was like layers of an onion being peeled back with both Joe and Paula as we got to know them.

On the surface, Paula and Joe are an unlikely pair, but they work really well together. By the end of the novel, they both were characters I cared about.

Overall, this would be a wonderful book to end summer with. There is mystery and danger, but it isn't a fast-paced story. It has more of a slice-of-life feel to it. Fadeaway Joe would be the perfect accompaniment to a lazy afternoon in a hammock or rocking chair with a glass of sweet tea or lemonade.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Saturday - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2023/08/fadeaway-joe-by-hugh-lessig-review.html

Fadeaway Joe by Hugh Lessig

I wasn't sure what to expect from this novel. The description calls it a gritty, high-stakes thriller, but the summary makes it sound much grittier and high-stakes than it felt to me. What I got was an easy-to-follow story that includes found family, revenge and a cursory look at a couple of serious issues. With only a handful of characters and minimal backstory, it was enjoyable to just go along for the ride. With just enough past detail to provide some context, the focus is on the present story. The characters were easy to like or dislike as intended.

If you're looking for an easy read with a bit of a thriller and some quirky elements thrown in, this novel may be for you. It's not a book that will stick with me long after reading, but I'm glad I came across it.

I listened to the audio version and thought the narrators did a good job.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #CrookedLaneBooks for a free copy of #FadewayJoe. All opinions are my own. This review will be posted to retail outlets and Goodreads.

Fadeaway Joe by Hugh Lessig

Dementia is a difficult and deadly disease that eventually sees the diagnosed fading away. Joe will fade away at some point in the future but he finds he still has quite a bit to accomplish before that day will arrive and hopes to have the time to achieve the new goals that he begins to see and focus on in this story.

What I liked:
* Joe: enforcer for Maxi, worked hard in his parents’ business, never had a true childhood, finds himself alone at the end of a long association that has suddenly hit a wall, has some interesting experiences during the story, lethal, tough, intriguing
* Donna: Joe’s neighbor, hippy parents, exotic dancer who became a real estate agent, concerned about Joe, Butterbean’s human, caring, kind, has some secrets of her own, a good friend
* Paula: survivor, orphaned young, intelligent, insightful, mechanic, has some bad guys after her, sees something in Joe, good friend, caring, really liked her
* Mia: runs a women’s shelter, someone Paula trusts and confides in, admirable
* Jennifer: someone who tries to counsel, help, and stay in touch with Joe – has some secrets, too
* The location, plot, pacing, and writing
* That I could relate to and like characters who might not be considered “good”
* That the bad guys were thwarted and HOW it was accomplished
* The feel-good ending

What I didn’t like:
* Who and what I was meant not to like
* Knowing that there are evil people in the world like the ones in this book

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

There is something to be said about easy reads. They give you a respite from serious stuff which requires a lot of concentration & note taking. This is one such – few but loveable characters and a straightforward story with some out of the usual elements thrown in.

Joe has worked for Maxie and been friends with him for over 40 years. It was a tough job as a bouncer for most of the period, and Joe was loyal. Joe is diagnosed with early stage Alzheimers and is sacked. Max has however helped a little in setting Joe up with a food delivery service. Joe is sore though, as he has also lost his girlfriend Kathy in the process, who is now with Max. His neighbour Donna is friendly, realizing he tends to get confused sometimes and checks in on him periodically. Joe, one morning, finds blood in his boat and is unsure if he had something to do with it during the night. At work one day, he meets Paula Jessup, who seems to be in danger from some thugs. Joe and Paula are an unlikely pair who team up to see if they can help each other get over their troubles.

As a person struggling with early-stage dementia and coping with acute disappointment alone, Joe is a very interesting character, and this story is all about him. I liked the tough character Joe is, while also being vulnerable & unsure with being alone and coping from dementia. While there is potentially a good story with respect to Paula, it is not well developed. Donna is a great supporting character in the story. There is not much novelty in the plot and Joe’s rivalry and attempts to get a step ahead of Max are simplistic.

My rating: 3.5 / 5.

Full review to be posted on https://www.bestthrillerbooks.com/kashif-hussain

Fadeaway Joe can be best described as a lean and mean noir crime thriller that puts its glowing and larger than life protagonists up front for a riveting reading experience.

Joe is a sixty year old man who has lived his life by the gun and now is diagnosed with an early onset Alzheimer’s. After being betrayed by the man he looked up to, Joe decides he has nothing better to do than take down his former partner and now target, Maxie Smith. He’s close too, but a chance encounter with a twenty two year old Paula Jessup kindles a fire in him that he had thought long ago extinguished; the burning desire to not die. Partnering up with her, they come up with an audacious plan to stick to Maxie for their own reasons, but this mission will try them like nothing else.

Hugh Lessig masterfully divides the narrative to highlight both protagonists in vivid strokes of personalities and foundations that Lessig further builds upon as the narrative flies at a much faster pace than I had expected. It’s equal parts hopeful and disturbing as Lessig puts the best and worst of humanity in his characters, scripted with genuine emotions and dilemmas that nudge the readers to ask the right questions when they’re reading the story.

I was pleasantly surprised by Fadeaway Joe as a novel that not only entertained the thriller-fanatic in me but also spoke to the all-round reader who gobbles up heartfelt and grounded books with root-worthy characters to drive the story at dangerously high speeds. The icing on the cake is criminal element that tacks along some brutal fight sequences and a bloody shootout at the end. If Liam Neeson in books was ever a category, Fadeaway Joe fits the bill perfectly and in all the best ways possible.

Fadeaway Joe by Hugh Lessig was just the story I needed. I can’t wait to read of his this authors work. He killed it with Fadeaway Joe!

I enjoyed everything about this book! The gritty storyline. The inviting and interesting characters. The engrossing, suspenseful mystery. The writing that drew me in from the first word and didn’t let go until the very last page.
He has crafted likeable main characters with flaws, which make them more realistic and relatable.
This is a well- balanced story, so completely absorbing I couldn’t tear myself away from it. I was mesmerized by it from start to finish.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

It is being said that revenge is a dish best served cold. It's also being said that Justice is truth in action. So can the action of dishing out revenge also be a form of justice? I'm afraid the real world isn't that simple - but lucky for us, books and stories can be simpler and enable us to feel the sweet, sweet taste of revenge without needing to justify it. And anyway, there's the koan of deniability - if you can't remember the crime, you can't have really committed it, right?

Joe Pendergast (no relation to Aloysius, I'm sure) was once a man of action, although to be honest: truth and justice don't really come into play when a mob enforcer takes action. So for forty years, he did the dirty work for his boss and friend Maxie - until Alzheimer started to kick in, and Maxie lost faith in Joe. Now he's driving a food truck (at days he can remember that is his business), and he's plotting his revenge.

It's also being said that misery loves company, so it's no wonder he teams up with young Paula, who's scheming her own revenge against organized crime. Let the fun times begin!

Of course, Alzheimer itself is a serious disease, there's nothing remotely funny about it. But it's the way Hugh manages to wrap everything into Joe's personality that takes the bitterness out and puts a touch of lightness into everything. I'm not even feeling guilty about enjoying Joe's bouts with himself about his lost times - because Joe himself is not taking everything too serious. It's clear he knows what's happening to him and has made his peace with it.

Young Paula is the second protagonist in this tale, and naturally, her perspective is different. I really liked the way the novel switches between them, and Hugh manages to give both his heroes a distinct voice of their own.

The pace of the story is great. It hits a slow spell the first time we are introduced to Paula as a narrator, but after that, it gains traction, really speeding up towards the end. It's a page turner, and I was really sad having finished it so soon.

Regarding the ending - I think it was okay. It's a nice, touchy happy end, although I would have loved seeing Joe going down guns blazing. Personally, I think that would have been more fitting for his character.

There were some great emotional moments when Joe realized he had done something stupid, which added a layer of depth to the narrative. I would have wished to implore upon them a little farther. So all in all, highly entertaining, 4.5 stars!

Disclaimer: I’ve received a free Advanced Reader’s Copy and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Not at all what I was expecting but this new book was a fun, entertaining and mostly believable read. I especially liked how the plot relied on kindness of neighbors and strangers, the possibilities of redemption and unexpected life-lane changes.

Hugh Lessig’s debut crime novel, Fadeaway Joe, introduces an unlikely duo, and an unreliable narrator not easily forgotten. In fact, it’s an entire cast of suspicious characters.

At sixty-four, Joe Pendergast isn’t willing to give up his career working for Maxie Smith. He’s been a bouncer for Maxie, broke a few limbs for people unable to pay their poker debts. Maxie even taught him how to box. But, Maxie’s ready to open a casino, and Joe is now a liability. When Maxie fires Joe, Joe hits him. When Joe ends up in the hospital, Joe’s diagnosed with early-onset dementia.

Joe’s ex, who still works for Maxie, sets him up with a food truck, Joe’s Takeaway. It gives him a schedule, something to do, and might keep him from forgetting so quickly. And, Joe’s noisy neighbor Donna keeps an eye on him, and recognizes quickly that he has dementia. She’s caught him wandering and forgetting a time or two.

Joe’s really given up on life, so he hatches a plot to take down Maxie. It’s not well-developed, and it won’t have a good end, but what does Joe have to lose? Then, he does have something to lose when Paula Jessup runs into his life.

Paula’s twenty-two, and has her own hard luck story. Raised by her grandfather after her single mother’s death in a car accident, she has no ambition other than to work on cars. Then, she accidentally stumbles on a labor trafficking ring that uses illegal immigrants as labor. She rescues one young woman, but she’s discovered. Now, one man is dead; two are following Paula, and she might have just found a protector in a food truck.

Joe can’t always keep track of his thoughts, and his anger might explode at times, but he’s not likely to leave a young woman as a target for thugs. Yes, Paula seems to be able to take care of herself. Yes, she might need to save Joe at times from himself. But, together Joe and Paula come up with an outrageous idea to foil Maxie’s plans. While doing that, they may have to set a path for Paula’s future.

Fadeaway Joe isn’t quite a caper. It’s a crime novel with an unusual cast of characters. It starts slow, and the reader isn’t sure it’s worth rooting for Joe and then, Paula. Eventually, this unlikely duo steals your heart. Give Fadeaway Joe a chance.

Joe Pendergast is slowly fading away from dementia. A former enforcer, he’s fired from his manager’s job by his longtime friend and boss, and is reduced to managing a food truck. A young woman, Paula, who is fleeing human traffickers, becomes involved in his life, and she also helps Joe plot his revenge against his former boss.

Fadeaway Joe is an intriguing look into the mind of an early dementia patient, and how he deals with others. This unique plot wrinkle adds to the story, and helps keep it from becoming yet another ordinary revenge yarn. The characters seem real, and Joe’s neighbor, Donna, adds humor to the proceedings. Well plotted.

My thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing an ARC of the book.