content: These three books -- BUST, THE MAX, and SLIDE -- by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr are good raunchy fun. They use the classic formulas of crime fiction and squeeze them for all the suspense and humor they can muster. I like these books much better than many hardcover novels, with or without crime elements. I was reading THE MAX for the second time and laughed out loud on every page of Chapter One, with Max in prison. (It couldn't happen to a nicer guy.) The second chapter, from Angela's POV, didn't work as well for me. Max Fisher is a high-flying coke-fueled loser with delusions of grandeur and one of the funniest characters I've met in fiction. These three books are definitely worth a look.