Book Review: One for Good Luck

Mystery & Crime fiction novel by Martin Poryles, published 2022

276 pages

A contemporary & irreverent take on crime, falling in love and growing up- all while stoned.

Centered around main character Tommy Donovan Jr., One for Good Luck is an easy read with simple, and occasionally laugh out loud, dialogue and narration. Tommy isn't what anyone would call intelligent, but he is nice, handsome and also extremely lucky.

A recent high school graduate with no real prospects to speak of, he ends up getting a job at the local country club. This job allows him to expand his former high school pot slinging into a full-fledged operation for one main reason- rich folks love drugs. Suddenly Tommy is Mr. Popularity at the country club and rubbing elbows with the crème de la crème of local society. This lucrative growth in the weed business is what propels him into wealth, but also introduces him to some dirty drug dealers, one insane real estate agent and puts him on the cops' radar. What ensues are some interesting hijinks, including several where you want to shake Tommy for his pure ignorance at well, life as a whole.

Parallel to Tommy's adventures, his mom Shirley is trying to shake up her life and move to Florida. Insert Duke, her sort of friend and love interest, who also owns a restaurant and bar that Tommy's new girlfriend manages. Also there's the two stereotypically crass cops investigating a murdered drug dealer, and finally sociopathic and gorgeous Patti, a real estate broker and drug dealer and murderess.

3 out of 5 Stars

While I appreciated the tongue-in-cheek edge that Poryles employs throughout, I felt that some portions were really unnecessary to the overall story. Sure, Shirley's character arc kind of helps explain Tommy's motivations and lack of intelligence, but I felt that she was just used to fill some space between chapters. There were other instances of this happening, where some scenarios didn't really propel the story forward. Additionally, the last sentence was definitely a twist, but I almost found it to be too much on top of the other craziness that became Tommy's life.

Overall, this was certainly worth the read and recommended as a light and fun way to break up the more dense books on your to-read list! *Thanks to Reedsy for the ARC: https://reedsy.com/discovery/book/one-for-good-luck-mart-pory#review