Did you ever feel as though you walked into the middle of someone's life and got mixed up in their traumas, and then walked away -- a little confused and not really sure what you'd been through? That's the way I felt after reading, and enjoying, Keith Snyder's new mystery. It's the second Jason Keltner but I have a feeling the stream of consciousness style of Snyder's story wouldn't be any clearer were I to read the first in the series. And I reiterate, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. Jason Keltner is an electronic music composer living on the edge of poverty in Pasadena, California. He has an eccentric assortment of friends including Norton Platt, a computer whiz and possibly a spy, who asks Jason to invite Paul Reno, a former close friend, to move into his apartment building. Jason does, Paul does, and what happens then is by turns unpredictable, violent, funny and frightening. There is a creative genius (spoilers snipped) and a whole slew of bad guys... Coming to Jason's aid are his two upstairs neighbors, Robert -- a 6'5" actor with flair and Martin -- a short African American with a fixation about his butterfly knife. With a battered Plymouth that perpetually breaks down, no experience, and more enthusiasm than skill Jason leads his band of misfits into battle against the forces of evil and greed in the Silicon Valley. It's a wild ride that I think you'll find entertaining. And I love the title.

-- Sally Powers