This is a crime thriller with lots of action set in Orange County, California, and specifically the communities of Newport Beach, Corona del Mar, Santa Ana, and San Pedro. Fortunately the author is obsessed about providing detailed descriptions of the amazing locale, and unfortunately a bit obsessed with describing the protagonist's Cadillac (which trait is expanded in his next book). The main character is a small time thief with a past, and the story has him toggling between two prospective partners-in-crime as he gets enmeshed in a rivalry with a more aggressive criminal.

While portions are unbelievable and the pitch is off, Thomas shows a relentless pace and enough style and focus on guns, crime methods and innovation, and intriguing mix of demographics to let the reader ignore the faults. The book was needlessly and at times pointlessly graphic with violence and in other ways, caveat emptor. ( )

I read this in two sittings. It is a powerful page-turner. The story drew me in and wouldn’t let me go. The “good guy” in this book is actually a criminal who gets mixed up in some dirty business in Orange County, California and ends up rescuing a kidnapped girl from a businessman/gangster/murderer who is in the process of going insane! The book doesn’t need the afterward, which is a bit of an anticlimax, but other than that it is a first-rate read. ( )

In this stylish thriller a professional crook named Robert Rivers who isn’t really a bad guy gets in a war with some criminals who are very bad indeed. Rivers is assisted first by his longtime partner Switch and then by an old friend from his former life named Reggie England. Reggie, a broken down ex-biker, is at the same time the funniest character in the book and one of the darkest.

The criminals Rivers and his friends tangles with are led by a psycho businessman who is involved in murder, extortion and sex slave smuggling among other things. The book is at its best in the moments of violent, realistic conflict between the two criminal groups. There is a gritty and genuinely frightening quality to the fight scenes.

Thomas is also very good with his atmospheric descriptions of Southern California that capture the beauty and romanticism of the environment against which the sometimes ugly conflict takes place.

I rate this book highly for its ability to mix so many elements so smoothly -- lyrical descriptions, exciting action sequences, quite a bit of comedy and some in-depth characterization that makes Rivers, England, Switch and many other of the people in the story come fully alive. “Criminal Paradise” is an exceptional first novel that many crime fiction and thriller fans will enjoy. ( )