Rave Reviews for

Criminal Karma

“This novel is more than a wonderful thriller and a classic caper-gone-wrong. It’s a morality tale and a jaw-dropping tour of Southern California at its most crazy and compelling. I loved it.”

—T. Jefferson Parker

“Charming . . . energetic . . . lyrical” —New York Times

“A . . . smart, sexy crime thriller.” —The Tucson Citizen

“Entertaining . . . Rivers is a cunning and resourceful thief capable of blending into his surroundings like a chameleon or meeting force with force when necessary. He does both with charm, wit and surprising decency.” —Publishers Weekly

“. . . catchy . . . intriguing . . . Thomas could easily be the next Elmore Leonard.” —Crime Spree Magazine

“. . . a vivid and action-packed tour of Southern California. Rivers is the crook you can’t help rooting for . . . a great read.”

—Suspense Magazine

“Thomas writes gracefully and deftly about Southern California, louche and luxe, and Rivers’ casual disquisitions on Hindu beliefs are informative and insightful. Give this one to fans of Lawrence Block.” —Booklist

“. . . wonderfully detailed . . . darkly comic . . . Criminal Karma delivers. —New Mystery Reader Magazine

“ . . . the immensely likeable Rob Rivers is back . . . Thomas gives me pretty much everything I’m looking for in a summer read: suspense, wit, and a plot that cruises along this beautiful coast. Criminal Karma is good for the soul.” —Zoom Street Magazine

Steven M. Thomas keeps his amusing series with thief Robert Rivers going . . . in this entertaining sequel to “Criminal Paradise.” —Mysterylovers.com

“Criminal Karma” by Steven M. Thomas should be at the top of your summer beach read list. —Book Talk

“Hooks the audience from the first . . . to the last.”

—Genre Go Round Reviews

“Spellbinding.” —Orange County Business Journal 

Rave Reviews for

Criminal Paradise

“Stylish . . . With its witty narrator . . . And vividly described Southern California setting.” —Chicago Tribune

“CRIMINAL PARADISE is a powerful 4.5 liter, fuel-injected V8 Cadillac Sedan Deville of a novel. And with Steven Thomas behind the wheel, it’s an absolute joyride—an enormously satisfying debut.” —Martin J. Smith, Edgar Award finalist and author of “Time Release,” “Shadow Image,” and “Straw Men”

“Robert Rivers is a superb character and I loved his sidekick. The opening heist was so wonderfully done, so much going on in that opening scene alone . . . who could stop reading? But the style, truly like Elmore Leonard, the early brilliant mystery novels, LA BRAVA, STICK, 52 PICKUP, and here comes Steve, effortlessly evoking the same sentiments in me those novels did. And one hell of a story, too. The style, though, always back to that, the wry voice, so full of compassion and weary knowledge . . . women would kill for this guy. Send me anything this guy writes, he's the rare and real deal.” —Ken Bruen, Edgar Award-nominated author of “The Guards”

“Dark, violent, twisted, yet with a heartwarming understanding of an intelligent criminal mind—Thomas snags you from the robbery on page one, convincing you that felony is a regular day job. Eventually, the misfit duo, Robby and Reggie, take on lowlife scum in a sordid plot that would make anybody squirm.”  —Vicki Hendricks, author of “Miami Purity”

“Both Steven M. Thomas and his case-hardened but humane thief Rob Rivers make striking debuts in this suspenseful slice of Southern California noir. The plot, involving murder, human trafficking, insanity and ill-fated romance, is the kind of gritty tale James M. Cain would have admired. And the hard-boiled yet poetic descriptions of Orange County flora, fauna and criminal depravity read as if Raymond Chandler had somehow re-emerged and moved his action a little to the south.”  —Dick Lochte, author of “Sleeping Dog” and “Croaked!”

Kirkus Review

An honorable thief in glossy Orange County strays from his business plan when a restaurant heist leads to the discovery of a sex-slave business.

First-time novelist Thomas digs under the gleaming surface of that golden land between San Diego and Los Angeles and finds a fair amount of rot. The hero and narrator is career criminal Robert Rivers, a reformed alcoholic haunted by the memory of the daughter he lost in his drinking days. Now middle-aged and level-headed, he’s settled into a nice life knocking off various businesses with his friend and partner Switch. Switch, however, may be getting ready to go legit. His girlfriend Melanie is with child, and he’s saved enough from their heists to start thinking about an honest job. Then a routine restaurant robbery throws everything off kilter for the partners. The Cow Town steak house they stick up has way too much cash on the premises: $20,000, in a box containing a haunting photograph of an abused Vietnamese girl. Rivers, whose careful MO normally has him miles away from the scene of the crime immediately and permanently, can’t resist snooping around to find out who the girl is and why she was so battered. His inquiries quickly lead to the discovery of a sex-slave business operated by Lewis McFadden, the hulking, sadistic, half-Korean owner of Cow Town and a number of other local eateries. Switch is not happy about the investigation and tries to stay out, but Reggie, the outlaw who taught Rivers the basics of the crime business, shows up in town, eager to get into the action. The old chums break into McFadden’s house looking for loot and for Song, the girl in the photo, and find both. Repulsed by McFadden’s evil business, Rivers sets out to ruin him, falling in love with Song and putting all his associates in mortal danger.

The criminal-as-detective gimmick works. This is a good start.

Booklist

Rob Rivers grew up in St. Louis, and his pedigree is lower-middle-class drug culture. But after a stint in jail, he ditched drugs and became a hardworking professional thief in sunny, affluent Orange County, California. As Criminal Paradise opens, Rob and fellow Missourian Switch are robbing a restaurant at closing time with drawn guns. In addition to a nice payday, Rob acquires a photo of a frightened young Asian girl, and the image causes him to break a professional rule; he immediately begins planning a break-in of the restaurant owner’s home. The break-in frees the Asian girl, who is being used as a sex slave and is soon to be sold, but it also makes the psychotic restaurateur and his minions Rob’s mortal enemies.

First-novelist Thomas combines moments of genuine writerly grace with an attractively seedy locale and a number of memorably creepy characters . . . many crime fans will enjoy this one; here’s hoping Rivers returns to the scene of another crime.
                                                                                                —Thomas Gaughan

Mysteriousgalaxy.com

Steven M. Thomas comes out of the chute as the latest newbie to write about a criminal with a quasi-conscience. Everybody adores a bad boy, and Thomas has created the character of Robert Rivers for us to love. He is honorable and careful and very nice to his aging landlady when he isn't out hitting ritzy digs for all kinds of stolen treasure. If he gave anything away to the poor, you just might think he was Robin Hood.

Rivers is also a nice enough guy to provide refuge and a second chance to his old pal, Reggie. Together, they become involved in a masterful and sickening scheme that markets young girls in the slave trade. Something sinister is brewing, and Rivers and his odd-ball friends are called to go way above and beyond the call of common criminality. The underbelly of what they find is grotesque and frightening, but those comrades in arms persist with what they know is right. There is much honor among these thieves.

Like I said . . . Robin Hood.

Thomas writes with a zippy pace that makes the words almost leap off the page. He must have been an interior designer in his former life, because his descriptions of ambiance and texture are so intense you almost feel that you are really there -- gazing at furniture or admiring landscaping. Colors and images of southern California are so real that the book almost reads 3-D.

Like all good thrillers, the pacing at the end rears back like a spooked horse and roars through the story with fire and surprise. People's true colors show under pressure, and this book illustrates that point very well. The story is new, the characters are quirky and loveable, and the surprises are good. Overall, this is an excellent first effort from Thomas, a short story writer, essayist, and poet. He can now add "novelist" to that list.   

—Paula Brandes

From Mysterious Galaxy

This is author Steven M. Thomas's first novel. It is a very ambitious first effort. The story is action packed with almost too many characters and story lines running all at once, but Thomas is able to carry it off and made me want to know what will happen to each and everyone. There is no real hero in this story, as almost every character is pretty shady. Still, I want to find out what happens in the end and the author weaves a fast paced story. The main character, Robert Rivers, is a crook. His series of small time thefts in upscale Orange County fail to make the police radar screen and he is living comfortably. One night, while cleaning out the safe at a local restaurant, he comes across a picture of a young Vietnamese girl who he assumes is a sex slave to the restaurant owner and makes it his mission to save and free this poor girl. Every action in this story results in an increasing reaction by the aggrieved party all the way up to murder and torture until I thought that no one would be left standing at the end. It is definitely not an "everyone lives happily ever after" ending. However, the characters are well developed and I pulled for them, despite all their flaws and weaknesses. This is a great first novel. If you like rapid fire action and want to know who will be the last one standing, this is just the book for you.

-- Joseph Czech

FROM THE SITE “I Love a Mystery”

The title to Steven M. Thomas' first mystery, CRIMINAL PARADISE, summarizes this thriller caper right on the nail. Meet Thomas' protagonist, Robert Rivers, a career criminal who lives in Orange County, California, and has the exceptional and unique talent of avoiding prison while supporting himself and his partner through burglaries of the rich and, on occasion, armed robberies. But one day, an armed robbery at a restaurant turns Rivers' life in a new direction. Unbeknownst to Rivers, the restaurant is owned by a menacing criminal and Rivers discovers and becomes infatuated with the picture of an Asian girl found at the restaurant. His determination to find the girl, Song, turns into something more deadly and raises the stakes of life for Rivers, his partner, a wayward friend and Song herself. Rivers must rescue Song, discover the secret to the sadistic criminal boss' and his gang's financial success, and find a way to destroy them, otherwise he is either going to be arrested or dead - not great choices. CRIMINAL PARADISE is sharply written. Thomas accurately captures the locale of the rich and famous of Southern California with his detailed scenic description, while providing sufficient development of his protagonist and several characters. Most of all, CRIMINAL PARADISE is a page turner that the author tightly wraps up with a dramatic conclusion.

-- Paul Anik

From Bookloons.com

Somehow, a career of crime was never in my life plans. After reading Steven M. Thomas's Criminal Paradise, I am confident I made the right decision. If this depiction of the criminal life is anywhere near accurate, it is not a matter of morals that would have kept me from following the dark path so much as the excitement, terror, pain - and insecurity of not knowing for sure where my next meal was coming from.

When Robbie Rivers decides to knock over a Cow Town Restaurant, he and his partner Switch run into problems they hadn't anticipated. As matters escalate, Robbie's old friend and fellow thief Reggie appears, bringing his own set of problems with him. Loyalty plays a big part in the thieves' relationship. They run into some big time sex slave trade as well as a sociopath who takes his childhood disappointments out on others in a positively cruel and excruciating way. Big money is involved here as the plot thickens and the bad guys work to overturn the really bad guys' plans.

Criminal Paradise is a thrilling, breathtaking read that will keep the reader turning pages as quickly as a river cascades over a waterfall. Don't miss it.

-- Mary Ann Smyth

From Mysteryone.com

Steven M. Thomas has crafted a fine 1st crime novel, set in Southern California during the mid 1990's. Robert Rivers is a thief, doing high end armed robberies in rich towns along the California coast. During a robbery he stumbles across a white slavery ring and rescues a beautiful Asian girl. He is forced to confront these evil forces and save himself and his friends. There is a lot of potential in Criminal Paradise. Thomas's characters are well developed. There is also excellent California ambiance and Thomas nails the mid 1990's time period. Some of the plot lines are over the top, still this is a very entertaining 1st book, I look forward to his next.

From Big Sleep Books

CRIMINAL PARADISE by Steven M Thomas. Robby Rivers is a likeable career criminal who makes his way as a burglar somewhat of Dortmunder quality. His loyalty to an old biker friend who's down on his luck, and short on character, could prove Robby's downfall in the seemingly perfect life he has carefully etched out for himself. An easy read, smooth debut, ending needs some work.