“The man can tell a story, oh, yes, indeed.”—T. C. Boyle

If you haven’t been reading Mark Haskell Smith, get your sh*t together. Start with BLOWN, which is a blast. It’s a gripping, hilarious, wild ride of a book. I loved it. — Lisa Lutz, The Spellman Files

I’m a big fan of Mark Haskell Smith’s novels and Blown is his best yet: funny and frisky, with unforgettable characters and a surprising, twisty plot that will keep you up way past your bedtime. Beyond all the fun and the ribald jokes is a wise portrayal of capitalism’s dehumanizing effects. A terrific novel. –Edan Lepucki, Woman #17

Hailed as “the slightly more well-adjusted offspring of Hunter S. Thompson and James Ellroy” (Los Angeles Times), Mark Haskell Smith returns with a wildly entertaining satire of corporate greed, sexual desire, and crime in the global financial services industry.

Bryan LeBlanc worked his way up into a plum position on Wall Street as the boy genius of the foreign exchange desk. Surrounded by acolytes of the free market—the U.S. Marines of capitalism, “the few, the proud, the completely full of themselves”—Bryan soon realizes that being honest at a dishonest job is not the path to success. He decides to give Wall Street a taste of its own medicine, and hatches an intricate plan to permanently disappear, with just enough misappropriated money (and sailing classes) to spend his golden years cruising the Caribbean.

But Bryan quickly learns that being a criminal—even a really smart one—is more complicated than he thought, as he finds himself on the run in the Cayman Islands, wanted for murder. On his trail is an unorthodox team of investigators sent by his Wall Street firm, hellbent on reclaiming the millions before their clients notice it’s missing: his boss, who’s not only committed to clearing her name but also escaping her pending nuptials; the investment bank’s collections agent, depressed over a recent break-up with his boyfriend; and an ex-cop from Curaçao, who traded in his badge for spouse-spying as a private investigator.

Wickedly funny, ribald, and sharp-eyed, Blown starts as a simple case of embezzlement and explodes into a fatal high-stakes gamble for money and the pursuit of happiness.

Sexy, funny, and surprising, Blown moves fast and is a lot of fun. Mark Haskell Smith is a writer whose books I am always grateful to have read. – Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer

Blown is a riotously funny, perfectly observed, and maddeningly engaging rollercoaster that tears through a world dominated by greed, cunning, sex, and the extraordinary and ludicrous measures people will go to in order to be happy. Haskell Smith takes you on a wild ride you won’t dare get off until the very end. – Ivy Pochoda, Wonder Valley

Blown is a short and engrossing mystery novel that also stands as a morality play, an ethical fable that suggests that our own selves may be the greatest mystery of all. – Arts Fuse

“Darkly amusing…[Smith] has a fine-tuned ear for witty repartee and a skill for embroiling even his most comically conceived characters in dramas that steer his plot through unpredictable twists and into unforeseeable outcomes. This is a surprising, memorable novel.” ― Publisher’s Weekly

“Smith works out the mechanics of his heist beautifully…Another madcap crime caper, one with a little temper and a dirty mind.” ― Kirkus Reviews

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“a likeable American writer” — The Guardian

“Audacious satire.” Vanity Fair

“Hot and ebullient, hilarious and riveting. Smith pulls the pants off reality television and America’s ‘serious’ literary culture, and that’s just the metaphorical nakedness. Who knew a book about the difficulty of sustaining deeply felt emotion could be so much fun? Or that a penis on YouTube might sing Lionel Richie? Hair-raising and essential reading.” —Sara Levine, author ofTreasure Island!!!

“Only an extremely imaginative satirist can outpace the world’s absurdity, but Mark Haskell Smith manages it with Raw, a super-fun, super-wild, and sneakily thoughtful take on American literary and entertainment excess.” —Steve Hely, author of How I Became a Famous Novelist

Sepp Gregory, a reality TV hunk and one of People magazine’s “sexiest men alive,” is on tour to promote his debut novel. Not that Sepp’s actually read the book; he doesn’t have to, he lived it! And everyone just wants him to take off his shirt.

The book has hit the bestseller list and is even getting rave reviews from serious critics. Aside from Harriet Post, that is. One of the blogosphere’s most respected literary minds, Harriet fears that the novel’s reception means the end of civilization is upon us. Determined to pen an exposé on the publishing industry, Harriet hijacks the book tour and uncovers the ghostwriter. Reality and “reality” collide, and a tragic accident sends Sepp and Harriet off on a sex-fueled road trip through the southwest. The brain meets the abs, and both will be changed forever. Raw: A Love Story is Mark Haskell Smith at his raucous best, dangerously sexy and wickedly funny.

An Amazon Best Fiction Book of the Month

A Daily Beast Hot Read of the Week: “Consistently surprising, fast-paced, and nearly always funny.”

““Gleefully absurd. . . . [Smith] turns what could have been just an amusing book into an incisive, caustic and hilarious one. . . . He’s able to pull it off because his prose is so hard-boiled and self-assured—he comes across as the slightly more well-adjusted offspring of Hunter S. Thompson and James Ellroy. . . . A hilarious and—occasionally—an unexpectedly sweet illustration of why we write and read in the first place.”—Los Angeles Times”–Los Angeles Times

“Smith remains a gifted satirist with a comic touch that can be either howlingly broad or devastatingly precise. … Though consistently surprising, fast-paced and nearly always funny, Raw is more than just a lively romp. Smith saves his best satire for a topic he knows all too well: the publishing industry. In Raw …  Smith skewers it with as much gleeful zeal as he attacks his much easier targets.” —Thomas Flynn, The Daily Beast

“Thoroughly enjoyable. . . . By turns racy and profound, Haskell Smith writes at mach speed about what passes for culture in today’s often unreal world.” —Allison Block, Booklist

“Satire of the highest order. . . . Smith succeeds because he knows better than to make fun of his subjects or turn them into silly caricatures.”—PopMatters

“Readers familiar with Mark Haskell Smith’s novels know all about the sharp, oddball sense of humor that permeates Raw. For those who don’t, think somewhere along the lines of Carl Hiaasen–social commentary combined with outrageous laughs.” Jaclyn Fulwood, Shelf Awareness

“If the plot sounds absurd, that’s because it is, but the book’s over-the-top, swinging-from-the-chandeliers storyline is partially what makes it so entertaining. Crazy stuff happens, and it’s a joy to be inside the drama. The more technicolor the plot, the more addictive it becomes.” Edan Lepucki, The Millions

“LA writer Smith is back with another frothy satire.” Kirkus Reviews

From the author of Moist and Delicious comes a raucous comic thriller where anything goes. Turk Henry, an overweight, unemployed rock star married to a supermodel, has discovered that Thailand is probably the last place a recovering sex addict should go on vacation, yet here he is, surrounded by topless groupies and haunted by the stares of hundreds of luscious bar girls. Turk’s struggles with monogamy, however, pale beside a greater challenge when his wife is abducted by a group of renegade, shipless Thai pirates.

As Turk, his life skills limited to playing bass and partying, navigates the back alleys of Bangkok and the deadly jungles of Southeast Asia to save his wife, Salty heats up and sweats bullets. Featuring skinflint American tourists, topless beaches, a hypochondriac U.S. government agent, suitcases loaded with cash, an overeager full-service personal assistant, a horny Australian commando, inventive prostitutes, and an urbane pirate with a fetish for alabaster skin, this is a hilariously entertaining, thoroughly debauched caper novel — with a happy finish.

Testimonials

Salty was chosen as one of the “100 Best Beach Books Ever” by NPR and was a Book Sense Notable Book.   Entertainment Weekly said “Smith gets the details of mid-level rock stardom just right—his bumbling hero is a pot-bellied bassist for Metal Assassin—mixing laughs and satire like a cross between Carl Hiaasen and Ross Thomas. A-”

“Smith gets the details of midlevel rock stardom just right—his bumbling hero is a pot-bellied bassist for Metal Assassin—mixing laughs and satire like a cross between Carl Hiaasen and Ross Thomas. A-”
—Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly

“For Turk, saving the day is almost as impossible as staying monogamous. Luckily, being funny comes easily to screenwriter Smith, who writes like Carl Hiaasen, cheerfully skewering Homeland Security, heavy metal, compromised Hollywood morals, American arrogance, fetishes and anything else worth taking a shot at, i.e. . . . everything. Through it all, Turk rocks on. Smith just plain rocks.”
—Connie Ogle, Miami Herald

“Salty is a loud,drunk, sexy party which, like its main character, reveals a golden heart.”
—Chris Simnett, The Calgary Herald

“Salty is a delicious blend of humor, intrigue and sexiness…. It’s rare to find such an intelligent thriller that balances action with humor.”
—PopSyndicate

“Shady dealings, wry political commentary and a steady dose of humor make the romp a heady treat. Now giddily into its second printing, Salty is a bromide with a beat.”
—Susan Compo, Pasadena Weekly

“A romp to relish.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Humor and suspense rub up against each other uneasily throughout, but Smith’s writing is sharp, and Turk makes a blundering, contradictory and very compelling lead.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Powered by a sort of all-purpose hedonism… Absurd, grotesque, and plain fun reading.”
—Booklist

“Graham Greene meets the Marx Brothers and the result is Salty, Mark Haskell Smith’s riveting new novel of unquiet Americans on the loose in Thailand. Profane, endearing, and just absurd enough to be totally convincing, Salty is both a comic thriller and a thoughtful meditation on love, lust, and the American way.”
—Tom Drury, THE DRIFTLESS AREA