Overall this book was fine, though it definitely had that "I want to be
Pulp Fiction!" thing that a lot of crime stuff in the late 90s/early 2000s had.
A fundamental issue that I had with the book was the way that the humor kept me at a distance from the characters. I didn't really like any of them, because they felt so much like
characters (and there was a lot of people saying stuff that was overly exposition to make sure the reader got the joke, like the prostitute saying "I can use this pepper mill to cut cocaine with baby laxatives!"). I was really uncomfortable with the way that the story centered Serge and his physical abuse of his girlfriend. I think that the book tried to show her as someone who gives as well as she gets, or that she sort of likes the abuse, but I didn't buy it. She gets zero character development, and it all felt off to me.
Jim was sympathetic to me off and on, but I was done with him after he (probably) assaulted his wife during sex. That kind of crossed a line for me and any sympathy I had for him as this nice guy who is unassertive kind of turned into contempt for the way that he was willing to put his family (wife and kids) in harms way.
I did think that the way that all of the threads were brought together was satisfying. There were surprising intersections between the different supporting characters. Probably the best was the long saga of John.
I think that liking this book would mostly come down to whether or not you gel with its humor. For me, it was a bit too heavy on cliched jokes like old ladies and hard candy, wacky homeless people, nonsensical bureaucracy, etc.
Fine to listen to in the car, but not something I think I'll remember in a year.