Synopses & Reviews
Best Crime Novel of the Year — Joy Ride through the Tattoo Underworld of Portland's Old Town.
The night world of Old Town, Portland, Oregon, has gone mad in the grip of gentrification, and at the center of it all is Lucky Supreme, a seedy tattoo parlor, whose proprietor is a street-bred artist with a unique approach to problem solving. Darby Holland has enough on his radar, but when some "flash" (tattoo artwork) stolen from him resurfaces in California he can't help himself. His efforts to reclaim it set him on a dangerous path, dragging along his delightfully eccentric colleagues, including the brains behind his brawn — Delia, a twiggy vinyl-clad punk genius secretly from the other side of the tracks. No one knows why the art signed "Roland Norton, Panama, 1955" is worth anything or how it came to hang on the walls of a tattoo shop in Portland, Oregon. Only the deranged former owner can say — and he's not talking. Before the wrecking balls swing through Old Town in the name of "progress," Darby must settle old scores and face new demons to save his reputation, his shop, and his sanity. He has secrets of his own, and a tattoo shop in Old Town was a perfect place to hide, but when cash, lies, crime, and history collide, Darby Holland will need his ramshackle skill set, his wits, and a lot of luck to rise to the top of a human food chain, or be eaten alive.
Lucky Supreme is an intuitive thrill ride from start to finish. It is the first of a trilogy featuring Darby Holland, Delia, and the other unforgettable nocturnal residents of Old Town. Jeff Johnson is a new voice in noir, as entertaining and as fresh as Elmore Leonard or Dennis Lehane.
Review
"What wonderful Northwest noir. Lucky Supreme cruises through Portland's underworld with a raunchy grace and an unfailing sense of black humor. I loved it." New York Times bestselling & 3-time Edgar Award-winning author T. Jefferson Parker
Review
"The bastard lovechild of Charles Bukowski and Raymond Chandler, Lucky Supreme is a novel so good you’ll want to ink it into your skin." Craig Johnson, author of the Walt Longmire Mysteries, the basis of Netflix’s hit drama Longmire.
Review
"As hip and cool as the neon rain-slicked slicked streets of Portland. Darby Holland is a modern hero in the mold of Sam Spade and Marlowe only with more tattoos and in steel-toed boots. A funny and very gritty book with cool folks, cool music, and wonderful sense of place." Ace Atkins, New York Times Bestselling author of The Innocents and Robert B. Parker's Slow Burn.
About the Author
Jeff Johnson is a twenty-year veteran tattoo artist who has inked gang members, age-defying moms, celebrities, and sociopaths; he’s defused brawls and tended delicate egos. Artist, screenwriter, he is also the author of his memoir, Tattoo Machine: Tall Tales, True Stories, and My Life in Ink, and the novels Everything Under the Moon, Knottspeed, and Lucky Supreme (Arcade, April 2017), the first Darby Holland Crime Novel.