Saint Mudd

Rating:
Summary: HIS NAME IS MUDD
Review: ...and he's one of the most unusual "heroes" in recent crime fiction. Grover Mudd is a newspaper columnist, whose "Grover's Corner" column is used to expose and hopefully eradicate the mobsters hanging out in St. Paul. Like other readers, I had no idea there was such crime in this illustrious city; Thayer's research and knowledge of the area is certainly evidenced.
This book is heavily character driven, and most of the characters, even Grover, take some time to either like or dislike. Grover's relationship with the colored maid, Stormy Day, is touching and refreshing in its easiness and innocence. I could never bring myself to like Roxanne Schwartz, one of those goregous women who was a "victim" during her youth and uses that as an excuse to become an ... insatiable prostitute. The character of Nina Clifford I hated from the first time I met her. She's one of those old bags who lives in the past and thinks that just because she's St. Paul's most influential madam, it puts her above the law. And of course the law in this book is as corruptible as the gangsters.
Beware, too, this book is graphic in its sexual descriptions and in its violence, but that's what this era was about.
Thayer went on to write "Silent Snow" which utilizes the character of Grover Mudd; that's next on my list. Thayer has a very different style and one that in time should put him up there with James Patterson, Michael Connelly and John Sandford.
RECOMMENDED.

Rating:
Summary: Not quite the Godfather but still pretty good
Review: ALthough this gangseter novel isn't quite on par with the Godfather and some other novels in the Crime and gangster genere it still manages to be quite intrigiung and hard to put down. In most crime novels it seems like the villans are always the more interesting the the heroes but in this one it was Grover Mudd who kept my attention. He's a fascinating and dark charechter who will keep you cheering for him until the end. For me there was an added bonus in this novel. Having grown up in the suburbs of the Twin Cities it was fun to read about places I recognized and knew. All in all this is a terrific novel for anyone looking for a great fast paced read.

Rating:
Summary: Poorly Written
Review: I tried to wade through this book twice and couldnt bring myself to finish it. Thayer's research into St. Paul's past seems mostly credible, but his prose to me is unreadable. I even tried to listen to the book on tape and had to abandon that effort as well. I would not recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Poorly Written
Review: I tried to wade through this book twice and couldnt bring myself to finish it. Thayer's research into St. Paul's past seems mostly credible, but his prose to me is unreadable. I even tried to listen to the book on tape and had to abandon that effort as well. I would not recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Grover is great!
Review: Steve Thayer authored the best-seller THE WEATHERMAN. Wasn't all that thrilled with the book, hated the ending. It was as if he'd written himself into a corner and settled for the easy way out.
But then I read SAINT MUDD. Thayer really knows depression-era St. Paul, Minnesota: the river caves, the trolley cars, the gangsters. There's a quote from Alvin "Creepy" Karpis before Book One. "But, of all the Midwest cities, the one that I knew best was St. Paul, and it was a crook's haven..."
The lead character, Grover Mudd, WWI veteran and reporter for the St. Paul Frontier News, has that FRONT PAGE kind of newspaper-reporter angst. He smokes Lucky Strikes, drinks Stearns County 13, refers to his ex-wife as that "lousy bitch". There's lots of Minnesota flavor in the book: St. Paul Cathedral, South St. Paul stockyards, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Floyd B. Olson, Cass Gilbert, and the beginnings of 3M, a small sandpaper company.
Two little boys are murdered, hog-tied at the ankles, one a mongoloid, their bodies in the water for a week before being discovered, one with broken legs, and Grover sets out to find the sick-o who did it. Fourteen unsolved murders in the last eighteen months. Twenty-four police chiefs in the last twenty-one years and they can't be fired, only demoted. Along the way, Grover falls in love again, with a colored maid. With Grover's penchant for trouble, you'll worry about her. Although I loved Grover and would just about excuse anything Thayer does because of him, some of the characters, such as Big Holy Spook and Gunderson the cop, are a bit over the top.



Rating:
Summary: Grover is great!
Review: Steve Thayer authored the best-seller THE WEATHERMAN. Wasn't all that thrilled with the book, hated the ending. It was as if he'd written himself into a corner and settled for the easy way out.
But then I read SAINT MUDD. Thayer really knows depression-era St. Paul, Minnesota: the river caves, the trolley cars, the gangsters. There's a quote from Alvin "Creepy" Karpis before Book One. "But, of all the Midwest cities, the one that I knew best was St. Paul, and it was a crook's haven..."
The lead character, Grover Mudd, WWI veteran and reporter for the St. Paul Frontier News, has that FRONT PAGE kind of newspaper-reporter angst. He smokes Lucky Strikes, drinks Stearns County 13, refers to his ex-wife as that "lousy bitch". There's lots of Minnesota flavor in the book: St. Paul Cathedral, South St. Paul stockyards, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Floyd B. Olson, Cass Gilbert, and the beginnings of 3M, a small sandpaper company.
Two little boys are murdered, hog-tied at the ankles, one a mongoloid, their bodies in the water for a week before being discovered, one with broken legs, and Grover sets out to find the sick-o who did it. Fourteen unsolved murders in the last eighteen months. Twenty-four police chiefs in the last twenty-one years and they can't be fired, only demoted. Along the way, Grover falls in love again, with a colored maid. With Grover's penchant for trouble, you'll worry about her. Although I loved Grover and would just about excuse anything Thayer does because of him, some of the characters, such as Big Holy Spook and Gunderson the cop, are a bit over the top.

Rating:
Summary: Anything By Thayer Is Good Reading
Review: Steve Thayers books are filled with intriguing characters, imaginitive plot twists, and always great endings. Totally Unpredictable, which I think is rare these days by many authors. Also Thayer's books are rich with history and interesting facts about Minnesota, which is more interesting than it sounds. He is fast becoming a favorite author of mine, his new Book Silent Snow is also a must read. As is the weatherman.

Rating:
Summary: Anything By Thayer Is Good Reading
Review: Steve Thayers books are filled with intriguing characters, imaginitive plot twists, and always great endings. Totally Unpredictable, which I think is rare these days by many authors. Also Thayer's books are rich with history and interesting facts about Minnesota, which is more interesting than it sounds. He is fast becoming a favorite author of mine, his new Book Silent Snow is also a must read. As is the weatherman.

Rating:
Summary: Superb.
Review: Thayer does an excellent job of combinging the true, compelling mob stories in Saint Paul with his well developed charachter Grover Mudd. I would recomend this to anyone who likes historical fiction and a good crime story.

Rating:
Summary: Gritty and Fun Historical Fiction
Review: Thayer's Saint Mudd immediately catches your attention. He drops the "efenheimer" in the very first sentence. He manages to continue the pace and hold your attention throughout the book. What I found pleasantly surprising was the depth of historical research on gangsters and the city of St. Paul, MN and his ability to weave it into the story and make it interesting. I've lived most of my life within 20 miles of St. Paul, and never knew one tenth of the history that Thayer reanimates in this novel. While a fine tale well-written, it is the professional rendering of the history aspect that elevates the book from middle-pack to 4-star fiction.

I would add that Saint Mudd is not a book I would put in my 10-year-old's Xmas stocking. Thayer writes about a time in America when violent death, easy sex, drugs and corruption were commonplace. He uses appropriate language to accomplish this. There's plenty of profanity, sex, and violence. I like that; the PTA might not. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead

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