The Upper Hand by Johnny Shaw

Published by Thomas & Mercer on July 3, 2018

The Upper Hand is the kind of crime novel that encourages the reader to root for the criminals. Those tend to be my favorite crime novels, at least when the criminal has a good heart. Most of the characters in The Upper Hand are guided by a basic sense of decency, even when they are also guided by criminal impulses.

Axel Ucker plans crimes as a hobby. His sister Gretchen burgles homes as a hobby, usually stealing valuable comic books from collectors. Axel’s brother Kurt is law-abiding but a bit nerdish. Their father was a professional thief until he was killed after a jewelry heist. Axel works for a bank that has just promoted him to a position of con man, selling investments to customers that won’t meet their needs but earn the bank a ton of money in hidden fees. That’s a kind of criminality that is just too dishonest for Axel.

Axel’s girlfriend Stephanie (he thinks her name is Priscilla) scams him out of his house and then dumps him, the first of a series of personal crises that play out over a couple of days, including the death of his mother and the loss of his job. The crime plot begins at the funeral of Axel’s mother, where a large woman identifies herself as Axel’s aunt (“Everyone calls me Mother Ucker”). The aunt wants to bring the Ucker children back into the fold of their father’s family. They have few options, since their mother’s will left the family home to a televangelist.

Scamming is a central theme of The Upper Hand. The Uckers have a natural talent for scamming, as they prove when they decide to scam the televangelist. Another theme is family, or more precisely, “a family is what you make of it.” What the Uckers will make of their newly-discovered extended family (and how the Ucker family should be defined) is a key plot point.

A bit of romantic comedy runs through the novel, with a stronger emphasis on comedy than romance. As in life, some romantic relationships work out and some don’t. Other objects of humor (if not outright mockery) include Christian rock and prosperity theology (“sermons were high-energy events that felt like a mash-up of a rock concert, a self-help seminar, and a time-share pitch.”).

The plot delivers a few surprises and a steady supply of chuckles. The main characters are likeable, despite the larcenous natures that some of them embrace. Even the villainous characters are too amusing to be unlikable. Readers who don’t understand that prosperity theology is all about enhancing the prosperity of preachers at the expense of their followers will probably dislike The Upper Hand, but open-minded readers who can relate to kind-hearted criminals should enjoy it.

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