Junior Bender Essay

Junior Bender is the lead protagonist of the Junior Bender series of novels by American thriller author Timothy Hallinan. The first novel of the highly popular series of novels was Crashed that was first published in 2010 to much critical acclaim. Hallinan the author of the series is an author who has been active in the literary scene since the 1990s when he wrote the detective thriller series featuring private investigator Simeon Grist of Los Angeles. The series of novels was so popular that it became something of a cultural phenomenon and cult favorite. Since he has lived on and off in Bangkok since the 1980s he wrote his Poke Rafferty series based on the travel adventures of a travel writer of the title name who lives in Bankok. With his
During this time he founded Hallinan Consulting, a company that was responsible for creating educational websites for some of the most popular television programs including Slavery in America, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow and The Supreme Court. Since attaining much success with his novels he quit most of his other activities to concentrate on writing. Over the years he has written more than twenty novels spread over his three series. His novels have won him several awards including Best Mystery of the Year Edgar Award and Best Comic Crime Novel of the Year for Herbie’s Game at the Lefty Awards. The Junior Bender series of novels are currently under development and are set to be adapted into a TV series by NBC. Hallinan has also served as editor for Making Story: 21 Writers and How They Plot a collection of tips on plotting by top thriller and mystery writers. He was also editor to Shaken: Stories for Japan an anthology of short stories by eminent mystery writers written to aid victims of the Japanese Tsunami. Timothy Hallinan currently lives in South East Asia and Santa Monica California so as to get a feel for the setting for two of his novel series the Poke Rafferty and the Junior Bender
Bender is best described as a top end burglar – a thief’s thief. He was introduced to the world of burglary when he was fourteen and has carved out a niche for himself as a private eye for crooks. In the ordinary world when someone has a crime committed against them, they go to the police. When a crime is committed against a crook, the person they turn to is Junior Bender. Bender had been initiated into the criminal underworld buy Herbie Mott the legendary burglar from South California when he was only seventeen. He had become an expert thief’s thief developing his own rules that he follows meticulously. He adheres to a code of meticulous timing, careful scoping and never takes anything the target cannot afford. He also develops an intimate knowledge of the art world and a huge network of contacts to help him scope out his target and to sell the items he acquires from his adventures. However even as he is a career criminal, his life is complicated by an ex-wife and teenage daughter both of whom he never wishes to embarrass given that he respects and loves them dearly. But as the only person so good at what he does, adhering to his principles or keeping his former family out of it is not as easy. The Junior Bender series are best referred to as crime capers in the tradition of Janet Evanovich and Donald