Karma Doll, Jonathan Ames
Karma Doll, Jonathan Ames
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Karma Doll

Author: Jonathan Ames

Narrator: Jonathan Ames

Unabridged: 7 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/14/2025


Synopsis

In this darkly humorous detective story, plagued by death on his conscience, Happy Doll has committed himself to a simple, spiritual life; that is, until a tragic and brutal murder forces his hand and sets him back on the bloody path of retribution and justice.

After narrowly escaping with his life at the hands of a murderous Hollywood pimp, detective Happy Doll, bullet-ridden but healing, has landed on a remote Mexican beach. In a humble shack and with his dog for company, Doll settles into a peaceful idyll of Buddhist study. But then trouble, as it always does, comes to paradise.  Doll is the witness to a murder for which he is framed, and now, with an expired passport and the Mexican authorities on his tail, he must sneak across the border back to L.A. by any means necessary, with the goal of bringing the true murderer to justice.

But it's not just trouble that expels Doll from paradise!  His dark past reaches for him, like a hand from the grave, old enemies want him dead, including the Jalisco Cartel, and Doll, a reluctant instrument of mayhem, yearns to end this cycle of violence and tip the karmic scales in his favor. But how can he do this without getting blood on his hands?

Karma Doll marks the third installment in a madcap, bloody, and impossibly fun series, bringing us back in the good company of Happy Doll: a beloved, introverted anti-hero who has taken more hits to the head than a linebacker, yet still always manages to come out on top.

About Jonathan Ames

Jonathan Ames is the author of I Pass Like Night; The Extra Man; What’s Not to Love?; My Less Than Secret Life; Wake Up, Sir!; I Love You More Than You Know; The Alcoholic; and The Double Life Is Twice As Good. He’s the creator of the HBO® Original Series Bored to Death and has had two amateur boxing matches, fighting as “The Herring Wonder.” His most recent work is the detective novel A Man Named Doll.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Tosh on February 14, 2025

The Doll series reminds me of Richard Stark's books. In that all of them are excellently written and a page-turner maximum. And for anyone who lives in Los Angeles, or specifically in the Silver Lake/Atwater Village/Los Feliz area, it's a pleasure to come upon my neighborhood in these books.......more

Goodreads review by Jason on February 18, 2025

I like Ames’s breezy-but-violent Happy Doll novels, but this one leaned a bit heavily on karmic events solving plot problems. Though, given Doll’s struggles with being a better Buddhist, I suppose that’s kind of the point.......more

Goodreads review by Emily on January 15, 2025

Another wonderful addition to the Doll series! Love this guy, and very stoked on Walter joining in on the fun.......more

Goodreads review by Amber on January 26, 2025

4.4 stars. Such grit and Happy Doll is one of my all-time favorite characters; he is so flawed of a character, you love him. I adore Jonathan Ames’ writing and this whole series is absorbing and propulsive, it is impossible to put down. Hard to look away. Karma really does come back to you. I really......more

Goodreads review by Debra on February 15, 2025

Listened to this as an audiobook. . It was really good. I love the main character. I love how he talks about. Karma and smoking joints. Definitely will read more in the series.......more