Strip, by Thomas Perry (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; $26)

 A bar owner in Chicago witnesses a hit ordered by an OC boss. The feds relocate him, rename him Joe Carver, sell his bar and house, and send him a fat check for the proceeds. Joe moves to LA and tries to meet women by flashing some of the cash.

Meanwhile, a masked gunman robs strip club magnate Manco Kapak of his clubs' profits as he was making a night deposit.  He instructs his employees to learn if anyone has been seen holding an unusual amount of money. In no time, the word comes back that Joe Carver must be the guy.  Kapak orders a hit on Carver to signal to others not to mess with him.

The actual robber, however, was Jefferson Davis Falkins, a low-life, lying loser. When the Kapak money runs out, Jeff decides to hit him again. He brags to a woman named Carrie what he's planning. Carrie begs to go along, playing to his vanity ("I always needed a really hot, stupid guy, but never knew it until tonight.") Too bad for Jeff, Carrie turns out to be a danger addict. ("Thank you so much," she says after the robbery. "This is the best night of my whole life!")  Soon Falkins realizes that instead of being the woman of his dreams, Carrie is actually insane and that he's in way over his head.

The latest robbery, of course, inflames Kapak's rage against Joe Carver. Carver tries to prove he's not the robber, but when that doesn't work, decides to extract some payback from Kapak for making his life miserable. Kapak also has his hands full dealing with a flashy drug dealer who uses the strip clubs to launder funds. And on top of everything, the cop on the case is a bigamist facing college tuition for the oldest child in each of his (unsuspecting) families.

I loved this book. The characters were engaging and the clever dialogue kept the story hopping. Perry's convoluted plot held together well, and he tied up all the loose ends. I hate comparing authors, because doing so implies a lack of originality on the part of the author being described. But I will say this: if you enjoy Elmore Leonard's books, you'll enjoy Strip, because Perry writes with a similar dry wit and subtlety. This was terrific.