The Convenient Patsy

When the narrator of his favorite podcast lands in the City of Angels and asks for help to find a missing colleague, Slater takes the case, and soon finds himself working undercover—as security on a trashy reality TV show, then as a paparazzo wielding a camera to snap images of a vapid pop star. As he circles closer to finding out what happened to the disappeared geologist, Slater trolls oil industry thugs, tangles with well-armed and tight-lipped witnesses, and digs into the city’s wealthy beachside enclaves. Things heat up when one of his targets attempts a frame job. Slater hustles to keep clear of it, all the while drinking way too much, dealing with lowlifes who tend to punch back, and struggling to keep his sex life out of his work.