Dead Boys — Richard Lange

These hard-hitting, deeply felt stories follow straight arrows
and outlaws, have-it-alls and outcasts, as they take stock of
their lives and missteps and struggle to rise above their
turbulent pasts.
A salesman re-examines his tenuous relationship with
his sister after she is brutally attacked. A house painter plans
a new life for his family as he plots his last bank robbery. A
drifter gets a chance at love when he delivers news of a
barfly's death to the man's estranged daughter. A dissatisfied
yuppie is oddly envious of his ex-con brother as they
celebrate their first Christmas together.
Set in a Los Angeles depicted with aching clarity, Lange's
stories are gritty, and his characters often less than perfect.
Beneath their macho bravado, however, they are full of heart
and heartbreak.