I’ve ready plenty of books that were later turned into movies, but I think “The Thousand Dollar Tan Line” is the first book in my library that follows a movie that was based on a TV show.
Perhaps I should explain that. Veronica Mars was a show that lasted three seasons on TV before being rudely cancelled. Fans (such as myself) rallied to Kickstart a movie that picks up the story years later. As part of the renewal of the story, the show’s creator and main writer Rob Thomas teamed up with Jennifer Graham to write a series of books that come after the movie.
If any of that is new to you, I recommend you finish reading this and immediately put all of your other life plans on hold until you’re caught up. Actually, go now. Stop reading. It’s that important.
What’s interesting about this construct is that I didn’t have to spend any mental energy trying to imagine the town of Neptune, or what a conversation between Veronica and her dad, Keith, looked like. That universe is fully vivid in my head. Dialogue came out in each character’s voice just as if I were watching the scene play out on my television. It was like reading a David Sedaris book after hearing him on the radio.
The best part of all that? There are some kickass characters in Veronica’s world, with her chief among them. She’s back in town after being away at law school, helping out at the family private investigation agency while her dad recovers from [THIS HAPPENS IN THE MOVIE GO WATCH IT]. Veronica is a tiny human but has little fear and loves nothing more than nailing people who deserve to be taken down.
The narrator describes her perfectly as she talks with boyfriend Logan:
“Logan had once told Veronica she didn’t have any flight — just way too much fight for her own good.”
Each episode of the show involves one case that needs to be solved, plus pieces of a season-long mystery that slowly comes together over time. The book has one main case, tracking down a pair of girls who go missing during spring break in the seaside California town.
The investigation takes Veronica to the mansion where the girls each attended a party and where she encounters drug cartel-linked Rico and his associate Willie. The boys are side-stepping that night’s festivities to play some video games upstairs and talk about how they can use a Ferrari to impress the ladies.
“‘Then we’ll load up the honeys and take ’em to Taco Bell.’
‘Taco Bell? Man, there’s, like, smoked salmon and asparagus in truffle oil and, like, crudites downstairs. Why the hell do you want to go to taco bell?’
Rico shrugged. ‘I like their chalupas.’
So let’s recap. We have a series I already love with characters I could watch forever, and then they add a Taco Bell reference? My reading year is ending on the happiest of notes.