A noir hero you can’t help but root for

One of the imperatives of noir fiction is that a protagonist of ambiguous character, preferably with a cloudy past, is pressed into conflict with his conscience. Though flawed, when a crisis erupts, he may be counted on to do the right thing.

Such are the boilerplate mandates of the genre, but noir really sings when an author is able to create a protagonist who transcends the intrigues of whatever plot he finds himself in, making demands on the reader’s attention strictly because of his personality. John D. MacDonald’s Travis McGee had many scrapes in his day, but nothing he encountered was as interesting, or as endearing, as McGee himself. Jess Walter’s “Citizen Vince” is a wonderfully written, noirish thriller, but ultimately it is so compelling because Vince Camden is hard to forget.

Vince Camden works in a doughnut shop in Spokane, Wash. When we first meet him, it is 1:59 in the morning. Vince is waiting to start his day when the thought occurs to him: “One day you know more dead people than live ones.” The thought trails him throughout the novel. It harasses him while he glazes doughnuts, and teases him at his favorite bar, a low-life dive where he gambles and sells stolen credit cards.

He wants to stay alive, which he soon realizes isn’t going to be easy, but more important, he wants to vote in the upcoming presidential election. It is 1980, and Reagan is running against Carter.

Vince is keen on voting because it is a privilege he has newly regained. Being a contributing citizen to society isn’t something he takes for granted. He is one of those people who has been on the outside looking in, a liminal figure for whom voting rights, a decent job, a family and a house behind a white picket fence are not cliches but the stuff of dreams.

Having grown up as a minor thug back in New York, Vince has been in and out of prison most of his life. But having turned state’s evidence against the mob and having been placed in a witness protection program, he now conceives of the possibility of starting anew. The thing dearest to his heart is voting. He wants to transition from felon to citizen.

Of course, Vince’s past quickly catches up with him. A psychotic hit man named Ray Shines has come to town and teamed with one of Vince’s associates. They want a larger share of the credit card scam Vince runs on the side. When Vince proves unwilling, Ray considers it a simple matter to dispose of Vince.

By this point, the reader is rooting for the charming, civic-minded Vince all the way.

Vince realizes Ray is a pro from back East. So he flies to New York to face up to the mess he made with the mob. Just a few steps behind him is Alan Dupree, a rookie detective gifted with tenacity and wit.

Of the many wonderful scenes in the book, one is when Vince, ever resourceful, joins a late-night poker game with some Mafiosi. The leader of this crew, an up-and-coming don who goes by Johnny Boy, is brooding and ambitious, a ticking time bomb of violence.

All hell breaks loose, of course, and nothing gets resolved in the expected way. But, unbelievable as it may seem, the best part of the book is that though Vince fights for his life, his interest in the election never falters. And no one, not even a sadist like Ray, is going to stop him from voting.

Vince watches the debates and converses with other con men about the pros and cons of each candidate. (In a terrific bit, Johnny Boy backs Reagan because he believes he’s a real leader. “I wish we could have Reagan run our shop,” he muses.)

Vince’s vote, however isn’t so clear-cut. With a guy like Vince Camden, you’re never going to get the whole story, and “Citizen Vince” will leave many readers wanting Walter to hurry and deliver another installment.

Scott M. Morris is the author of the novels “The Total View of Taftly” and “Waiting for April.”