Donkey Punch (novel)

Donkey Punch (also referred to as Donkey Punch: A Cal Innes book and Sucker Punch) is a crime novel by Scottish author Ray Banks. It was first published in the United Kingdom by Edinburgh-based company Birlinn Ltd in 2007, and again by the same publisher in 2008. In the United States it was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2009, titled Sucker Punch, and was reprinted in 2011.

Donkey Punch is part of a series following protagonist Cal Innes, a former convict and private investigator. Innes agrees to accompany a novice boxer from England to a fight in Los Angeles, California. While there, Innes must investigate the subsequent kidnapping of the boxer, while battling his own internal struggles and avoiding trouble with the Los Angeles Police Department.

The Skinny said, "Donkey Punch is as terse and macho as Saturday's Child, although his hardboiled writing style has become more poised and confident." Scotland on Sunday said, "Vivid and realistic, with an appealingly flawed hero and an interesting setting amid the underside of modern LA, this is a knockout." The Plain Dealer said, "Banks' tough-guy prose is irresistible." Associated Press said of the author's writing style, "Innes, for all his faults and problems, is an engaging character with a sharp sense of humor and a ton of turmoil in his life. And Banks, a member of the so-called 'Brit grit' movement, has an easy, breezy style that keeps you flipping the pages."