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"It's the heat that makes you crazy. I don't know what it is, but it works that way for man and animal alike. I've seen some peculiar things on a hot day too. I've seen a scorpion sting itself to death. It just keeps drivin' its tail into its body again and again. A little killer killing itself. And what a man'll do on a hot day. A man could get his self killed just for rubbing shoulders with another. . . ."
A loner, a drifter, a gambler--John Stewart asks little of life. But when his '64 Mustang busts a radiator hose in the middle of the empty Nevada desert, he prays to God, Buddha, L. Ron. And rolls into the tiny town of Sierra. Where he finds . . . nothing. A gas station whose former owner is lying low in the cemetery. A strip of barren, dust-blown store fronts. A truck stop cafe with more flies than customers.
Stewart wants out. Sucker-punched in a rigged poker game, he's got to get to Vegas to settle a debt. Or else.
Then in walks Grace, a seductive knockout who can read fortunes in faces. In the next twenty-four hours, Stewart becomes ensnared in a web of dirty double-crosses, cold propositions, and desperate souls--deadly ground where murder is just one gasp away.
A stunning, fast-paced novel, Stray Dogs unfolds with unrelenting tension, memorable characters, and shocking twists of plot. John Ridley has created a hypnotic story that is pure noir, from its first page until its shattering climax.
From the Hardcover edition.
A loner, a drifter, a gambler--John Stewart asks little of life. But when his '64 Mustang busts a radiator hose in the middle of the empty Nevada desert, he prays to God, Buddha, L. Ron. And rolls into the tiny town of Sierra. Where he finds . . . nothing. A gas station whose former owner is lying low in the cemetery. A strip of barren, dust-blown store fronts. A truck stop cafe with more flies than customers.
Stewart wants out. Sucker-punched in a rigged poker game, he's got to get to Vegas to settle a debt. Or else.
Then in walks Grace, a seductive knockout who can read fortunes in faces. In the next twenty-four hours, Stewart becomes ensnared in a web of dirty double-crosses, cold propositions, and desperate souls--deadly ground where murder is just one gasp away.
A stunning, fast-paced novel, Stray Dogs unfolds with unrelenting tension, memorable characters, and shocking twists of plot. John Ridley has created a hypnotic story that is pure noir, from its first page until its shattering climax.
From the Hardcover edition.
206 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1997
9 people are currently reading
259 people want to read
About the author
John Ridley
217 books92 followersJohn Ridley IV (born October 1965)[2] is an American screenwriter, television director, novelist, and showrunner, known for 12 Years a Slave, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He is also the creator and showrunner of the critically acclaimed anthology series American Crime. His most recent work is the documentary film Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982–1992.
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There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
January 30, 2021
I read this after recently seeing a few likes of a 4 or 5 star Goodreads review from a few years ago.
Reminded me a lot of Charles Williams ...
aka
specifically.
John thought, You think you see it coming, but you don't. You think you got things worked, but things change. It don't matter how much you know, 'cause no matter how much you think you're hip to it, you can't know it all. Nobody can.
John Ridley is a successful tv and movie screenwriter. This book was published in 1997. It was later the basis for a Sean Penn movie.
It's the story of bad gambler and an even worse loser. A loser in gambling. A loser in life. On the way to pay back a dangerous gambler in Las Vegas who he'd earlier stiffed, John is cruising across the desert when the hose on his vintage '64 Mustang bursts.
He pulls into a gas station a half mile outside a nearly deserted town to have it repaired.
John wandered around aimlessly.
Ever since he hit town he was getting good at it.
The problem with wandering aimlessly in a place like Sierra is that it doesn't get you very far. He passed the same places over and over again. The same post office/bus stop, the same truck stop. And the spot where he first caught a look at Grace. One day, he thought, someone ought to put a plaque there: THIS IS WHERE HELL BEGINS.
A short, suspenseful little item, this novel holds no real surprises. It's tightly written if predictable but it's a quick, fun read.
Like a vintage Gold Medal suspense-thriller.
Nothing new but a pleasurable waste of time all the same.
Now I'm gonna go watch a few episodes of The Wanda Sykes Show.
Reminded me a lot of Charles Williams ...
aka
specifically.John thought, You think you see it coming, but you don't. You think you got things worked, but things change. It don't matter how much you know, 'cause no matter how much you think you're hip to it, you can't know it all. Nobody can.
John Ridley is a successful tv and movie screenwriter. This book was published in 1997. It was later the basis for a Sean Penn movie.
It's the story of bad gambler and an even worse loser. A loser in gambling. A loser in life. On the way to pay back a dangerous gambler in Las Vegas who he'd earlier stiffed, John is cruising across the desert when the hose on his vintage '64 Mustang bursts.
He pulls into a gas station a half mile outside a nearly deserted town to have it repaired.
John wandered around aimlessly.
Ever since he hit town he was getting good at it.
The problem with wandering aimlessly in a place like Sierra is that it doesn't get you very far. He passed the same places over and over again. The same post office/bus stop, the same truck stop. And the spot where he first caught a look at Grace. One day, he thought, someone ought to put a plaque there: THIS IS WHERE HELL BEGINS.
A short, suspenseful little item, this novel holds no real surprises. It's tightly written if predictable but it's a quick, fun read.
Like a vintage Gold Medal suspense-thriller.
Nothing new but a pleasurable waste of time all the same.
Now I'm gonna go watch a few episodes of The Wanda Sykes Show.
January 31, 2018
A stunning example of the kind of hardboiled fiction that, aside from its liberal use of the f-word, is more associated with novels published forty or fifty years earlier in mass market paperback imprints like Gold Label.
John Stewart has stolen the money to pay off a gambling debt before his creditor kills him instead. All seems well until his car breaks down in the middle of the desert near a no-horse town called Sierra. There he encounters the sizzling-hot femme fatale Grace and her older husband Jake. Jake wants John to kill Grace, and offers him a chunk of money for the job -- money that John now sorely needs because, through mishap, he's lost the stash he stole. Grace wants John to kill Jake so they can run away with the $100,000 Jake has stowed in a safe beneath the living-room floor. John doesn't really mind which of them he kills so long as he gets the money, although there are distinct advantages to keeping Grace alive . . .
Unusually for hardboiled novels of this type, Stray Dogs is actually pretty funny in places -- in between its more dominant nightmare and anxiety-dream elements. I could hardly believe how quickly I devoured it.
John Stewart has stolen the money to pay off a gambling debt before his creditor kills him instead. All seems well until his car breaks down in the middle of the desert near a no-horse town called Sierra. There he encounters the sizzling-hot femme fatale Grace and her older husband Jake. Jake wants John to kill Grace, and offers him a chunk of money for the job -- money that John now sorely needs because, through mishap, he's lost the stash he stole. Grace wants John to kill Jake so they can run away with the $100,000 Jake has stowed in a safe beneath the living-room floor. John doesn't really mind which of them he kills so long as he gets the money, although there are distinct advantages to keeping Grace alive . . .
Unusually for hardboiled novels of this type, Stray Dogs is actually pretty funny in places -- in between its more dominant nightmare and anxiety-dream elements. I could hardly believe how quickly I devoured it.
February 22, 2016
Rampant homophobia, racism, misogyny, and truly lousy writing aside, I enjoyed this dark little comedy. I'm sure the movie version (U-Turm, with Sean Penn) is even better.
November 7, 2014
This is a novel of claustrophobia that is set, ironically, in the middle of the Arizona desert. There are wide-open spaces all around Sierra, but there is no way out. At least not for the protagonist, a loner and drifter named John. His troubles (and he has a ton of them) start when he makes a bet at a high stakes, back-street poker game in Vegas. He's confident he can win. He doesn't and he can't cover his wager. He heads to the desert of Arizona and hides out in a dry, and hot (really, really hot!) town of Sierra. Everyone in the town has some kind of screw loose, especially the mechanic who hold his car until John can make the few hundred dollars for a repair.
It must be the heat...because he begins to make a series of wrong choices. One of these choices, of course, involves a dame...a beautiful dame who has the hots for John. Grace also wants out of Sierra (as does nearly everyone else) in a bad way. Oh, and she's married. And, there's the clever plot twist. Jake, the husband, wants her dead so he can collect the insurance. Ok, so far. Problems arise when John falls in lust with Grace. Ready? She wants Jake dead for the money he has hidden in the house. John has to choose who to kill and who to collect from.
Meanwhile, two "collectors" trace him to Sierra from Vegas with orders to get the money or kill...or both.
A few more noirish characters drift in and out of the nightmare that has become John's life.
He needs the money. He wants the woman. And, he's being slow-cooked in the desert heat. Men will do strange things when they feel trapped...when they're hot...when they think they're in love.
Read this page-turner and find out how things turn out for poor John, who simply didn't look at the hand that was dealt to him when he sat down at the poker game of his life.
It must be the heat...because he begins to make a series of wrong choices. One of these choices, of course, involves a dame...a beautiful dame who has the hots for John. Grace also wants out of Sierra (as does nearly everyone else) in a bad way. Oh, and she's married. And, there's the clever plot twist. Jake, the husband, wants her dead so he can collect the insurance. Ok, so far. Problems arise when John falls in lust with Grace. Ready? She wants Jake dead for the money he has hidden in the house. John has to choose who to kill and who to collect from.
Meanwhile, two "collectors" trace him to Sierra from Vegas with orders to get the money or kill...or both.
A few more noirish characters drift in and out of the nightmare that has become John's life.
He needs the money. He wants the woman. And, he's being slow-cooked in the desert heat. Men will do strange things when they feel trapped...when they're hot...when they think they're in love.
Read this page-turner and find out how things turn out for poor John, who simply didn't look at the hand that was dealt to him when he sat down at the poker game of his life.
March 11, 2021
This reads like a graphic novel by Ed Brubaker; I could picture the different scenes in my head. It's reminiscent of Sam Spade, but with a whole lot more "shits" and "fucks". I could easily see Tarantino making a film based on it. He'd need to add more "shits" and "fucks", tho. So basically, somewhere between Sam Spade and Quentin Tarantino on the naughty word-o-meter. I loved all of it.
July 8, 2021
4.5*
January 23, 2008
John Ridley, Stray Dogs (Ballantine, 1997)
Stray Dogs is the epitome of the needless book. There is nothing to be learned from it, no deep meaning involved, no moral to the story. A guy on his way to pay off some loansharks he's into has a breakdown on the outskirts of a very strange little town in Nevada. While waiting for his car to be repaired, he finds himself in a unique situation (for him, anyway): he meets a beautiful young woman, then meets her husband. Each wants to hire him to kill the other. Nothing much to it, really.
So why is Stray Dogs, then, such a fine piece of work? It is mostly because John Ridley knows how to keep the pages turning without ever dropping into genre fiction; there's no real genre this book would fit into anyway. It has elements of hardboiled detective fiction, a dash of the action thriller here and there, and it's loaded with the weirdness one expects from many "postmodern" European authors, but it never settles down. It just keeps moving along as fast as it can. As well, Ridley knows when to quit. Stray Dogs is a very short novel, and its brevity adds to the punch it packs. The ending may be a little too pat for some readers, but it does have a poetic justice-style twist to it that will allow the majority to at least get a cynical smile out of it. Good stuff. *** ½
Stray Dogs is the epitome of the needless book. There is nothing to be learned from it, no deep meaning involved, no moral to the story. A guy on his way to pay off some loansharks he's into has a breakdown on the outskirts of a very strange little town in Nevada. While waiting for his car to be repaired, he finds himself in a unique situation (for him, anyway): he meets a beautiful young woman, then meets her husband. Each wants to hire him to kill the other. Nothing much to it, really.
So why is Stray Dogs, then, such a fine piece of work? It is mostly because John Ridley knows how to keep the pages turning without ever dropping into genre fiction; there's no real genre this book would fit into anyway. It has elements of hardboiled detective fiction, a dash of the action thriller here and there, and it's loaded with the weirdness one expects from many "postmodern" European authors, but it never settles down. It just keeps moving along as fast as it can. As well, Ridley knows when to quit. Stray Dogs is a very short novel, and its brevity adds to the punch it packs. The ending may be a little too pat for some readers, but it does have a poetic justice-style twist to it that will allow the majority to at least get a cynical smile out of it. Good stuff. *** ½
July 10, 2022
Stray Dogs is fucked up. You’re not supposed to “like” any of the characters. At all. Which makes for a rather convincing story. Meanwhile, the pacing, humor and tone are super on-point. Oliver Stone does a good job visually representing the book with U-Turn, but this a far more entertaining read than viewing experience. However, Stray Dogs is not for everyone. If you’re trying to avoid “problematic” literature, probably look beyond this book. It doesn’t pull any punches or spare feelings. Another reason I had a great time with it. One of the most underrated books I’ve ever read.
November 24, 2016
«Pensa storto e ti andrà tutto storto.»
Narrativa, cinema, tv, fumetto, Ridley è riuscito a lasciare un segno in ognuno di questi campi. È uno scrittore poco noto e sicuramente sottostimato ma di eclettico talento.
Da Cani randagi è stato tratto U Turn, un bel film del 1997 diretto da Oliver Stone, interpretato da Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopez, Nick Nolte, John Voight con la colonna sonora di Ennio Morricone e la sceneggiatura dello stesso Ridley.
Il protagonista del romanzo, John Steward, ("Un pesce diventa grosso in uno stagno piccolo" è il suo motto. A me più che altro sembra un pesce piccolo in una pozza stagnante.») è un tizio senza arte ne parte contro cui si accanisce la sfortuna.
È così che si misura l'essenza di un uomo: in quanto contante riesce a trasformare la sua vita quando è alle strette. Ottocento dollari non bastavano nemmeno a procurargli una sepoltura dignitosa.
A bordo della sua auto attraversa il deserto dell'Arizona, diretto a Las Vegas per saldare un debito con un mafioso italiano che gli ha fatto mozzare l'anulare e il mignolo della mano sinistra. Un guasto dell'auto costringe John a fermarsi a Sierra, un minuscolo paese sperduto nel deserto
Eccolo: il paese, o quello che passava per tale. Una fila di vetrine, una stazione degli autobus con annesso ufficio postale e una tavola calda. Con il vento a favore avrebbe potuto attraversarlo con uno sputo.
John deve lasciare la sua auto alle cure di uno strambo meccanico a nome Darrell.
«Faccio in fretta. E me la tratti bene, d'accordo?» «È solo una macchina.» «Non è solo una macchina. È una Mustang decappottabile del Sessantaquattro e mezzo.» John agguantò uno zaino dal sedile posteriore e se lo caricò sulla spalla. «Vede, è questa la differenza tra lei e me, è per questo che lei sta qui e io sono solo di passaggio.»
In paese John fa la conoscenza della bellissima ed ambigua Grace McKenna,
Già, tette, culo e tutto il resto. Ci erano voluti dieci milioni di anni di evoluzione per mettere insieme quel bocconcino. Se non era perfetta, da dove si trovava John non avrebbe saputo dire il perché. Dall'istante in cui le aveva posato gli occhi addosso, i guai avevano iniziato a fioccare come neve dal cielo. Nella migliore delle ipotesi era una fregatura. Nella peggiore era una catastrofe. Il guaio era che, come per quasi tutte le donne che stanno tra la fregatura e la catastrofe, la scopata era da dieci e lode.
Da qui iniziano una girandola di avvenimenti tra il drammatico e il paradossale che portano il lettore irresistibilmente e piacevolmente, fino alla fine della storia.
Ecco che cosa ottieni a dire la verità. La verità ti procura solo dolore, emicranie e scazzi. Se tieni a una, se la ami, e allo stesso tempo vuoi risparmiarti un po' di sofferenze, allora la verità non deve entrare nel rapporto e la si dovrebbe usare solo quando non riesci a confezionare su due piedi una bugia plausibile.
Narrativa, cinema, tv, fumetto, Ridley è riuscito a lasciare un segno in ognuno di questi campi. È uno scrittore poco noto e sicuramente sottostimato ma di eclettico talento.
Da Cani randagi è stato tratto U Turn, un bel film del 1997 diretto da Oliver Stone, interpretato da Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopez, Nick Nolte, John Voight con la colonna sonora di Ennio Morricone e la sceneggiatura dello stesso Ridley.
Il protagonista del romanzo, John Steward, ("Un pesce diventa grosso in uno stagno piccolo" è il suo motto. A me più che altro sembra un pesce piccolo in una pozza stagnante.») è un tizio senza arte ne parte contro cui si accanisce la sfortuna.
È così che si misura l'essenza di un uomo: in quanto contante riesce a trasformare la sua vita quando è alle strette. Ottocento dollari non bastavano nemmeno a procurargli una sepoltura dignitosa.
A bordo della sua auto attraversa il deserto dell'Arizona, diretto a Las Vegas per saldare un debito con un mafioso italiano che gli ha fatto mozzare l'anulare e il mignolo della mano sinistra. Un guasto dell'auto costringe John a fermarsi a Sierra, un minuscolo paese sperduto nel deserto
Eccolo: il paese, o quello che passava per tale. Una fila di vetrine, una stazione degli autobus con annesso ufficio postale e una tavola calda. Con il vento a favore avrebbe potuto attraversarlo con uno sputo.
John deve lasciare la sua auto alle cure di uno strambo meccanico a nome Darrell.
«Faccio in fretta. E me la tratti bene, d'accordo?» «È solo una macchina.» «Non è solo una macchina. È una Mustang decappottabile del Sessantaquattro e mezzo.» John agguantò uno zaino dal sedile posteriore e se lo caricò sulla spalla. «Vede, è questa la differenza tra lei e me, è per questo che lei sta qui e io sono solo di passaggio.»
In paese John fa la conoscenza della bellissima ed ambigua Grace McKenna,
Già, tette, culo e tutto il resto. Ci erano voluti dieci milioni di anni di evoluzione per mettere insieme quel bocconcino. Se non era perfetta, da dove si trovava John non avrebbe saputo dire il perché. Dall'istante in cui le aveva posato gli occhi addosso, i guai avevano iniziato a fioccare come neve dal cielo. Nella migliore delle ipotesi era una fregatura. Nella peggiore era una catastrofe. Il guaio era che, come per quasi tutte le donne che stanno tra la fregatura e la catastrofe, la scopata era da dieci e lode.
Da qui iniziano una girandola di avvenimenti tra il drammatico e il paradossale che portano il lettore irresistibilmente e piacevolmente, fino alla fine della storia.
Ecco che cosa ottieni a dire la verità. La verità ti procura solo dolore, emicranie e scazzi. Se tieni a una, se la ami, e allo stesso tempo vuoi risparmiarti un po' di sofferenze, allora la verità non deve entrare nel rapporto e la si dovrebbe usare solo quando non riesci a confezionare su due piedi una bugia plausibile.
December 29, 2025
3.45 stars
I'll start with the good. Stray Dogs is great genre fiction, it hits on all the fun neo-noir elements I love and does most of them quite well, although without any innovation. It has a good sense of humour and lots of fun, eccentric elements that pull you in and keep you there through its 170-ish pages. But this is one of those instances where the movie actually is better than the book. Stray Dogs isn't a bad book by any means, and it has a lot of the same charm Oliver Stone's movie adaptation—U Turn—does, but for me, it fails hard on two fronts: the ending, and something I like to nebulously call Perspective.
As many issues as I have with U Turn, I think its ending is basically perfect; comparatively, Stray Dogs ends fairly anti-climatically and not nearly as ironically as the whole premise of the story demands. Which brings me to perhaps the biggest issue, the aforementioned Perspective. Stray Dogs has a funky, misplaced machismo common to the neo-noir genre, and the story is at its best when John Ridley languishes in the hellish irony and pathetic underpinnings of the story's protagonist, John Stewart (and the similarly fucked up, shitty characters that inhabit the town of Sierra—that the town is named this inspires a silly fondness within me, being that my name is basically akin to hell). But Mr. Ridley thinks John is very cool, because he, of course, is John. Yes he recognizes that John sucks, but at the same time, John is portrayed as just a bit too "perfect asshole" for me to not constantly get the sense that Ridley admires the wrong parts of that otherwise fun fucked-up-ed-ness. You will not often see me compliment Oliver Stone, but he certainly saw who John was supposed to be: a man who fucks himself, over and over and over again, and dies with a busted fucking radiator hose. Because he's a stupid dumbfuck who can't help but piss off everyone he ever encounters all the time. And because he is played by Sean Penn, it's beautiful.
I'll start with the good. Stray Dogs is great genre fiction, it hits on all the fun neo-noir elements I love and does most of them quite well, although without any innovation. It has a good sense of humour and lots of fun, eccentric elements that pull you in and keep you there through its 170-ish pages. But this is one of those instances where the movie actually is better than the book. Stray Dogs isn't a bad book by any means, and it has a lot of the same charm Oliver Stone's movie adaptation—U Turn—does, but for me, it fails hard on two fronts: the ending, and something I like to nebulously call Perspective.
As many issues as I have with U Turn, I think its ending is basically perfect; comparatively, Stray Dogs ends fairly anti-climatically and not nearly as ironically as the whole premise of the story demands. Which brings me to perhaps the biggest issue, the aforementioned Perspective. Stray Dogs has a funky, misplaced machismo common to the neo-noir genre, and the story is at its best when John Ridley languishes in the hellish irony and pathetic underpinnings of the story's protagonist, John Stewart (and the similarly fucked up, shitty characters that inhabit the town of Sierra—that the town is named this inspires a silly fondness within me, being that my name is basically akin to hell). But Mr. Ridley thinks John is very cool, because he, of course, is John. Yes he recognizes that John sucks, but at the same time, John is portrayed as just a bit too "perfect asshole" for me to not constantly get the sense that Ridley admires the wrong parts of that otherwise fun fucked-up-ed-ness. You will not often see me compliment Oliver Stone, but he certainly saw who John was supposed to be: a man who fucks himself, over and over and over again, and dies with a busted fucking radiator hose. Because he's a stupid dumbfuck who can't help but piss off everyone he ever encounters all the time. And because he is played by Sean Penn, it's beautiful.
August 11, 2023
John Ridley's 1997 novel pays homage to crime noir masters like Gil Brewer and James M. Cain. A loser of a human being with big gambling debts and gangsters on his trail ends up stranded (car trouble) in a small desert town. Naturally, waiting for his car to be fixed, he meets a stunningly beautiful woman who's stuck in a bad marriage with a much older man who just happens to have a hundred thousand dollars in his home safe. You won't need a master's degree to figure out where this story is going.
All books of this sort feature characters who are desperate and make bad decisions. Money and sex are the catalysts. I've read many of these novels, like "Double Indemnity" and "The Postman Always Rings Twice." When they're well-done, they're big fun. The problem here is that the characters take stupidity to a whole new level. The word "idiots" doesn't even begin to describe these people. They do things that are breathtakingly irrational. Why would you trust someone who has double-crossed you not once, not twice, but three times? Yeah, it's that stupid.
For those who care, the language is extremely profane and vulgar. If that bothers you, this won't be the book for you.
All books of this sort feature characters who are desperate and make bad decisions. Money and sex are the catalysts. I've read many of these novels, like "Double Indemnity" and "The Postman Always Rings Twice." When they're well-done, they're big fun. The problem here is that the characters take stupidity to a whole new level. The word "idiots" doesn't even begin to describe these people. They do things that are breathtakingly irrational. Why would you trust someone who has double-crossed you not once, not twice, but three times? Yeah, it's that stupid.
For those who care, the language is extremely profane and vulgar. If that bothers you, this won't be the book for you.
September 6, 2022
3,5
La película basada en este libro, U Turn de Oliver Stone, es de mis thrillers favoritos y era evidente que antes o después la novela acabaría en mi mano. He de decir que el film está muy bien basado en el texto y lo supera poniendo unos detalles aquí y allá -y también porque el director y el reparto lo hacen maravillosamente-.
La historia de un hombre que va hacia Las Vegas para saldar una importante deuda y su vehículo se avería en el desierto de Sierra, consiguiendo llegar a un pueblucho cercano llamado Sierra. A partir de ahí, la mala suerte, personajes de dudosa índole que hacen ofertas y contraofertas para sus propios propósitos será una constante para el protagonista, que conforme se le acaba el tiempo y no logra avanzar tendrá que tomar sus decisiones en un juego en el que cada cual barre para sí mismo.
Un noir adictivo, rápido de leer, con personajes turbios y una historia de intereses con sus giros, muy recomendable.
La película basada en este libro, U Turn de Oliver Stone, es de mis thrillers favoritos y era evidente que antes o después la novela acabaría en mi mano. He de decir que el film está muy bien basado en el texto y lo supera poniendo unos detalles aquí y allá -y también porque el director y el reparto lo hacen maravillosamente-.
La historia de un hombre que va hacia Las Vegas para saldar una importante deuda y su vehículo se avería en el desierto de Sierra, consiguiendo llegar a un pueblucho cercano llamado Sierra. A partir de ahí, la mala suerte, personajes de dudosa índole que hacen ofertas y contraofertas para sus propios propósitos será una constante para el protagonista, que conforme se le acaba el tiempo y no logra avanzar tendrá que tomar sus decisiones en un juego en el que cada cual barre para sí mismo.
Un noir adictivo, rápido de leer, con personajes turbios y una historia de intereses con sus giros, muy recomendable.
February 2, 2019
PROTAGONIST: John Stewart
SETTING: Nevada desert
RATING: 3.0
WHY: John Stewart is having a very very very bad day. He’s a gambler. While in Vegas, he gets dealt 4 kings in a poker game. Confident that he is going to win, he borrows $13,000 to make a bet. Whoops, another guy has 4 Aces. He leaves town and breaks down in a weird town in the Nevada desert. His car dies, and he has to wait for it to be repaired. After that, he is robbed by some bikers while in a convenience store owned by a rifle-wielding Mexican woman, fights with a jealous teenager who shreds his bus ticket to Mexico and meets a beautiful woman, then her older husband. Each wants to hire him to kill the other. The day never gets any better and ends pretty much like you’d expect. There isn’t much to the book—it’s only 168 pages long and lacks any descriptive narrative or character development.
SETTING: Nevada desert
RATING: 3.0
WHY: John Stewart is having a very very very bad day. He’s a gambler. While in Vegas, he gets dealt 4 kings in a poker game. Confident that he is going to win, he borrows $13,000 to make a bet. Whoops, another guy has 4 Aces. He leaves town and breaks down in a weird town in the Nevada desert. His car dies, and he has to wait for it to be repaired. After that, he is robbed by some bikers while in a convenience store owned by a rifle-wielding Mexican woman, fights with a jealous teenager who shreds his bus ticket to Mexico and meets a beautiful woman, then her older husband. Each wants to hire him to kill the other. The day never gets any better and ends pretty much like you’d expect. There isn’t much to the book—it’s only 168 pages long and lacks any descriptive narrative or character development.
June 17, 2024
Nothing is easier or more fun to read than a short, quick paced book. I picked this up because I love the movie (U-Turn), and I wanted to see if the book differed from the movie. Turns out it does and it doesn't. I guess I was hoping for more back story and internal monolog to further explore character motives. There's some, but the book doesn't offer much in the way of things you don't need to know. Other than that, the ending is slightly different. Not a page is wasted and none of it is bad. In fact, it's not hard to picture yourself stuck in a small town filled with colorful characters and no way out. When you think about it's a story that's been told many times in many different ways but, as far as I'm concerned, it never gets old.
December 26, 2018
The Oliver Stone movie U-Turn is based on this book. Apparently the movie was made before the book was published. It reads like a less-good screenplay of the movie. I expected it to be everything the movie was, but better (the way source material for movies often is), but instead it was nothing more than the movie... and slightly less. On the other hand now I can add this to my list of movies that are better than the book (with Breakfast at Tiffany’s).
May 11, 2021
I really liked this book a lot and it was a fast read. I wish Mr. Ridley had kept on writing novels. The only thing is and this isn’t a bad thing at all but it reminded me of a movie I love called Red Rock West a lot. It was crazy how similar they were at times but again, not a bad thing. Definitely a fun read.
October 27, 2022
If you have any respect for women, minority groups, of indigenous people, don't read this book. Awful, full of sexism and racism. The story wasn't even good. The need to make the lead character hate-able overpowers any possibility of a good story line. Not recommended. If I could score it lower than 1 star I would.
April 25, 2022
I bet if he knew that this would be the end he wouldn't have made so free kicking it up in everyone's face.
June 25, 2024
Stripped-down desert noir at its leanest and meanest. Reads like it was written to be a movie, and should have been a better one.
December 9, 2016
The protagonist of Stray Dogs has a knack for making bad life decisions, ones that lead to often having to leave town in a hurry. He's a gambling addict, so he eventually ended up in Las Vegas, settling down with a girlfriend, occasionally paying part of the rent, until an illegal poker game goes bad and he finds himself on the run once again. His car breaks down in the small, dying desert town of Sierra, which is where his luck turns even worse.
Stewart is not a man you would want to have anywhere near you or anyone you love. You probably wouldn't want him near your enemies. He's almost completely amoral, entirely self-absorbed and his language would make a gang member blush. He's also a lot of fun within the pages of a book. His luck is terrible. If a convenience store is being robbed, he'll be inside buying twinkies. If someone has a really bad idea, they'll invite him to participate. Which he will.
The writing is a bit sparse on characterization and nuance, but with so much going on, one barely notices that the characters are almost cartoons.
The truth. This is what telling the truth got him. Truth brings only pain, and heartache, and difficulty. If you care about someone, if you love them, and if you want to spare yourself a little suffering at the same time, then truth has got no place in a relationship and should only be used when a good lie doesn't come quick enough.
Stewart is not a man you would want to have anywhere near you or anyone you love. You probably wouldn't want him near your enemies. He's almost completely amoral, entirely self-absorbed and his language would make a gang member blush. He's also a lot of fun within the pages of a book. His luck is terrible. If a convenience store is being robbed, he'll be inside buying twinkies. If someone has a really bad idea, they'll invite him to participate. Which he will.
The writing is a bit sparse on characterization and nuance, but with so much going on, one barely notices that the characters are almost cartoons.
The truth. This is what telling the truth got him. Truth brings only pain, and heartache, and difficulty. If you care about someone, if you love them, and if you want to spare yourself a little suffering at the same time, then truth has got no place in a relationship and should only be used when a good lie doesn't come quick enough.
April 3, 2009
Quirky little novel -- dark humor, not a lot of detail, but well paced and characters pretty well drawn. No one is especially endearing or sympathetic or likable, but I could see this easily becoming a movie. It had sort of a screen play feel. so I did a search on imdb and saw that it was made into a movie in 1997 called U Turn. The cast was interesting (and interesting to note that the main character has a name change from John Stewart to Bobby Cooper). I can see where most of the actors chosen would work well in the roles.
Anyhow, it was a quick, gritty read, which is what I have come to expect from anyone named Ridley. I would read more of his stuff if it comes my way. I just won't expect a feel-good novel.
Anyhow, it was a quick, gritty read, which is what I have come to expect from anyone named Ridley. I would read more of his stuff if it comes my way. I just won't expect a feel-good novel.
September 4, 2013
I saw the movie like 15 years ago before I read the book.The book is a pretty good read.If you liked the movie,you should like the book,its almost exactly the same except for a few differences and the main characters name along with the towns name.The book ending is different from the movie ending.I liked the movie and the movies ending better.The book is still pretty good tho.
December 6, 2013
I picked up Stray Dogs at a good will, and I'm glad the the last reader left it there for me. Stray Dogs is an intense and fiery book that practically burned my hands as I read it, just like the sun that is described in John Ridley's hard hitting truthful words. reading the book I could feel the heat and sand from sierra's desert landscape, along side the heat of all the choices made by John.
February 13, 2015
This is an extremely uneven collection. Some of the stories are so boring they border on unbearable, but my oh my are there some good ones. "Get Back" is a little story about revenge that was all too short--I would have traded in all the other stories in this collection to have a book length version of it.
February 7, 2016
Talk about a page turner! I haven't been so captivated by a book in a good while and this book demanded my attention at every page. Well written, you'll see Johns troubles double, then multiply from there. absolutely loved this book and recommend to anyone wanting a good, quick read!
December 22, 2007
It's short to begin with and goes really really fast. It's kind of cliched and self-impressed but it has a great ending.
January 21, 2008
Most guys would love this book. It has wild characters and action.
March 17, 2008
Starts RIGHTNOW and hauls ass down the road. A blast!
September 9, 2016
One of the rare cases in which the movie is actually better than the book that inspired it.
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