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The Uglies
The America. The closer than we may realize.
Unemployment is in high double-digits. The acrid stench of civil war smokes the air. The 1930s Great Depression all over . . . just a little more high-tech.
Arch and Tess Uglias are blue-collar residents of the desolate Rust Belt city of Gary, Indiana. Arch, an unemployed auto-plant worker and ex-race car driver, and Tess, an unemployed nurse, are both staring homelessness and starvation in face.
Meanwhile, Frank Regis, an aging disciple of the legendary bank robber Willie Sutton, is masterminding a string of bank robberies throughout Indiana. The Regis gang is a fractious collage of professional criminals, like Frank, and once law-abiding folks who have turned to crime out of desperation.
After one of their drivers is killed during a getaway, the Regis gang goes in search of a replacement, a road that leads them to Arch Uglias. Though a law-abiding citizen and square guy his whole life, Arch, like some of the other gang members, feels compelled to take the wheel. And Tess becomes an outspoken, unwilling, uncooperative part of the package.
From there, it’s a boisterous, bawdy and dangerous drive through a desperate world for the Regis gang, from the ruins of the Midwest to the ruins of the West Coast with ruthless law enforcement in pursuit and mistrust and murder blossoming among them. In the end, the war that has been raging at the edges suddenly draws them into its bloody vortex, leading to a fierce climax of double cross and desperate escape.
“The Uglies,” an original screenplay by Thomas Burchfield (“Dragon’s Ark,” “Whackers”), drives the same perilous roads as such classics as “Bonnie and Clyde” and “The Getaway. It is a wild, bawdy, and action-packed saga about crime and pursuit, friendship and survival. It’s also the story of people who realize the need to stick together as the world around them falls to pieces.
Unemployment is in high double-digits. The acrid stench of civil war smokes the air. The 1930s Great Depression all over . . . just a little more high-tech.
Arch and Tess Uglias are blue-collar residents of the desolate Rust Belt city of Gary, Indiana. Arch, an unemployed auto-plant worker and ex-race car driver, and Tess, an unemployed nurse, are both staring homelessness and starvation in face.
Meanwhile, Frank Regis, an aging disciple of the legendary bank robber Willie Sutton, is masterminding a string of bank robberies throughout Indiana. The Regis gang is a fractious collage of professional criminals, like Frank, and once law-abiding folks who have turned to crime out of desperation.
After one of their drivers is killed during a getaway, the Regis gang goes in search of a replacement, a road that leads them to Arch Uglias. Though a law-abiding citizen and square guy his whole life, Arch, like some of the other gang members, feels compelled to take the wheel. And Tess becomes an outspoken, unwilling, uncooperative part of the package.
From there, it’s a boisterous, bawdy and dangerous drive through a desperate world for the Regis gang, from the ruins of the Midwest to the ruins of the West Coast with ruthless law enforcement in pursuit and mistrust and murder blossoming among them. In the end, the war that has been raging at the edges suddenly draws them into its bloody vortex, leading to a fierce climax of double cross and desperate escape.
“The Uglies,” an original screenplay by Thomas Burchfield (“Dragon’s Ark,” “Whackers”), drives the same perilous roads as such classics as “Bonnie and Clyde” and “The Getaway. It is a wild, bawdy, and action-packed saga about crime and pursuit, friendship and survival. It’s also the story of people who realize the need to stick together as the world around them falls to pieces.
168 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
About the author
Thomas Burchfield
8 books7 followersBorn in Peekskill New York, I now live in Northern California with my wife, Elizabeth,
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 15, 2012
Shoulda coulda woulda, but I didn't (write the review when I was reading it or shortly after finishing it). Which means I don't have total recall. One aspect of this book had a version of what I imagine many people experience in their dreams: There was flight-of-self (i.e. the main character and her group of "Uglies" could fly by standing on what was referred to as "hover boards"). I've always fancied dreams with flying in them, although I don't have them often (or rather, I don't often remember if I have them).
June 29, 2014
I did not like this book at all when i was reading it it didnt make sence and i didnt get connected with eather charactors... it just didnt make sence... i am 13 years old and if you have an imagination read this book but if your looking for adventure... well dont read this book
May 18, 2013
Really quite bad. Couldn't make it past the first 5 or 6 chapters.
December 19, 2013
This book taught me that once you reach perfection, you realize that perfection is not what you actually meant to achieve.
Read this action-packed novel! Do it!
Read this action-packed novel! Do it!
July 21, 2016
weird book. liked the storyline and characters.
March 3, 2014
How did I miss this series? Great message and applaudable protagonists.
November 21, 2014
I usually don't like sci-fi but liked it. I liked the commentary on society
February 9, 2015
12 year old loved this book
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews