Joe Hustle: A Novel

by Richard Lange

Joe Hustle has never had much luck—but things start looking up when he meets an intriguing new woman and scores a rare windfall. Can he outrun disaster long enough to turn things around?   Joe Hustle is a survivor. A Gulf War vet and ex-con always one stumble away from catastrophe, he manages to scrape together enough money from various jobs to eke out a precarious existence on the darker fringes of Los Angeles. When he meets Emily, the black-sheep daughter of a wealthy family, the two spark an instant connection—she seems like the best thing to happen to him in a while.   But their whirlwind romance is put to the test when what starts out as a simple favor for a friend leaves Joe homeless, unemployed, and on the wrong side of a vengeful drug dealer. An impulsive offer to go on a road trip with Emily promises to take them out of harm’s way—but may only lead to more chaos.   Part hard-boiled love story, part thriller, part portrait of a tormented yet resilient soul, Joe Hustle ratchets up the tension as it rockets from the after-hours clubs and dive bars of the mean streets of L.A. to the mansions of the Hollywood Hills and, finally, to the desolate highways of the Southwest. What emerges is a gritty portrait of a man who may be down but can never be counted out.

Genres: Fiction, Crime, Audiobook, Novels, Contemporary, Noir, Mystery Thriller

259 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 25, 2024

About the author

Author of Joe Hustle, Rovers, The Smack, Sweet Nothing, Angel Baby, This Wicked World, and Dead Boys.

Reviews

[Robert Intriago · Rating 4 out of 5]


A fun book to read. It is fast paced with lots of fun characters and lots of action. Joe is a loner with streaks of good and bad luck. He grew up rough, joined the military, spent time in jail and has had a string of part time jobs. Despite all of that he is basically a decent guy with a bad temper. Then he gets in some trouble and has to try to solve the problem and help his girlfriend.

[Anthony Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just too damned good. Lange is one-of-a-kind and I hope he inspires an entire generation of crime writers the same way Elmore Leonard did.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

A poignant and powerful meditation on life at the margins of Los Angeles.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author hits all the high notes for me. Gritty, flawed but basically good characters who grow on you and get under your skin. Doc Pomus said it best, when talking about Richard Lange's musical equal, and he could have been talking about Richard Lange. "He knows the truth of a city street and the courage in a ghetto love song. And the harsh reality in his voice and phrasing is yesterday, today, and tomorrow -- timeless in the same way that loneliness, no money, and troubles find each other and never quit for a minute. But the fighters always have a shot at turning a corner, and if you holler loud enough, sometimes somebody hears you.

[B. Kirby · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ll be the first to say, I love Lange’s writing. I’ve read 2 or 3 of this books and always love them and they read so easy. But I just can’t for the life of me figure out what the point of this one was. If you want to read about a guy who can’t really get ahead in life and just a day by day walk in his shoes for about 3 weeks then this is the book for you. Other than that I can’t really say much else besides it was written really well. I don’t even know how to rate it because it wasn’t bad but it just wasn’t anything really.

[PhattandyPDX · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richard Lange is one of my favorite writers; I’ve read all of his stuff. Though identified as a noir writer, his writing casts a much wider net. He is the best writer of Los Angeles Realism, and ranks up there with Fante, Celine (France), and Raymond Carver (Pacific Northwest).

Joe McDonald, “Joe Hustle”, has been hustling since he was a young kid: staying away from beatings by his parent with a hanger and surviving neglect. His stamina is of Olympic caliber as he navigates bad hangovers, shit jobs, and horrible living situations. He remains steadfast in his resolve and determination to survive, and find meaningful human connection in his black hole of Los Angeles.

You’re always pulling for Joe throughout the book, which was both enthralling and ultimately heartbreaking. As with all of Lange’s work, I can never put it down. I read this in about a day and a half.

Richard, thanks for all of your work and for Joe Hustle.

[Glen · Rating 5 out of 5]

4 1/2* Gritty and credible view of contemporary LA. Not "the Westside" that most popular and news media extol. And not so much the ethnic cultures. Glendale raised white guy with generally good intentions just can't get out of his own way. Denies the cliche' that hard work will lead to success. Filled with credible "denizens," the author captures some personalities so well that I feel I have known them or their relatives over many years (definitely associated with decades of indigent criminal defense). Particularly effective is the exposition of the female problem dynamic. I admire Lange's direct and intelligent approach to the narrative. I feel vibes of Cormac McCarthy. These are not stupid people presented in some sort of morality play to excuse why bad things happen to them. Nor are they whiz kids growing up with heavily nurtured childhoods and multiple options for their profitable future. I can believe this story. Like it so much that I read it twice and have been chasing down his other works since.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a thriller like the other stories I've read by this author. It's a compelling and very real story of survival. A love story. A road trip story. Joe is a guy who works hard and occasionally lapses into bad judgment. Former Marine, ex-convict. He takes responsibility for his actions and moves on and doesn't brood. Joe is the guy who gets on the train even though he knows it might wreck. He's a good guy who has made some bad choices but always gets back up and doesn't give up. An engaging character who deserves some good luck for once.

[MM Suarez · Rating 3 out of 5]

"If there’s a hell, everyone I’ve ever met is going there. If there’s a heaven, it’s only for dogs."

Not what I was expecting after reading Angel Baby but still a good read and great writing. To say Joe is a hard-luck case is understating the situation, born to trouble, raised by trouble, and picking up more trouble is this guys' life. Even so, you feel like his heart is in the right place, even while he's making another questionable decision, and in the end you hope he catches a break soon.

[Colin Brightwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brutally stunning novel.

[Håvard Hegtun · Rating 2 out of 5]

A well told story that's not worth telling

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another heartbreaking tale of desperate, beautiful losers. Absolutely loved it.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[Derrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richard Lange’s writing style is an irresistible blend of hipness and precision. With Joe Hustle, Lange delivers an addicting story of a strong but struggling protagonist, Joe McDonald, who lives on the margins in Los Angeles. Joe survives off odd jobs and as soon as his luck turns around, something always seems to throw a wrench into his progress.

On one of his jobs, Joe meets Emily. Their relationship becomes a major part of the story, for which Lange provides plenty of intriguing imagery and embellishments that transport the reader to Southern California. When I say Richard Lange is the reigning king of Los Angeles literature, that is not hyperbole. Lange knows LA inside and out, and he writes about his hometown with a passion and a purpose that simply can’t be feigned. I’ve been following Lange’s career since 2007’s collection of shorts, Dead Boys. With each novel or story collection, Lange takes the reader one step closer to a California paradise, however rocky and uncertain the road may be.

Without money or social status, Joe hustles his living in Burbank, and clings to some pretty high-end pockets of L.A. Throughout his travels in the southwestern US, Joe encounters — but is never swayed by — delusional California bashers who diss L.A. and are so sure that the Golden State is no longer a desirable place to live.

Throughout his entire catalogue, Lange takes readers through Los Angeles, and after a change of locale in 2021’s novel Rovers, Lange takes us back to familiar So Cal turf in Joe Hustle. And while Lange’s portrayals of characters and settings are more often gritty than glamorous, we can be sure they are always true to life. As a rough-around-the-edges Iraq vet and ex-con, Joe is a relatable character, an earnest everyman with a tireless work ethic and a constant, burning desire to get his life together.

Throughout Joe Hustle’s zigzagging journey from struggling to stability, Lange paints pictures with words and quite frankly I could not put this book down. See for yourself what the hype is about: Joe Hustle is the finest portrait of one man on a quest to find work, love, and a more stable life, all while struggling to stay alive. Highly recommend!

[Sycobabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not native to LA but having lived there for a few years, and going to visit my aunt and uncle in Silver Lake for thirty years has made me very partial to a certain LA identity that has nothing to do with the facade of Hollywood. This book really captures that working class struggle that isn’t about “making it big” but just making it through the week. The madness of working double shifts, working when you should be sleeping, sleeping when you should be eating, eating when you should be running for your life; saying yes to a job even if you don’t know how you’ll get there or what it entails. All the neighborhoods you blow through on your way somewhere cooler is where Joe exists. His resourcefulness to put money in his pocket by any means necessary is the very real LA of survival. Joe isn’t just a character in a book, he’s as real as anyone I’ve ever met. This book is gritty but there’s also a fiery romance at it’s core. I really enjoyed Joe and Emily on the road, their discoveries and passion, the good and bad places new love can take you. Lange pulls no punches with where he takes these characters but he let’s them dream a pretty little dream.

[Jason Bovberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joe Hustle is a great hang. It’s filled with unexpectedly weighty character moments that build to a startling illumination. It’s a hilarious book at times, and at other times quite horrific. Most of the time, it’s an amiable, page-turning pleasure. Joe and Emily are flawed people doing their best to navigate difficult avenues, both literally and figuratively. The roads they travel are pure Richard Lange, paved with grit and sheened with drug sweat. Joe Hustle is about low criminals and hot attraction, lazy ambition and desperate deception. Mostly it’s about two people making their way in and around all that, making a human connection wherever they can find purchase.

[Caleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books I've read in a while. The protagonist has a daily flaming shitshow of a life, and still keeps going. It really puts things in perspective. Highly recommended, if you enjoy tales of surviving anything thrown your way.

[Mrs. Read · Rating 3 out of 5]

Others have been more impressed with Richard Lange’s Joe Hustle than I, possibly because they found the writer’s portrayal of the protagonist's doomed struggle to get some kind of foothold in life more pitiful than aggravating. The character he describes has achieved his ostensible goal - an apartment, a reliable car, and a regular job - several times, and lost them each time due to an inability to resist temporary - and ultimately costly - temptations. The book is a play-by-play account of his current failure. He certainly is not helped by his indolent, dishonest, and/or criminal friends; the writer leaves unanswered the fundamental question of whether they “made” him the way he is or he was drawn to them because of way he already was. That “water seeks its own level” was obvious to me from childhood and it is nowadays equally obvious that many disagree. Lange’s Joe Hustle may confirm or challenge your opinion.

[Mysticpt · Rating 4 out of 5]

4+

[Dolly Sis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked this up in a whim. Turned out to be one of my favorite books ever.

[Thomas Trang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been a fan of Richard Lange for years now, and read everything he's put out with the exception of his last novel Rovers. Not sure why that is, maybe the supernatural aspect turned me off (though I'm sure he's done something different and unique with it, and I'll kick myself once I get around to it).

Anyway, this novel is a return to a more straightforward LA crime story. Or is it?

Joe Hustle is a book that could fall into several sub-genres. Gritty LA noir, feverish American road trip novel, razor sharp character study. You could even call it a dark romance.

It is all of these things. Hard to categorise, impossible to put down. The writing is crisp, filled with small details and textures that being it to life.

There's a conceit that he uses through the novel where the action is broken up by short interviews with Joe. This was established in the first chapter, where we learn he's been talking to a potential filmmaker about his life, sharing stories and so on. It's almost a writerly cheat code to sneak in a back story and some character details about Joe, but it works. The inserts are fairly simple and biographical at first: we learn about his prison stint, Iraq service, but then gradually get more abstract/conversational as the main narrative twists and shifts into unexpected territory.

So in one sense we are on familiar ground with Lange here - the SoCal setting, characters toiling away at the margins of modern life - but it's something new. Angel Baby was like a bullet from a gun type of plot that raced along to its conclusion. The Smack was more of a Chinese box puzzle with different characters embroiled in a hunt for a MacGuffin/big bag of cash. This novel takes its sweet time to unspool. We sit with Joe and the other characters for nearly half the book before anything like a 'crime' or 'inciting incident' happens.

And even then, the story moves at its own measured pace. And guess what? It's never slow or boring. That's how good the writing is. That's how richly drawn the characters are.

Definitely one of the best books I'll read in 2024.

[Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joe Hustle by Richard Lange is a curious blend of fast-paced moments and slower, introspective beats. While the plot itself is relatively thin, the book leans heavily on its character-driven narrative, following one man's journey to find himself amidst the chaos of his relationships and surroundings. However, the ending twist felt disconnected from the broader narrative arc, as if it belonged to a different story altogether. The heart of the book seemed focused on Joe's self-discovery and the dynamics with those around him, but the resolution lacked cohesion, leaving the twist feeling unearned.

One challenge I had was reconciling the unlikability of the characters. Joe and the people in his orbit are flawed, and while this can often enhance a story's realism, here it made it harder to emotionally invest in their outcomes. At the same time, this deliberate choice might reflect Lange’s attempt to showcase the raw, messy nature of humanity.

The subplot about the young filmmaker crafting a documentary on Joe’s life felt disjointed and underdeveloped, almost as if it were grafted onto the story without fully integrating into the main narrative. This narrative device had potential but ended up feeling more like a missed opportunity. Similarly, the relationship between Joe and Emily, which could have been the emotional anchor of the story, felt depthless, leaving key dynamics unexplored.

Ultimately, the book feels like a commentary on modern life through the lens of trauma—a theme that has been extensively explored in contemporary literature. While the book attempts to offer its own perspective, it struggles to break new ground, instead treading familiar territory without adding significant depth or innovation to the conversation.

That said, Lange's prose is sharp, and his depiction of the gritty, complicated lives of his characters does have moments of brilliance. Readers who appreciate morally complex characters and themes of identity and resilience might find more to appreciate here. However, for those looking for fresh insights into trauma or the human condition, this book might fall short of expectations.

In the end, it may not have fully resonated with me, but the book could provoke thoughtful discussions for readers who enjoy dissecting flawed characters and ambiguous resolutions.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

My review for this novel was published by Library Journal in May 2024:

After a successful left turn into the supernatural in the 2021 vampire novel Rovers, Lange returns with a memorably gritty neo-noir. Joe Hustle lives up to his moniker, surviving on odd jobs and the generosity of a rogues’ gallery of characters in his orbit. Tending bar, minding the register at a convenience store, driving drunk people around at all hours: anything he can take to eke out another day on the seedy side of Los Angeles. Everything changes when he’s hired on a painting job up in the Hollywood Hills and meets Emily, the owner’s wild-child sister. Joe and Emily begin a tenuous but intense relationship, providing Joe with a stability and a sense of purpose he hasn’t had in years, one that is threatened when he finds himself homeless, he becomes the target of a local drug dealer, and Emily begs him to take a cross-country road trip to see her estranged daughter. The chapters with action alternate with transcripts of Joe’s conversation with an unidentified person to flesh out his backstory. VERDICT Lange is so adept at drawing his two main characters that readers won’t mind the relative lack of plot twists; the real suspense comes from seeing Joe Hustle skate by one more time.

Copyright ©2024 Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. Reprinted with permission.

[Jacklyn B · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 star rounded to 4 star

Joe Hustle is well, hustling. He is doing his best to simply survive. He is a vet, and an ex-con and has been living in some rather morally grey areas of society.

Emily is the black sheep in her wealthy family and she and Joe seem to have a connection when they meet - maybe Joe’s life is looking up…well, not so much. Things really go sideways for them. Will Joe be able to get himself out of a real mess?

This was my first book by Richard Lange and I really enjoy books that cross genres. This is part thriller, part romance and part something else I can’t quite put my finger on.

Joe was an interesting character - yes he has terrible luck and he sometimes makes questionable decisions, but he also felt relatable. No spoilers but these characters go through a lot.

By the end of the I wasn’t sure what to think of Joe, but I love characters who are complex and gritty and don’t always do what we want them to, spending time in the grey area of life. I am still not entirely sure what this book was about, but I feel maybe that’s the point!

I keep coming back to the ending…if you are looking for a book that is wrapped up in a neat bow, this isn’t it. But it will definitely get under your skin.

[Sara G · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a pleasant surprise of a book! As the title suggests, Joe Hustle a character study, and a damn good one.

Richard Lange does incredible justice to all his characters, especially the titular Joe, with straightforward, image-filled writing that allows a reader to fill in the gaps about why his characters are who they are. For example, Joe likes to see people at hardware stores because he likes to imagine the projects they’ll go on to make—details like these don’t have to do much in order to make an emotional impact and tell us that Joe values industriousness; he imagines a hopeful future, in spite of all he’s been through. Same goes for how he imagines his apartment as being like a “cell,” how the sun “gnaws” at him, how he prefers sweating to thinking, how he knows song lyrics because of all his time working in bars, how he’s determined to never steal and disrespects those who do, and how he often has to pawn off his tools but aspires to someday be the kind of person who owns his own set. If you’re reading this review, you likely have a full image of who this person is from those lines alone, but there’s so much more to unpack in this narrative. Like, I love that this story depicts Joe’s flaws without ever absolving them – he’s a classic antihero.

Lange also depicts his side characters with distinctiveness, especially the selfish screenplay writer who the audience checks in with at the end of each chapter. The story does a great job setting up Joe’s interactions with him—they start paying off by the end of chapter one.

This is my second Lange novel, after Rovers, and something I appreciate about both books is how he vividly describes environments, especially neighborhood color—in Joe Hustle, I particularly love the image of twenty speakers in a neighborhood, with each of them playing something different. Of course, much of this story takes place in a desolate, uncaring country, which ties into the themes of this story—shit happens, and the world largely doesn’t care, but people who live hand to mouth must keep plugging away regardless. I resonate quite a bit with how Lange’s storytelling reflects a cynical view of the state of America. Even after people suffer extreme personal disasters, the world keeps plugging away, demanding that everyone keep up and pay their bills. The world in this story is cruel and unfeeling, and it says so much about how Lange sees America and its institutions. Throughout the novel, I found myself wondering why Joe didn’t have more resources to draw from as a veteran. What’s absent from this story speaks almost as loudly as what’s there.

There’s so much I could say about this book. Like, the transitions between loud neighborhoods to desolate landscapes are reflected in the text itself—like how Joe and Emily go from comfortable silences to tense ones where they have nothing to say to each other. I could go on, but I really recommend that people pick this one up for themselves and experience it—at 255 pages, it’s a brisk read.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read all six of Lange's previous books as they've appeared and this seventh continues largely in the same thematic vein. His first collection of short stories (Dead Boys) were all set in and around Los Angeles, featuring 25-40 year old white guys who are struggling and deeply alienated with the world around them. His subsequent novels and short stories generally have similar protagonists, and so it's no surprise that the titular one in his latest is an ex-con military vet barely scraping together a living and living in a sketchy rooming house. (He's perhaps a little too similar to the ex-Marine, LA bartender protagonist of Lange's earlier book, "This Wicked World").

The story follows his scrambling to stay afloat in the city that doesn't care, cobbling together his odd jobs (bartender, landscaping, on-call liquor store clerk, rideshare sub-sub-contractor) and eventually getting an old steady bartending gig back. The nature of his life and contacts leads to an unexpected opportunity involving some coke and a gun. Meanwhile, he meets a cute woman and gets tangled up in her messy life. It's hard not root for him as he hustles, and makes mostly good decisions -- until he doesn't.

There's a certain underdog appeal to this guy who's trying to keep his head above water in a country that has no mercy, but then he loses his cool or has two drinks too many, and once again is the root of his own downfall. It definitely felt like it was covering familiar ground for Lange, so hoping the next one has something fresh to it.

[Mark Miano · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Joe's been up and down so many times, it makes him seasick to think about it. Whenever he manages to save a few bucks and get a decent place to live or a reliable vehicle, something happens to send him to the bottom of the hill again."

Joe Hustle is the nickname of Joe McDonald, a Gulf War veteran and ex-con who lives in Los Angeles and can't seem to stay out of trouble.

Trouble in this book comes in many forms. Trouble finding steady work. Trouble paying rent. Trouble with a drug dealer named Danny. And ultimately, trouble with Emily, a wealthy but mentally ill woman who convinces Joe to drive her to Austin, Texas, to be reunited with her daughter.

I have wanted to read Richard Lange for years after a recommendation from Joe McGinnis, a friend and fantastic author who has recommended several great books over the years. I'm not sure what finally got me to pick up JOE HUSTLE, but I'm happy I did.

Joe Hustle is a character who I enjoyed spending time with, even when it's just him driving back home from Austin, alone, broken, sipping warm Bud Lights, and struggling to stay awake. Written in the present tense, you're there along for the ride through all those ups and downs, marveling at how Joe Hustle somehow manages to just keep going.

Richard Lange is an acclaimed crime writer and Guggenheim Fellow who I'll be spending time with as I work through his books. Highly recommend.

[Julien L · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Lange a lot. He writes stories about outsiders in the margins, which is a thing I gravitate to. This is another one of those books, with a well-written, lived-in title character whose life is shambles, drifting from job-to-job, and these jobs provide the vehicle for the bits and pieces of story that pop up here. Ostensibly marketed as a crime novel (although I believe this is in part due to the pigeonholing nature of the publishing industry - Lange writes crime previously, and is now a "crime" writer by default), this is more of a slice-of-life, where a singular narrative doesn't really play out (you could argue the plot with Emily is the main thrust of the narrative); rather, the novel kind of sprawls in different directions, and these directions reveal different aspects of Joe that both endear him to the reader and also make us question his motives. The interstitial chapters reveal his capacity for both truth and lying, and leave some delicious ambiguity in the mix as to who Joe really is. This kind of novel of slice-of-life only works if its lead is strong, and Lange succeeds there. For some unknown reasons, I found the book to lose speed towards the end of the text, in the last 30 pages or so. Even still, if the first 90% or so is really strong, then it's still something worth reading.

[Mario Mirabelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Good tale of a down on his luck ex-marine who is always a step away from nothing. Joe MacDonald/Hustle has not had an easy life. His father went to his brothers house and killed him with five year old Joe in the car and then took him to lunch. The father took off but was caught by the police a week later. Within a year, he was dead. His mother was emotionally abusive and married often. Joe went into the Marines to get away and served in Iraq, but was part of an ambush which cost the lives of many. Upon his return, Joe wasn't a model citizen and eventually went to prison for a year for auto theft. Since he bounces from one short term job to the next barely keeping a roof over his head. Now at forty one, life consists of no car but a room in a rundown home. Things are looking up s he now has a steady bartending job and manual labor during the day. While helping a friend paint a house in North Hollywood, he meets the girl of his dreams/nightmares, Emily. She has her own set of baggage which is equal to Joe's but at least she can crash at her sister's house. Hijinks ensue with a road trip to Austin to boot. These two can barely stay a float but entertaining it is.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It contains everything I have loved about Richard Lange’s writing since first picking up Dead Boys. Nobody does character studies like Lange. This book was a particularly interesting experience for me because the main character Joe was exactly my age. Lange did an incredible job at getting into an elder millennial’s head without resorting to stereotypes. I very much related to Joe, I went to school and worked with him. I know and understand his point of view. Which made his fatalistic romance Emily equal parts exciting and heartbreaking. Like a quote I heard in an interview with James Sallis, my favorite parts in novels are the living. What the characters eat, where they go, how they work, what they drink, who they interact with. Richard Lange knows working class Los Angeles, it was a true joy to spend time in Joe’s Los Angeles, it is up there with my favorite parts of Lee Archer’s travails in his Los Angels. This book was a poetic masterpiece. I already cannot wait for what Lange has in store next.