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Primat des Überlebens
Jake Bishop ist voll resozialisiert und träumt gemeinsam mit seiner Frau Paris den amerikanischen Traum, der sich als eigener Friseursalon materialisieren soll. Doch seine kriminelle Vergangenheit holt Bishop ein, und zwar in Gestalt seines ehemaligen Zellenkumpels Walker, der ihm im Knast das Leben rettete und nun, frisch entlassen, im Gegenzug etwas Starthilfe einfordert. Sich des über seinem Kopfe schwebenden Damoklesschwertes bewusst – einer bei der nächsten Verurteilung anstehenden lebenslangen Haftstrafe –, lehnt Jake entschlossen ab. Doch der Auftraggeber im Hintergrund hat Jakes Schwachstelle längst ausgemacht und zwingt ihn, den Einbruch bei einem lokalen Juwelier durchzuziehen … Ein rabenschwarzer Noir des US-Autors Les Edgerton, der hier eindrucksvoll zeigt, wie schnell Stigmatisierung und gesellschaftliche Unfreiheit in ein Pandämonium menschlicher Abgründe führen können.
270 pages, Paperback
First published December 21, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
January 22, 2014
I picked this book up from netgalley and am so glad I did. Five tremendous stars burning so bright they melted my eyelids right off.
Sure, the premise may have been done before: Ex-con trying to fly straight and be a family man gets called back into the lifestyle. But this author does it so well that it never gets trite. Feels like true crime, with a language that is never forced.
The tension escalated beautifully. Unpredictable, yet always getting higher, like the tick, tick, ticking noise you hear the roller coaster make as you climb that first hill. You weren't sure what twist it was going to take, only that the author showed so much skill you would trust it would be somewhere interesting. You get to know the main character so well, that it's hard not to take him out of the book and back home with you.
I need to write what other reviewers have written to avoid any misogynist tags flying my way: The title "The Bitch" is in reference to the main characters fear of being labeled a "Ha-Bitch-ual" criminal.
Then again, I don't think the author would mind you thinking otherwise. In some ways, the main character lets his past make him his bitch, so to speak by trying to live by the code of his old world and be happy in the new. Likewise, his wife, tries a 'cross-over' with similar results. There is moral ambiguity here and a value system that the main character has that you don't have to admire, but you will certainly feel it along the way. As the main character, Jake, goes rifling through what to do next, you want to scream out to him, "Dude, did you realize you just ((spoiler alert)) how are you going to shoot a move through this one?"
I have to believe that crime fiction speaks to the voyeur in all of us. The part who want to know how criminals live and what they think. And the best crime fiction makes us realize they are one of us, or we are one of them. We find ourselves identifying with the character at some parts, wishing they had more of a moral compass at other parts. We may get disgusted at their choices, other times we may just wish they'd be more slick and get away with it. All of these things and more crossed my mind as I committed crimes alongside Jake and Walker.
Read this for the story, for the plot, for the characters, and for the concise as a concrete slab prose. Yep, this book made me its bitch for the wonderful few hours I read it.
Sure, the premise may have been done before: Ex-con trying to fly straight and be a family man gets called back into the lifestyle. But this author does it so well that it never gets trite. Feels like true crime, with a language that is never forced.
The tension escalated beautifully. Unpredictable, yet always getting higher, like the tick, tick, ticking noise you hear the roller coaster make as you climb that first hill. You weren't sure what twist it was going to take, only that the author showed so much skill you would trust it would be somewhere interesting. You get to know the main character so well, that it's hard not to take him out of the book and back home with you.
I need to write what other reviewers have written to avoid any misogynist tags flying my way: The title "The Bitch" is in reference to the main characters fear of being labeled a "Ha-Bitch-ual" criminal.
Then again, I don't think the author would mind you thinking otherwise. In some ways, the main character lets his past make him his bitch, so to speak by trying to live by the code of his old world and be happy in the new. Likewise, his wife, tries a 'cross-over' with similar results. There is moral ambiguity here and a value system that the main character has that you don't have to admire, but you will certainly feel it along the way. As the main character, Jake, goes rifling through what to do next, you want to scream out to him, "Dude, did you realize you just ((spoiler alert)) how are you going to shoot a move through this one?"
I have to believe that crime fiction speaks to the voyeur in all of us. The part who want to know how criminals live and what they think. And the best crime fiction makes us realize they are one of us, or we are one of them. We find ourselves identifying with the character at some parts, wishing they had more of a moral compass at other parts. We may get disgusted at their choices, other times we may just wish they'd be more slick and get away with it. All of these things and more crossed my mind as I committed crimes alongside Jake and Walker.
Read this for the story, for the plot, for the characters, and for the concise as a concrete slab prose. Yep, this book made me its bitch for the wonderful few hours I read it.
June 8, 2014
THE BITCH largely refers to the three strikes rule of incarnation. Doing two bits previously, Jake Bishop wants to avoid a third, the bitch, which would effectively end his existence on the outside and possibly his life.
A safe cracking thief extraordinaire, Jake has long moved on from his criminal ways in favour of family life and the dream of owning his own business; a hair salon. When a former cellmate makes contact, pleading for Jake's help before resorting to blackmail, Jakes' peaceful, wholesome existence is shattered; the shards slicing and ending any resistance to the unlawful activities that precluded his current predicament.
Enter diamonds and the promise of a big pay-off - the kind that triggers a life-changing experience and Jake's life is about to be a whole lot more complicated.
There is so much to like about THE BITCH; the family mentality of the apprehensive protagonist, the unfortunate and innocent victims of the greedy, and the unassuming and almost (emphasis on 'almost) justification of easy murder to sustain a goal and fulfill a promise.
Author Les Edgerton has crafted a beautifully written noir that pulls at the heart strings while satisfying the equally opposite feeling for bloodshed paramount to this sub genre of crime fiction.
THE BITCH was my first foray into the dark and twisted world of fiction created by Les Edgerton and it certainly wont be the last.
Review first appeared on my blog: http://justaguythatlikes2read.blogspo...
A safe cracking thief extraordinaire, Jake has long moved on from his criminal ways in favour of family life and the dream of owning his own business; a hair salon. When a former cellmate makes contact, pleading for Jake's help before resorting to blackmail, Jakes' peaceful, wholesome existence is shattered; the shards slicing and ending any resistance to the unlawful activities that precluded his current predicament.
Enter diamonds and the promise of a big pay-off - the kind that triggers a life-changing experience and Jake's life is about to be a whole lot more complicated.
There is so much to like about THE BITCH; the family mentality of the apprehensive protagonist, the unfortunate and innocent victims of the greedy, and the unassuming and almost (emphasis on 'almost) justification of easy murder to sustain a goal and fulfill a promise.
Author Les Edgerton has crafted a beautifully written noir that pulls at the heart strings while satisfying the equally opposite feeling for bloodshed paramount to this sub genre of crime fiction.
THE BITCH was my first foray into the dark and twisted world of fiction created by Les Edgerton and it certainly wont be the last.
Review first appeared on my blog: http://justaguythatlikes2read.blogspo...
November 11, 2012
*3.5 stars*
This is a fun romp about an ex-con gone straight who gets sucked into the life again through no fault of his own other than the history he shares with his old cell mate Spitball. Lots of dark twists and turns, some humor, and a quick read that would have earned 4 stars from me if not for more than a dozen typos. I'm picky, liking as few typos as possible (though a few of them is to be expected.) Les is really talented with pacing and this story has a lot of subtle textures I enjoyed. Looking forward to reading more by Edgerton!
This is a fun romp about an ex-con gone straight who gets sucked into the life again through no fault of his own other than the history he shares with his old cell mate Spitball. Lots of dark twists and turns, some humor, and a quick read that would have earned 4 stars from me if not for more than a dozen typos. I'm picky, liking as few typos as possible (though a few of them is to be expected.) Les is really talented with pacing and this story has a lot of subtle textures I enjoyed. Looking forward to reading more by Edgerton!
January 12, 2015
Previously published a couple years ago, New Pulp Press has breathed new life into Les Edgerton's The Bitch with a new release this winter. I had heard about Edgerton last year through the Booked.Podcast, raving his novel, The Rapist, and didn't hesitate when I got the chance to read this one. While the title is a bit deceptive to those unaccustomed to prison slang, the hard-edged storytelling is there in full glory and made it hard to put this book down.
Jake Bishop used to be a heck of a burglar when he was younger, but he still managed to get sent to prison twice. With the threat of winding up there a third time hanging over his head, he resolved to go straight. He got married, got a good job as a hairdresser, even setting himself up to start his own business pretty soon with the money he has saved, which is great because he has a baby on the way, too. And then his old cellmate shows up in town and all his best laid plains crumble like rotten snow.
The Bitch is impeccably paced and the tension rises from mildly uncomfortable at Jake's first contact with Walker to downright excruciating when the secrets Jake keeps from Paris pile up like a house of cards. Some of that cringe-inducing tension comes from the anticipation of what Jake's bad choices, one after another, are likely to lead to, but there's also the unanticipated repercussions that throw Jake's already careening life into a brand-new tailspin.
Jake is a likable guy, relatable even, but there are moments where it's difficult to root for the guy. Even with detestable characters like Walker Joy and the scumbag jeweler blackmailing Jake into one more heist, the tug-of-war going on with Jake's sense of right and wrong gets more than a little compromised, especially when it becomes harder and harder to hide the truth from his wife. As much as there is intrigue into whether he can pull off the job as smoothly as he's planned it, there's even more intrigue over just how low down he's willing to go to do what he convinces himself is best for his wife and kid.
It's early in the year still, but The Bitch is a novel I will not be at all surprised to see show up on my fave five list of 2014 novels at the end of the year. If you enjoy Joe R. Lansdale's stories, or those of Scott Phillips or Anthony Neil Smith or others who deal with noir fiction, you'll be doing yourself a favor by reading something by Les Edgerton.
Jake Bishop used to be a heck of a burglar when he was younger, but he still managed to get sent to prison twice. With the threat of winding up there a third time hanging over his head, he resolved to go straight. He got married, got a good job as a hairdresser, even setting himself up to start his own business pretty soon with the money he has saved, which is great because he has a baby on the way, too. And then his old cellmate shows up in town and all his best laid plains crumble like rotten snow.
The Bitch is impeccably paced and the tension rises from mildly uncomfortable at Jake's first contact with Walker to downright excruciating when the secrets Jake keeps from Paris pile up like a house of cards. Some of that cringe-inducing tension comes from the anticipation of what Jake's bad choices, one after another, are likely to lead to, but there's also the unanticipated repercussions that throw Jake's already careening life into a brand-new tailspin.
Jake is a likable guy, relatable even, but there are moments where it's difficult to root for the guy. Even with detestable characters like Walker Joy and the scumbag jeweler blackmailing Jake into one more heist, the tug-of-war going on with Jake's sense of right and wrong gets more than a little compromised, especially when it becomes harder and harder to hide the truth from his wife. As much as there is intrigue into whether he can pull off the job as smoothly as he's planned it, there's even more intrigue over just how low down he's willing to go to do what he convinces himself is best for his wife and kid.
It's early in the year still, but The Bitch is a novel I will not be at all surprised to see show up on my fave five list of 2014 novels at the end of the year. If you enjoy Joe R. Lansdale's stories, or those of Scott Phillips or Anthony Neil Smith or others who deal with noir fiction, you'll be doing yourself a favor by reading something by Les Edgerton.
November 3, 2014
Les Edgerton is the kind of writer that pulls no punches. An The Bitch is the perfect example. The title of the book refers is a specific term uses by cons and ex-cons--and they're not talking about anything feminine. Read the book and find out. It'll grab you.
February 17, 2024
Das Wörtchen „Noir“ wird manchmal dann doch im Genre etwas inflationär gebraucht, leider auch von mir. Doch nicht alle Romane mit permanentem Nieselregen in heruntergekommenen Großstadtkulissen, in denen für die Hauptfigur ein paar Dinge schiefgehen, sind gleich ein Noir. Man sollte doch etwas engere Maßstäbe anlegen, doch wie genau definiert man „noir“? Im (übrigens sehr zu empfehlenden) Podcast „Abweichendes Verhalten“ (von Sonja Hartl) zitiert Pulp Master-Verleger Frank Nowatzki seinen Autor Jim Nisbet wie folgt: „Noir ist, wenn man auf Seite 1 schon am Arsch ist und dann geht’s nur noch bergab“.
Sehr angenehm natürlich, wenn sich der Verleger dann auch an diese Maxime hält, denn selten passte eine Beschreibung so gut wie auf die aktuelle Neuerscheinung aus dem Hause Pulp Master. Wobei ganz zu Beginn ist Jake Bishop, Ich-Erzähler von „Primat des Überlebens“, noch nicht am Boden. Er ist vielmehr resozialisiert, nach einigen Jahren im Gefängnis wegen Raub und Diebstahls hat er geheiratet. Seine Frau Paris ist schwanger, er arbeitet erfolgreich als Friseur und plant bereits konkret den Aufbau eines eigenen Salons. Seine Knastvergangenheit kennen jedoch nur wenige. Bereits im ersten Kapitel erfolgt der erste Schlag in die Magengrube: Jake erhält einen Telefonanruf von Joy Walker, seinem ehemaligen Zellengenossen, der inzwischen auch draußen ist und ihn zu einem Drink treffen will. Jake schwant Übles und er soll so was von Recht behalten.
Er hielt inne, wandte den Blick von mir weg, starrte hinüber zu den Typen am Pooltisch. „Ich könnte einen Gefallen gebrauchen.“
Ein Gefallen… ich dachte an was Drolliges, was ich mal von jemandem gehört hatte. „Ein Gefallen“, hatte dieser Jemand gesagt, „ist im Französischen ein Ausdruck für ‚lass mich dich ficken‘.“ (S.14)
Aufgrund diverser Umstände im Gefängnis hat Walker noch was gut bei Jake, doch dieser wäre noch bereit, seinem Knastbruder dies auszuschlagen. Dummerweise hat Walker bei seinem neuen Boss, dem zwielichtigen Juwelier Sydney Spencer, einige Anekdoten über sich und Jake ausgeplaudert – Anekdoten, die Jake erneut ins Gefängnis bringen könnten. Das wäre dann zum dritten Male – und dann wäre es beim unbarmherzigen US-Justizsystem lebenslänglich. Zudem kennt Spencer eine weitere Schwachstelle von Jake – dessen kleinen, noch nicht volljährigen Bruder Bobby. So wird Jake in einen Einbruch im Haus eines anderen Juweliers gezwungen. Vermeintlich ein einfacher Job. Ein guter Witz, denn der Leser bekommt nun Murphy’s Law in Reinkultur zu lesen: Der Job geht natürlich nicht glatt und alles, was Jake nun tut, um den Schaden zu begrenzen, reitet ihn nur noch tiefer in den Abgrund.
Dieses verschissene Lebenslänglich beeinflusste alles, was ich tat. Oder nicht tat. (S.124)
Diese Bedrohung, die permanent über Jake schwebt, ist der Knackpunkt für den Lauf der Geschichte. Er wie tausende weitere Verurteilte in den USA stehen unter permanenter Anspannung, dass das kleinste, weitere Delikt sie für ewig hinter Gittern bringen kann. Diese Unfreiheit und Angst macht ihr Leben zu einem Tanz auf der Rasierklinge. Jake treibt dies in einen Zustand, in dem er am Ende Dinge tut, die er zu Beginn weit von sich gewiesen hätte.
Autor Les Edgerton war selbst einmal inhaftiert, ehe er später eine Karriere als Autor einschlug. Bei Pulp Master erschien bislang „Der Vergewaltiger“ von ihm, ein weiterer Roman ist in Vorbereitung. Edgerton starb im August letzten Jahres. In diesem Roman erweist er sich als Meister des Noirs. Durch die Perspektive als Ich-Erzähler bleibt der Leser eng bei Jake Bishop. Anfangs noch durch Rückblenden unterbrochen, wird die Story letztlich erbarmungslos, kompromisslos, zynisch bis zum bitteren Ende in kurzen Kapitel vorangetrieben. Vielleicht packt er die eine oder andere böse Wendung zu viel aus, aber geschenkt. Les Edgerton serviert dem Leser hier noir pur. Kein Kitsch, kein Geplauder, kein Happy End, reiner Noir bis zum wahrhaft-wahnhaft blutigen Ende. Das mag nicht jedem schmecken, ich goutiere das hingegen sehr. Pulp Master bleibt bei Noir das Maß der Dinge.
Sehr angenehm natürlich, wenn sich der Verleger dann auch an diese Maxime hält, denn selten passte eine Beschreibung so gut wie auf die aktuelle Neuerscheinung aus dem Hause Pulp Master. Wobei ganz zu Beginn ist Jake Bishop, Ich-Erzähler von „Primat des Überlebens“, noch nicht am Boden. Er ist vielmehr resozialisiert, nach einigen Jahren im Gefängnis wegen Raub und Diebstahls hat er geheiratet. Seine Frau Paris ist schwanger, er arbeitet erfolgreich als Friseur und plant bereits konkret den Aufbau eines eigenen Salons. Seine Knastvergangenheit kennen jedoch nur wenige. Bereits im ersten Kapitel erfolgt der erste Schlag in die Magengrube: Jake erhält einen Telefonanruf von Joy Walker, seinem ehemaligen Zellengenossen, der inzwischen auch draußen ist und ihn zu einem Drink treffen will. Jake schwant Übles und er soll so was von Recht behalten.
Er hielt inne, wandte den Blick von mir weg, starrte hinüber zu den Typen am Pooltisch. „Ich könnte einen Gefallen gebrauchen.“
Ein Gefallen… ich dachte an was Drolliges, was ich mal von jemandem gehört hatte. „Ein Gefallen“, hatte dieser Jemand gesagt, „ist im Französischen ein Ausdruck für ‚lass mich dich ficken‘.“ (S.14)
Aufgrund diverser Umstände im Gefängnis hat Walker noch was gut bei Jake, doch dieser wäre noch bereit, seinem Knastbruder dies auszuschlagen. Dummerweise hat Walker bei seinem neuen Boss, dem zwielichtigen Juwelier Sydney Spencer, einige Anekdoten über sich und Jake ausgeplaudert – Anekdoten, die Jake erneut ins Gefängnis bringen könnten. Das wäre dann zum dritten Male – und dann wäre es beim unbarmherzigen US-Justizsystem lebenslänglich. Zudem kennt Spencer eine weitere Schwachstelle von Jake – dessen kleinen, noch nicht volljährigen Bruder Bobby. So wird Jake in einen Einbruch im Haus eines anderen Juweliers gezwungen. Vermeintlich ein einfacher Job. Ein guter Witz, denn der Leser bekommt nun Murphy’s Law in Reinkultur zu lesen: Der Job geht natürlich nicht glatt und alles, was Jake nun tut, um den Schaden zu begrenzen, reitet ihn nur noch tiefer in den Abgrund.
Dieses verschissene Lebenslänglich beeinflusste alles, was ich tat. Oder nicht tat. (S.124)
Diese Bedrohung, die permanent über Jake schwebt, ist der Knackpunkt für den Lauf der Geschichte. Er wie tausende weitere Verurteilte in den USA stehen unter permanenter Anspannung, dass das kleinste, weitere Delikt sie für ewig hinter Gittern bringen kann. Diese Unfreiheit und Angst macht ihr Leben zu einem Tanz auf der Rasierklinge. Jake treibt dies in einen Zustand, in dem er am Ende Dinge tut, die er zu Beginn weit von sich gewiesen hätte.
Autor Les Edgerton war selbst einmal inhaftiert, ehe er später eine Karriere als Autor einschlug. Bei Pulp Master erschien bislang „Der Vergewaltiger“ von ihm, ein weiterer Roman ist in Vorbereitung. Edgerton starb im August letzten Jahres. In diesem Roman erweist er sich als Meister des Noirs. Durch die Perspektive als Ich-Erzähler bleibt der Leser eng bei Jake Bishop. Anfangs noch durch Rückblenden unterbrochen, wird die Story letztlich erbarmungslos, kompromisslos, zynisch bis zum bitteren Ende in kurzen Kapitel vorangetrieben. Vielleicht packt er die eine oder andere böse Wendung zu viel aus, aber geschenkt. Les Edgerton serviert dem Leser hier noir pur. Kein Kitsch, kein Geplauder, kein Happy End, reiner Noir bis zum wahrhaft-wahnhaft blutigen Ende. Das mag nicht jedem schmecken, ich goutiere das hingegen sehr. Pulp Master bleibt bei Noir das Maß der Dinge.
January 5, 2014
The Bitch. Three strikes and you're out. Ha-bitch-ual criminal. One more pop and I knew the judge would be peering down at me over his wireframes and saying, "Jacob Bishop, I hereby sentence you to life imprisonment. Have a nice day, loser."
And in one paragraph. Les Edgerson not only explains the title but sets the stage for his crime noir masterpiece about bad choices and even worse consequences.
The premise is a common enough one. ex-con Jacob Bishop. with two strikes against him, gets out of prison, falls in love and gets his life together. He and his pregnant wife are about ready to open their own business when his old cell mate shows up with a proposition involving a heist. It's bad enough that Jacob owes his friend for saving his life but other secrets are out too and blackmail is not out of the question.
From that point on, the dominoes fall and Jacob is in over his head...perhaps. Edgerton has not set up the most original plot, yet this book stands about the others in one major way. I dislike novels where the protagonists continue to make stupid illogical choices. Jacob's decisions may be stupid but they are not illogical. They fit well in the mindset of the characters and the situations they are presented. They fell real and logical based on the fact they are the makong the best decisions in the best, if corrupted and unhealthy, way they know how. This is something I know a little about, having worked with parolees and probationers. As wild as the action gets, I felt it could happen. Perhaps a few too many people coincidentally end up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Also his girl friend maybe falls in line a little too easy. Yet these are minor annoyances considering how riveting the novel is and how well the action and consequences flow.
Edgerton has a gritty style and excels in the street wise, prison accented dialog that permeates this tale. This is one of those story that never let up. I think I put th book down once to answer the phone but that was it. It has an almost perfect ending. Some may think it is a little too open and sudden but I thought it was just right. With one novel, Edgerton has entered my short list of favorite suspense thriller writers, including Charlie Huston and Joe R. Lansdale and he is giving hard-nosed icons like Mickey Spillane a run for the money.
A word or two about the publisher. This was the second book I've read from New Pulp Press. The other one was Last of the Smoking Bartenders by C. J. Howell. New Pulp Press seems to specialize in thrillers and suspense with a literary bent. Emphasis on the word "literary". From the two books I'vr read, I can say it is an exceptional small publishing company and it would be worthwhile to keep a eye on them...not to mention checking out their past inventory.
November 3, 2014
True noir is hard to find. By “true noir,” I mean the classic story of a person who is not necessarily bad, but can be nudged in that direction, either through opportunity, or forced by events. This person makes decisions that go sour, though the options at the time ranged from bad to worse; the die was cast with the first unfortunate choice. The stories are engrossing because readers can’t help but wonder what they would do in the same situation, and are relieved at the end because they didn’t have to do it.
Today we have plenty of neo-noir and “thrillers.” Too much neo-noir consists of bad people reveling in their own depravity. Bad things happen, and they’re often okay with it. The “protagonist” may, or may not, face consequences. Readers rarely empathize, because the reader would never be in circumstances remotely similar; too many unconscionable decisions were made in the backstory. The stories are often more schadenfreude than noir.
Modern thrillers often have protagonists with noir potential, but the opportunity is lost when the protagonist invariably chooses the option most likely to make the situation worse at every opportunity. Readers wonder what they would do for a while, until—if you’re like me—they start to root against the protagonist because he/she’s too dumb to be allowed to reproduce.
The Bitch is true noir.
Jake is a two-time loser. Another felony conviction will mark him a habitual criminal, which carries an automatic life sentence. (The “bitch” referred to in the title.) He learned to cut hair in prison and found he had a talent for it. He’s gone straight, married a woman who accepts his past and loves him for his present and future, and whose family has done the same. Jake and Paris have saved enough money to open their own shop in a few weeks; Paris is pregnant.
Enter Walker Joy, Jake’s old cellmate. Walker saved Jake’s life once in the joint, and he’s calling in the marker. Walker has not gone straight, lost some diamonds, and needs the help of master burglar Jake to make things right. Jake is torn, and doesn’t have as many options as he at first thinks.
What happens next put me in mind of the classic A Simple Plan. Decisions are forced on Jake that continue to escalate the situation. He chooses as best he can from limited options, all foul. Every decision is framed by the fact he can never cut his losses and turn himself in; The Bitch looms. Only his conscience acts as a governor on his behavior; the law’s position is set in stone, no matter what else he does.
Les Edgerton has written a story that is effective on multiple levels. Time and again the reader will see a new crisis and realize almost simultaneously with Jake what has to be done, cringing as it happens, not knowing what else could be done and still avoid The Bitch, which will cost him Paris and his child forever.
As if the engrossing personal situation isn’t enough, Edgerton weaves social commentary into the story without ever preaching about it. Habitual Offender laws have become commonplace, society’s way of dealing with people who just don’t seem to get the message. I had no problem with them—when properly applied—until I read The Bitch and realized a two-time loser has no reason not to go all the way once an act worthy of Strike Three has been committed. He’s already getting the maximum sentence; anything else he does to evade capture is without risk.
The Bitch is a fascinating story of how close any of us might be to the edge, where a single event could change our lives forever for the worse. True, few of us are twice-convicted felons, but it’s only the scale of Jake’s misfortune that differs. We’re all one phone call--chance meeting, lost job, medical emergency, car crash, random act of violence—away from a situation where every option is a bad one, and the most likely favorable outcome is to slow the rate at which your life circles the toilet while hoping for a miracle.
Read The Bitch. If it doesn’t affect you on multiple levels, read it again. You weren’t paying attention the first time.
Today we have plenty of neo-noir and “thrillers.” Too much neo-noir consists of bad people reveling in their own depravity. Bad things happen, and they’re often okay with it. The “protagonist” may, or may not, face consequences. Readers rarely empathize, because the reader would never be in circumstances remotely similar; too many unconscionable decisions were made in the backstory. The stories are often more schadenfreude than noir.
Modern thrillers often have protagonists with noir potential, but the opportunity is lost when the protagonist invariably chooses the option most likely to make the situation worse at every opportunity. Readers wonder what they would do for a while, until—if you’re like me—they start to root against the protagonist because he/she’s too dumb to be allowed to reproduce.
The Bitch is true noir.
Jake is a two-time loser. Another felony conviction will mark him a habitual criminal, which carries an automatic life sentence. (The “bitch” referred to in the title.) He learned to cut hair in prison and found he had a talent for it. He’s gone straight, married a woman who accepts his past and loves him for his present and future, and whose family has done the same. Jake and Paris have saved enough money to open their own shop in a few weeks; Paris is pregnant.
Enter Walker Joy, Jake’s old cellmate. Walker saved Jake’s life once in the joint, and he’s calling in the marker. Walker has not gone straight, lost some diamonds, and needs the help of master burglar Jake to make things right. Jake is torn, and doesn’t have as many options as he at first thinks.
What happens next put me in mind of the classic A Simple Plan. Decisions are forced on Jake that continue to escalate the situation. He chooses as best he can from limited options, all foul. Every decision is framed by the fact he can never cut his losses and turn himself in; The Bitch looms. Only his conscience acts as a governor on his behavior; the law’s position is set in stone, no matter what else he does.
Les Edgerton has written a story that is effective on multiple levels. Time and again the reader will see a new crisis and realize almost simultaneously with Jake what has to be done, cringing as it happens, not knowing what else could be done and still avoid The Bitch, which will cost him Paris and his child forever.
As if the engrossing personal situation isn’t enough, Edgerton weaves social commentary into the story without ever preaching about it. Habitual Offender laws have become commonplace, society’s way of dealing with people who just don’t seem to get the message. I had no problem with them—when properly applied—until I read The Bitch and realized a two-time loser has no reason not to go all the way once an act worthy of Strike Three has been committed. He’s already getting the maximum sentence; anything else he does to evade capture is without risk.
The Bitch is a fascinating story of how close any of us might be to the edge, where a single event could change our lives forever for the worse. True, few of us are twice-convicted felons, but it’s only the scale of Jake’s misfortune that differs. We’re all one phone call--chance meeting, lost job, medical emergency, car crash, random act of violence—away from a situation where every option is a bad one, and the most likely favorable outcome is to slow the rate at which your life circles the toilet while hoping for a miracle.
Read The Bitch. If it doesn’t affect you on multiple levels, read it again. You weren’t paying attention the first time.
September 11, 2012
As it says in the blurb, 'the bitch' is prison slang for an 'habitual' criminal. A criminal is deemed 'habitual' if he is incarcerated three times. Jake has been inside twice, so 'the bitch' hangs over him like a modern day Damoclean blade.
At the beginning of the book, we find Jake on the straight and narrow, working in a hair salon, married, his wife due to have a baby. All is rosy. Jake is determined to stay straight, for his wife and for his unborn child. He even has plans to open up his own salon.
But a phone call straight out the past turns Jake's whole world upside down, and he is thrust into a nightmare out of which there seems no escape, where every choice he makes leads him further into hell.
Never before have I read a book wherein the main character's spiralling into the darkness is so brilliantly chronicled. Just as we think Jake has conquered one obstacle, another one comes along to hit him like a truck. So close does the trinity of reader, author, and Jake become, at one point, I wasn't only thinking 'how is Jake going to get out of this', I was thinking 'how is Les Edgerton going to write himself out of this'. But a man of Edgerton's ability is a man to trust to the very end. You know he will write the truth, however much it hurts.
THE BITCH is an absolute belter of a read, right up there with the very best books I've read in the last ten years.
Brilliant.
At the beginning of the book, we find Jake on the straight and narrow, working in a hair salon, married, his wife due to have a baby. All is rosy. Jake is determined to stay straight, for his wife and for his unborn child. He even has plans to open up his own salon.
But a phone call straight out the past turns Jake's whole world upside down, and he is thrust into a nightmare out of which there seems no escape, where every choice he makes leads him further into hell.
Never before have I read a book wherein the main character's spiralling into the darkness is so brilliantly chronicled. Just as we think Jake has conquered one obstacle, another one comes along to hit him like a truck. So close does the trinity of reader, author, and Jake become, at one point, I wasn't only thinking 'how is Jake going to get out of this', I was thinking 'how is Les Edgerton going to write himself out of this'. But a man of Edgerton's ability is a man to trust to the very end. You know he will write the truth, however much it hurts.
THE BITCH is an absolute belter of a read, right up there with the very best books I've read in the last ten years.
Brilliant.
January 28, 2014
I've watched a lot of cop shows, so I know The Bitch is what criminals call laws that say three strikes and you're out -- gonzo is the man convicted for the third felony to rot in prison for life. Something thieves and other non-violent cons think very hard about when they leave prison for the second time. (I figure violent guys can't help themselves.) In Les Edgerton's THE BITCH, which sports an ex-con and a nice guy for an author -- I call him Butch -- the authenticity and likability shine through protagonist Jake Bishop, a two-time loser. If I call this tale classic, true or traditional Noir, you know -- basically -- what's going happen to our new friend Jake. It's almost a spoiler. But the way Edgerton spins The Bitch out for us, shows us the workings of Jake's mind and soul as he travels down that frightening road of bad decisions, we know this wonderfully told, neatly written story is really about us -- every man and every woman. We know exactly what Jake Bishop's world feels like because it's a world we all think we know: Everything is fixed against us, no matter how hard we try. Careful. This book will touch you.
November 3, 2014
I'm a huge admirer of Les Edgerton's novel THE RAPIST, so when I started his novel THE BITCH, I had high expectations. Not that I was expecting to read a book remotely like THE RAPIST, a masterpiece of the darkest type of existential crime fiction, but I had little doubt that I'd be in the hands of a crime fiction practitioner par excellence. How pleasant it is when your expectations are met, when a writer you've set the highest standard for meets that standard and exceeds it.
THE BITCH is about Jake Bishop, an ex-con in Indiana who has a lovely young wife, a baby on the way, and a teenaged brother he's caring for. Jake was once a burglar, but since his last stint in jail, he has done his best to stay straight. And he's succeeded. He has a trade - he's a hairstylist in a salon - and he has ambition: he and his wife are saving money to start their own salon. He used to drink too much but hasn't fallen off the wagon in a long time. Things seem pretty good. Of course, in a book like this, in noir land, if things seem okay, you know they won't be okay for long. Everything will turn sour quickly. And for Jake life begins to rot the day his old cellmate turns up asking him for a favor. The cellmate's name is Walker Joy, and from the moment Bishop makes the mistake of letting Joy back into his life, Bishop experiences precious little of that particular word.
It's no secret that Les Edgerton did time himself, years ago. And in all Jake's thoughts and descriptions about jail there is an authenticity that I'm sure in part derives from Edgerton's experience. But living through something and writing about it are two entirely different things, and what makes THE BITCH such a great read is Edgerton's flat-out skill. Though he may be drawing upon past experience for his raw material, it's the imagination he applies to that material and the substantial craft he wields that make this book work. THE BITCH is a novel that unfolds in a way both entirely plausible and heavily plotted, no small feat. There are twists and turns galore, yet nothing that happens seems forced or arbitrary. Indeed, while reading the novel, I felt as if I was reading a textbook example of a particular type of noir story. It's the crime story where one wrong decision by the main character, just one, is enough to send his entire life sliding downhill. It doesn't matter if the decision is based on an honorable intention. Bishop knows helping Walker is not the wisest decision, but he feels he owes the man because Walker helped him a lot in prison. Walker even saved his life in prison. Naturally, Walker brings up this debt, and that's where he hooks Bishop. Never mind that the debt is related to prison garbage that has nothing to do with the outside world. Bishop feels he must honor it. His sense of having a cellmate code, his loyalty to the past - these are his weaknesses. He agrees to help Walker and from that instant, the die is cast. THE BITCH unfolds like a nightmare after that; a mixture of bad judgment, small lies, mental errors, and plain old bad luck enfold Bishop in a web of deceit and criminal acts that threaten to destroy everything he's built since he last got released from prison. It's almost as if, his statements to the contrary, he can't wait to go back to jail.
And who exactly is the Bitch? What is the Bitch? It's not a woman, I can tell you that, because no woman dreamt up by a man, even a women-fearing man, could be as terrifying as this sucker. The Bitch pertains to something relevant for a repeat offender like Jake, and it hangs over his every move like the oppressive hand of Fate. Does he control anything? The thing in life he least wants to do is return to prison, and nearly everything he does as his situation worsens he does to avoid returning to prison, but the image of the Bitch plagues his thoughts night and day. He struggles against the magnetic pull of the Bitch, and though we don't want to get optimistic reading a work of noir like this, we hope against hope that he can resolve his situation well. For the duration of the book, I was rooting for Jake to pull off the seemingly impossible, and that I cared so much for him is a testament to Edgerton's ability to make you understand Jake. You understand everything that makes him tick, and despite his actions, you sympathize with him. You're willing to forgive him almost anything to see him escape the vise he's in.
If I were teaching a course on literary noir, THE BITCH is a book I'd choose for class study. It's perfectly constructed and has nary a wasted word. It's a stark tale of a man fighting as hard as he can against himself, the world, Nature, Fate; and it's a book that, once started, you don't want to put down. It's the kind of book an old Hollywood master like Fritz Lang would have made a great film from, and I can only hope someone in today's film biz still reads novels and finds this one. Finds it, and then decides to adapt it. It would make a wonderful movie. And by the way, while I'm at it, let me throw out a word of thanks to New Pulp Press for re-issuing this. THE BITCH deserves a wide audience.
THE BITCH is about Jake Bishop, an ex-con in Indiana who has a lovely young wife, a baby on the way, and a teenaged brother he's caring for. Jake was once a burglar, but since his last stint in jail, he has done his best to stay straight. And he's succeeded. He has a trade - he's a hairstylist in a salon - and he has ambition: he and his wife are saving money to start their own salon. He used to drink too much but hasn't fallen off the wagon in a long time. Things seem pretty good. Of course, in a book like this, in noir land, if things seem okay, you know they won't be okay for long. Everything will turn sour quickly. And for Jake life begins to rot the day his old cellmate turns up asking him for a favor. The cellmate's name is Walker Joy, and from the moment Bishop makes the mistake of letting Joy back into his life, Bishop experiences precious little of that particular word.
It's no secret that Les Edgerton did time himself, years ago. And in all Jake's thoughts and descriptions about jail there is an authenticity that I'm sure in part derives from Edgerton's experience. But living through something and writing about it are two entirely different things, and what makes THE BITCH such a great read is Edgerton's flat-out skill. Though he may be drawing upon past experience for his raw material, it's the imagination he applies to that material and the substantial craft he wields that make this book work. THE BITCH is a novel that unfolds in a way both entirely plausible and heavily plotted, no small feat. There are twists and turns galore, yet nothing that happens seems forced or arbitrary. Indeed, while reading the novel, I felt as if I was reading a textbook example of a particular type of noir story. It's the crime story where one wrong decision by the main character, just one, is enough to send his entire life sliding downhill. It doesn't matter if the decision is based on an honorable intention. Bishop knows helping Walker is not the wisest decision, but he feels he owes the man because Walker helped him a lot in prison. Walker even saved his life in prison. Naturally, Walker brings up this debt, and that's where he hooks Bishop. Never mind that the debt is related to prison garbage that has nothing to do with the outside world. Bishop feels he must honor it. His sense of having a cellmate code, his loyalty to the past - these are his weaknesses. He agrees to help Walker and from that instant, the die is cast. THE BITCH unfolds like a nightmare after that; a mixture of bad judgment, small lies, mental errors, and plain old bad luck enfold Bishop in a web of deceit and criminal acts that threaten to destroy everything he's built since he last got released from prison. It's almost as if, his statements to the contrary, he can't wait to go back to jail.
And who exactly is the Bitch? What is the Bitch? It's not a woman, I can tell you that, because no woman dreamt up by a man, even a women-fearing man, could be as terrifying as this sucker. The Bitch pertains to something relevant for a repeat offender like Jake, and it hangs over his every move like the oppressive hand of Fate. Does he control anything? The thing in life he least wants to do is return to prison, and nearly everything he does as his situation worsens he does to avoid returning to prison, but the image of the Bitch plagues his thoughts night and day. He struggles against the magnetic pull of the Bitch, and though we don't want to get optimistic reading a work of noir like this, we hope against hope that he can resolve his situation well. For the duration of the book, I was rooting for Jake to pull off the seemingly impossible, and that I cared so much for him is a testament to Edgerton's ability to make you understand Jake. You understand everything that makes him tick, and despite his actions, you sympathize with him. You're willing to forgive him almost anything to see him escape the vise he's in.
If I were teaching a course on literary noir, THE BITCH is a book I'd choose for class study. It's perfectly constructed and has nary a wasted word. It's a stark tale of a man fighting as hard as he can against himself, the world, Nature, Fate; and it's a book that, once started, you don't want to put down. It's the kind of book an old Hollywood master like Fritz Lang would have made a great film from, and I can only hope someone in today's film biz still reads novels and finds this one. Finds it, and then decides to adapt it. It would make a wonderful movie. And by the way, while I'm at it, let me throw out a word of thanks to New Pulp Press for re-issuing this. THE BITCH deserves a wide audience.
May 17, 2012
If he hadn’t done it before, Les Edgerton proves himself the master of noir fiction with The Bitch. You could consider The Bitch the third in a trilogy of novels—Just Like That and The Perfect Crime being the other two—exploring the nature of the criminal mind, a subject on which Edgerton speaks with some authority. Take the title. We’re all familiar with a couple of levels of usage of the word.
To a con, though, “the bitch” is not just a female canine, a despicable woman, or a curse. It’s what most of us call the third strike—the felony conviction that in many states, puts you away for life.
Jake Bishop (whom many of us met in Just Like That) has been going straight after his last release. Good marriage, good job with excellent prospects, kid on the way. Then his ex-cellmate turns up and puts his nuts in a vise. The details don’t matter much here, though they make the read itself an exciting story. There’s a TV show called Criminal Intent which I’ve never watched, but it would be an apt label for how Jake responds to his situation. Though Edgerton’s storytelling enables us to identify with Jake’s dilemma and to understand how he makes his choices as the narrative unfolds, the choices themselves give us deep insight into criminal thinking.
One obvious aspect of the story is that criminals, at least Edgerton’s criminals, are not masterminds. I think it’s one of his points that much of what they do is poorly thought out and/or just plain stupid. If not, maybe they wouldn’t get caught. Of course, the same could be said for most of the rest of us. How many out there wander the earth with multiple now-unprovable DUI’s under their belts. And what kept those DUI’s from turning into something like vehicular manslaughter? More likely luck than superior judgment, impulse control, or drunk driving skills. And for that matter, how many financial crooks who have destroyed lives and livelihoods and families are walking around with not even an indictment following them? But in the world of The Bitch we’re talking about the guys who get caught, convicted, incarcerated. Once. Twice. ...
For Edgerton there’s a always a moral question involved in the lawbreaking mix. Some schools of Christian philosophy (dogma) see evil as a distortion of good. Hence, the fall of Lucifer, God’s brightest angel. The Bitch is anything but a religious tract. It’s just a damn good crime novel. However, the analogy still applies in that Jake makes every single one of his choices trying to do the right thing. It’s just that every time… but now I’m going to start giving things away that should be saved for the read rather than revealed in a review.
One last point, though. Not all noir fiction gives us basically good guys going bad through bad judgment and poor choices. Many times, the characters—even the protagonists—are just plain evil from the git. Not Edgerton’s, though. All three of the novels I’ve mentioned involve human beings in tough fixes making complex moral choices, and that gives his fiction a dimension missing from much of the noir nation. Not, once again, as if he’s writing philosophical monographs. Just damn good crime novels with some food for the brain and the soul as well as excitement for the lizard brain.
To a con, though, “the bitch” is not just a female canine, a despicable woman, or a curse. It’s what most of us call the third strike—the felony conviction that in many states, puts you away for life.
Jake Bishop (whom many of us met in Just Like That) has been going straight after his last release. Good marriage, good job with excellent prospects, kid on the way. Then his ex-cellmate turns up and puts his nuts in a vise. The details don’t matter much here, though they make the read itself an exciting story. There’s a TV show called Criminal Intent which I’ve never watched, but it would be an apt label for how Jake responds to his situation. Though Edgerton’s storytelling enables us to identify with Jake’s dilemma and to understand how he makes his choices as the narrative unfolds, the choices themselves give us deep insight into criminal thinking.
One obvious aspect of the story is that criminals, at least Edgerton’s criminals, are not masterminds. I think it’s one of his points that much of what they do is poorly thought out and/or just plain stupid. If not, maybe they wouldn’t get caught. Of course, the same could be said for most of the rest of us. How many out there wander the earth with multiple now-unprovable DUI’s under their belts. And what kept those DUI’s from turning into something like vehicular manslaughter? More likely luck than superior judgment, impulse control, or drunk driving skills. And for that matter, how many financial crooks who have destroyed lives and livelihoods and families are walking around with not even an indictment following them? But in the world of The Bitch we’re talking about the guys who get caught, convicted, incarcerated. Once. Twice. ...
For Edgerton there’s a always a moral question involved in the lawbreaking mix. Some schools of Christian philosophy (dogma) see evil as a distortion of good. Hence, the fall of Lucifer, God’s brightest angel. The Bitch is anything but a religious tract. It’s just a damn good crime novel. However, the analogy still applies in that Jake makes every single one of his choices trying to do the right thing. It’s just that every time… but now I’m going to start giving things away that should be saved for the read rather than revealed in a review.
One last point, though. Not all noir fiction gives us basically good guys going bad through bad judgment and poor choices. Many times, the characters—even the protagonists—are just plain evil from the git. Not Edgerton’s, though. All three of the novels I’ve mentioned involve human beings in tough fixes making complex moral choices, and that gives his fiction a dimension missing from much of the noir nation. Not, once again, as if he’s writing philosophical monographs. Just damn good crime novels with some food for the brain and the soul as well as excitement for the lizard brain.
January 28, 2012
In baseball it’s 3 strikes and you’re out, for ex-con, Jake, 3 strikes and he’s in. For life. And ain’t that The Bitch?
Jake’s been inside. Twice. One more conviction and he’s going away for good.
Fortunately for Jake, he’s sick of prison life and has decided to go straight.
He’s been to college to better himself and has even built a reputation as a hair-stylist that’s good enough for him to set up his own salon. I love this incongruity – big, bad Jake with his blood-stained hands chopping away at a perm.
And he’s met a woman too. Paris. Beautiful, sexy, smart and about to have Jake’s baby. Looks like he’s hit the jackpot, no?
Thing is, Jake doesn’t know his stories. Paris was the guy who did it for Troy. A name like that and maybe he should have sensed that his bed-of-roses might be full of thorns.
‘It all began with a phone call.’
The first thorn appears in the form of Walker Joy, one-time cellmate and saviour.
Walker’s in big trouble. He owes big money to big crooks. One job will see him safe. All he needs is a break in man.
Of course, Jake’s not having any of it. He knows which side his bread is buttered.
Problem is Walker has a few aces up his sleeve and Jake knows he’s screwed. It’s enough to drive an alcoholic to drink. Really.
From there on in the story unfolds. Jake is reeled in like a prize-fish on the end of the line, all the while knowing that he’s got a hook right up his ass. He’s not a bad bloke, you see. Or at least his heart’s in the right place. Circumstance has him by the short-and-curlies and no matter how he examines the angles, he’s lined up for the corner pocket.
At every point of the story where a ray of hope appears, the world conspires against him and as every chapter comes to a close, the need to read on grows stronger.
It’s a well-told tale. I found it hard not to feel for Jake. If it were a film or a play, it would be the kind that would have you shouting out for him to get the hell out of there. ‘He’s behind yer!’ and ‘He’s still behind yer!’
On the whole, the plot is very much in the present and is all the more uncomfortable for that. It’s punctuated by prison stories and tales from Jake’s past that should possibly have made me think less of the man; instead it had the opposite effect.
Well paced, engaging and very entertaining, it’s like one of the small diamonds in the collection Jake is aiming to steal.
The ending is perfectly weighted. Sits on top of the story like the bowler hat on a dapper gent, a hat that needs to be doffed every time Les Edgerton approaches.
Well done, sir.
Jake’s been inside. Twice. One more conviction and he’s going away for good.
Fortunately for Jake, he’s sick of prison life and has decided to go straight.
He’s been to college to better himself and has even built a reputation as a hair-stylist that’s good enough for him to set up his own salon. I love this incongruity – big, bad Jake with his blood-stained hands chopping away at a perm.
And he’s met a woman too. Paris. Beautiful, sexy, smart and about to have Jake’s baby. Looks like he’s hit the jackpot, no?
Thing is, Jake doesn’t know his stories. Paris was the guy who did it for Troy. A name like that and maybe he should have sensed that his bed-of-roses might be full of thorns.
‘It all began with a phone call.’
The first thorn appears in the form of Walker Joy, one-time cellmate and saviour.
Walker’s in big trouble. He owes big money to big crooks. One job will see him safe. All he needs is a break in man.
Of course, Jake’s not having any of it. He knows which side his bread is buttered.
Problem is Walker has a few aces up his sleeve and Jake knows he’s screwed. It’s enough to drive an alcoholic to drink. Really.
From there on in the story unfolds. Jake is reeled in like a prize-fish on the end of the line, all the while knowing that he’s got a hook right up his ass. He’s not a bad bloke, you see. Or at least his heart’s in the right place. Circumstance has him by the short-and-curlies and no matter how he examines the angles, he’s lined up for the corner pocket.
At every point of the story where a ray of hope appears, the world conspires against him and as every chapter comes to a close, the need to read on grows stronger.
It’s a well-told tale. I found it hard not to feel for Jake. If it were a film or a play, it would be the kind that would have you shouting out for him to get the hell out of there. ‘He’s behind yer!’ and ‘He’s still behind yer!’
On the whole, the plot is very much in the present and is all the more uncomfortable for that. It’s punctuated by prison stories and tales from Jake’s past that should possibly have made me think less of the man; instead it had the opposite effect.
Well paced, engaging and very entertaining, it’s like one of the small diamonds in the collection Jake is aiming to steal.
The ending is perfectly weighted. Sits on top of the story like the bowler hat on a dapper gent, a hat that needs to be doffed every time Les Edgerton approaches.
Well done, sir.
November 3, 2014
Jake Bishop is on the straight and narrow. His prison sentence is a long way behind him. Life is good. He’s married and is about to start his own business. But then an old cell mate, Walker Joy, arrives on the scene. He once saved Jake’s life and is demanding repayment in the shape of a burglary he needs help pulling. The problem for Jake is The Bitch – the three strikes and you’re out rule. He can’t say yes, but he daren’t say no…
This is the third Les Edgerton book I’ve read and reviewed. All have been different in style. The others, The Rapist and Just Like That both started with a bang. However The Bitch is more of a slow burn.
Jake initially meets Walker out of a sense of duty and friendship (a theme that runs throughout the novel) but soon discovers he’s been betrayed. In prison Jake told Walker about a couple of crimes he hadn’t been caught for and Walker (a less than reputable and trustworthy individual) spilled them to a jeweler friend, Spencer. It’s Spencer who wants the robbery to go ahead and he uses every means to rope Jake in – including falsely accusing Jake’s brother of a crime.
What’s particularly smart about The Bitch is the steady ramp up of tension and pressure with every chapter as Jake gets drawn deeper and deeper in. As he spills from one event to another nothing goes quite right, so the implications steadily increase – from robbery, to kidnap and eventually to murder. Jake is trying to find a way of getting his old life back and keeping his misdeeds from his wife. But he can’t.
As previously mentioned relationships are absolutely key to The Bitch. Good and bad. Towards the end Edgerton reveals why Jake couldn’t simply stroll away from Walker, he owes him a lot. Edgerton also takes Jake’s options away one by one to the point that there’s a sad inevitability about the ending, like a car crash you can see coming, but can’t and don’t want to avoid.
This is a really enjoyable story. Very well written and highly compelling. The characters are strong, the dialogue rough and tough. Well worth picking up.
**Originally reviewed for Books and Pals blog. May have received free review copy.**
This is the third Les Edgerton book I’ve read and reviewed. All have been different in style. The others, The Rapist and Just Like That both started with a bang. However The Bitch is more of a slow burn.
Jake initially meets Walker out of a sense of duty and friendship (a theme that runs throughout the novel) but soon discovers he’s been betrayed. In prison Jake told Walker about a couple of crimes he hadn’t been caught for and Walker (a less than reputable and trustworthy individual) spilled them to a jeweler friend, Spencer. It’s Spencer who wants the robbery to go ahead and he uses every means to rope Jake in – including falsely accusing Jake’s brother of a crime.
What’s particularly smart about The Bitch is the steady ramp up of tension and pressure with every chapter as Jake gets drawn deeper and deeper in. As he spills from one event to another nothing goes quite right, so the implications steadily increase – from robbery, to kidnap and eventually to murder. Jake is trying to find a way of getting his old life back and keeping his misdeeds from his wife. But he can’t.
As previously mentioned relationships are absolutely key to The Bitch. Good and bad. Towards the end Edgerton reveals why Jake couldn’t simply stroll away from Walker, he owes him a lot. Edgerton also takes Jake’s options away one by one to the point that there’s a sad inevitability about the ending, like a car crash you can see coming, but can’t and don’t want to avoid.
This is a really enjoyable story. Very well written and highly compelling. The characters are strong, the dialogue rough and tough. Well worth picking up.
**Originally reviewed for Books and Pals blog. May have received free review copy.**
February 26, 2013
THE BITCH in Les Edgerton’s novel is not who or what you might expect from the title, but it’s a serious bitch nonetheless. It hounds Jake, Edgerton’s matter-of-fact narrator, from chapter one to the very last page. And along the way, Edgerton makes sure we get to know the bitch real well.
For the most part, the story takes place outside of prison, on the bricks, but the joint casts its shadow large from the moment Jake’s former cellmate calls him out of the blue. Walker Joy is a cruel oxymoronic name for a guy who brings a shit storm into Jake’s life—a good life he’ll do anything to protect.
In a jocular passionate voice, Jake leads the reader step by rational step into dark corners completely foreign to your average "civilian". The horrific decisions Jake has to make would be much less believable if it weren't for Edgerton's masterful hand. Given what’s at stake, there’s hardly a moment when you can argue with the path Jake takes—even as the grotesque results pile deeper by the page.
This is the kind of book you're going to reach for at 3:30 in the morning because whatever crap is disturbing your sleep won't stand a chance against the terror looming in the next chapter.
THE BITCH doesn't rely on bad luck or cheap device to create drama. Nothing pops out of the closet when it oughn't. Jake plays the cards he's dealt. It's a lousy hand and he does all he can to make it better. He's got optimism, criminal skill, and solid execution. He even gets a couple good breaks. But the deeper he goes, the more the bitch laughs in his face.
And where THE BITCH takes him ain't funny at all. Even if it makes tragic good sense.
For the most part, the story takes place outside of prison, on the bricks, but the joint casts its shadow large from the moment Jake’s former cellmate calls him out of the blue. Walker Joy is a cruel oxymoronic name for a guy who brings a shit storm into Jake’s life—a good life he’ll do anything to protect.
In a jocular passionate voice, Jake leads the reader step by rational step into dark corners completely foreign to your average "civilian". The horrific decisions Jake has to make would be much less believable if it weren't for Edgerton's masterful hand. Given what’s at stake, there’s hardly a moment when you can argue with the path Jake takes—even as the grotesque results pile deeper by the page.
This is the kind of book you're going to reach for at 3:30 in the morning because whatever crap is disturbing your sleep won't stand a chance against the terror looming in the next chapter.
THE BITCH doesn't rely on bad luck or cheap device to create drama. Nothing pops out of the closet when it oughn't. Jake plays the cards he's dealt. It's a lousy hand and he does all he can to make it better. He's got optimism, criminal skill, and solid execution. He even gets a couple good breaks. But the deeper he goes, the more the bitch laughs in his face.
And where THE BITCH takes him ain't funny at all. Even if it makes tragic good sense.
November 3, 2014
The Bitch follows Jake Bishop, a hair dresser about to open his own salon, married with a kid on the way. He has gone to college and worked hard, very hard because Jake is also an ex-con. His life is finally looking up after doing two stints for burglary at Pendleton. Enter Walker Joy his ex-cellmate who has been working for a corrupt and ruthless diamond dealer. Jake is blackmailed into doing one last burglary for the dealer.
What sets this apart from your standard noir is Les Edgerton's ability to slowly peel back the layers of Jake's sad life, his pain, his psyche, his hopes and dreams. We see his life unfold as the facts of his past, the horrifying things that were done to him at Pendleton color his choices. It pings the same way Paul Muni’s tour de force “I am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang” does; what could have been a decent life has now turned nightmare. The kid we see in Jake was never had a chance.
The writing is superb and to say that he "develops " his characters is an understatement. Run, do not walk to your nearest bookseller, or Amazon and buy this. This book will haunt you.
What sets this apart from your standard noir is Les Edgerton's ability to slowly peel back the layers of Jake's sad life, his pain, his psyche, his hopes and dreams. We see his life unfold as the facts of his past, the horrifying things that were done to him at Pendleton color his choices. It pings the same way Paul Muni’s tour de force “I am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang” does; what could have been a decent life has now turned nightmare. The kid we see in Jake was never had a chance.
The writing is superb and to say that he "develops " his characters is an understatement. Run, do not walk to your nearest bookseller, or Amazon and buy this. This book will haunt you.
September 11, 2016
A wonderfully paced book with a compelling and rich main character. The Bitch is almost Greek in its sense of unavoidable fate and the sins of the past guaranteeing a tragic future. The title refers to the life sentence staring Jake Bishop in the face if he is found guilty of being a "habitual offender." Edgerton subverts the "ex-con-gone-straight-who-easily-falls-into-crime-again trope by drawing a character who has actually been rehabilitated, however. Jake Bishop's backslide into a life of crime is both reluctant and disastrous as he's shed most, if not all, of his illicit skills and motivations for the uncomplicated life of a "citizen." But his past cannot be denied when it catches up to him. While the job seems simple enough, it is upended by a complex web of commitments between a best friend, a brother, and his wife. Edgerton takes the familiar heist novel and elevates it to thrilling character study of a man under extreme duress trying his best to duck fate. Jake Bishop's life is a bitch!
February 27, 2014
From the first page, this book grabbed hold of me and wouldn't let go. The protagonist Jake describes his situation as an avalanche, and that's an apt metaphor. This book comes at you fast and hard. It'll bury you!
The pacing is spot on, and Edgerton always keeps you guessing. He drops just enough hints at Jake's prison back story to make you curious to find out more. And he keeps the tension of the core plot cranked way high, making you anxious to see what'll happen next. What's more, he makes you care about Jake. At the heart of this story is Jake's marriage, which comes off as a very real relationship, full of bursts of passion, smoldering resentments, tender moments, and enduring hope.
This is a brilliant example of how genre fiction (in this case, thriller) can be every bit as poignant and expertly-crafted as "literary fiction." Buy it, read it, and be prepared to lose sleep over it.
The pacing is spot on, and Edgerton always keeps you guessing. He drops just enough hints at Jake's prison back story to make you curious to find out more. And he keeps the tension of the core plot cranked way high, making you anxious to see what'll happen next. What's more, he makes you care about Jake. At the heart of this story is Jake's marriage, which comes off as a very real relationship, full of bursts of passion, smoldering resentments, tender moments, and enduring hope.
This is a brilliant example of how genre fiction (in this case, thriller) can be every bit as poignant and expertly-crafted as "literary fiction." Buy it, read it, and be prepared to lose sleep over it.
May 9, 2012
Before you get all snooty and annoyingly PC, I should point out that the title THE BITCH doesn’t refer to an unpleasant female (we’ll leave that sort of thing to Jackie Collins) but instead is a reference to “habitual offender”—ha-BITCH-ual, get it? This one starts off with a fairly standard premise, as ex-con Jake, trying to get his new life together, is drawn against his will into another criminal scheme. Read that before, right? Well, hold on. Because about half-way through this one, Edgerton starts ratcheting it up, expertly tightening the screws as one disaster after another makes our man Jake’s situation worse and worse. By the time THE BITCH reaches its shattering conclusion, your nerves will be frayed. An absolute gem of pure, unadulterated noir, this one.
May 4, 2012
Les Edgerton's "The Bitch" is one of the most arresting crime novels I've read this year (no pun intended). It chronicles ex-con Jake Bishop's attempts to avoid "The Bitch," a slang term for "habitual criminal." It's similar to the Three Strike Rule. Jake already has two strikes when a prison buddy calls him up for one last job.
Excellent plot construction, pitch black humor, superb pacing and a special feel that only the best crime novels carry make this is a must-read. Don't stick this in a queue for another day. Read it right now.
Excellent plot construction, pitch black humor, superb pacing and a special feel that only the best crime novels carry make this is a must-read. Don't stick this in a queue for another day. Read it right now.
December 14, 2012
Sympathize with a killer? Sure you can. Edgerton gives us a vulnerable ex-con who is sucked into a vortex of violence and fights it every step of the way. The Bitch is a real-life crime story that is both plausible and compelling. A great read that pulls you further in with every page. Edgerton has the good sense to give his characters real consciences and they think through their actions--a rare quality in a fictional criminal. Thankfully for the reader, though, Murphy's Law keeps pulling them further down a violent road of no return. Highly recommended.
November 3, 2014
After reading and loving THE RAPIST, I was beyond excited to dig into this book. THE BITCH is an uncomfortable read, and I haven’t encountered that in a while. The pacing is excellent and the writing is almost flawless in my opinion. The care that Edgerton has obviously taken with his character development and plotting can’t be described. I highly recommend THE BITCH. The story and its players will stay with you long after you reach THE END.
Full review to follow on www.onfictionwriting.com.
December 5, 2014
Disclaimer: This ARC was given to me for free in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley.
This was extremely gritty and felt pretty realistic. I was on the edge of my seat most of the time while reading this.
This was extremely gritty and felt pretty realistic. I was on the edge of my seat most of the time while reading this.
January 23, 2012
A gripping tale of murder and revenge yet introspective about moral choices. We see the wending ways of the criminal mind and how it justifies criminal acts without ever quite apologizing.
January 20, 2020
A well-paced trainwreck of a novel which hurtles along to its inevitable doomed ending.
My only complaint was that the author seemed to had make up his mind to come up with an ending that said, 'Crime does not pay,' and that's why the end felt so contrived and unsatisfying.
But a well-told story, nevertheless. I hope Mr. Edgerton lightens up a bit in the next book and tells a less gloomy tale.
My only complaint was that the author seemed to had make up his mind to come up with an ending that said, 'Crime does not pay,' and that's why the end felt so contrived and unsatisfying.
But a well-told story, nevertheless. I hope Mr. Edgerton lightens up a bit in the next book and tells a less gloomy tale.
November 6, 2023
That book where bad decisions are a bitch when it comes to consequences. Good ending.
August 29, 2015
Jake Bishop is on the verge of achieving the American dream. He’s married, he and his wife have their first baby on the way, he has some college under his belt, and he’s a few short weeks from making the leap from working as a stylist in someone else’s salon to opening his own shop.
True, Bishop didn’t exactly take the most direct route to get there, and the trip wasn’t without some serious bumps in the road. For one thing, he’s a recovering alcoholic, though it’s been years since he’s touched the stuff. More serious, he’s an ex-con, having done two stints for burglary at Pendleton Reformatory, a maximum security prison in Indiana.
Still, the past is the past, and everything seems to be going fine. Until the call comes that alters Bishop’s life irrevocably.
Seems Bishop’s old cellmate from Pendleton, Walker “Spitball” Joy, has a job he’d like Bishop’s help with. The kind of job Bishop doesn’t do anymore. Problem is, Bishop kinda owes Spitball, who looked out for Bishop during his last stretch in the joint. Figuring he owes Spitball at least a sit-down, Bishop goes for the meet. There, he finds out the situation is much more dire than just a prison buddy trying to cash in a moral IOU. Seems Spitball’s in deep with the wrong person, someone he shared information about Bishop with. The kind of information that gives them leverage Bishop can’t easily say no to.
If it were just him, Bishop could simply disappear, start over somewhere else. But the nasty piece of work pulling Spitball’s strings has threatened Bishop’s family, not just his own freedom. Now, Bishop is caught between his desire to do the right thing and “the bitch”—with two strikes already on his record, a third would make Bishop a habitual criminal, sending him back to prison for life. Forced into a corner, Bishop agrees to take the job, which sets in motion chain of events that goes from bad to worse…to no turning back.
In the hands of most authors, The Bitch would easily be nothing more than a run-of-the-mill story of blackmail, burglary and revenge. But author Les Edgerton isn’t just any author. You see, like Bishop, Edgerton also spent time at Pendleton for burglary. Described at one point by President Lyndon Johnson as “the single worst prison in the US,” spending time there obviously makes an impression, and Edgerton’s experience permeates The Bitch with a verisimilitude you can’t learn from a book or earn via an MFA. Of course, even that real-world experience wouldn’t matter if Edgerton didn’t also have a masterful, razor-sharp way with words and highly tuned sense of pacing.
Every step Bishop takes, the screws turn a little tighter, the hooks set a little deeper, his plight brought to life by Edgerton with excruciating, squirm-inducing detail and believability. Such is Edgerton’s skill in relaying the frustration and desperation that drive Bishop on down a path he knows deep down can only end in disaster, that even when Bishop starts making decisions that are at first merely subjectively questionable but quickly devolve to objectively reprehensible, the reader still actually sympathizes with him. You can’t help but marvel at the creative, on the fly solutions Bishop comes up with every time an obstacle pops up in his path. Unfortunately, while his solutions serve to solve the immediate problem at hand, the light they create at the end of the tunnel is most definitely that of an oncoming train—the bitch.
With The Bitch, Edgerton challenges readers to put themselves in the shoes of a man in a truly no-win situation, one where it’s not only his life on the line, but those of his family as well—there is no easy solution, no way out without getting dirty. And in that sense The Bitch is not a comfortable read. Its characters are of highly questionable morals, their actions unquestionably violent, their words often unapologetically profane. The Bitch is, however, an extremely powerful read, one that will stick with you long after you’ve turned the final page.
True, Bishop didn’t exactly take the most direct route to get there, and the trip wasn’t without some serious bumps in the road. For one thing, he’s a recovering alcoholic, though it’s been years since he’s touched the stuff. More serious, he’s an ex-con, having done two stints for burglary at Pendleton Reformatory, a maximum security prison in Indiana.
Still, the past is the past, and everything seems to be going fine. Until the call comes that alters Bishop’s life irrevocably.
Seems Bishop’s old cellmate from Pendleton, Walker “Spitball” Joy, has a job he’d like Bishop’s help with. The kind of job Bishop doesn’t do anymore. Problem is, Bishop kinda owes Spitball, who looked out for Bishop during his last stretch in the joint. Figuring he owes Spitball at least a sit-down, Bishop goes for the meet. There, he finds out the situation is much more dire than just a prison buddy trying to cash in a moral IOU. Seems Spitball’s in deep with the wrong person, someone he shared information about Bishop with. The kind of information that gives them leverage Bishop can’t easily say no to.
If it were just him, Bishop could simply disappear, start over somewhere else. But the nasty piece of work pulling Spitball’s strings has threatened Bishop’s family, not just his own freedom. Now, Bishop is caught between his desire to do the right thing and “the bitch”—with two strikes already on his record, a third would make Bishop a habitual criminal, sending him back to prison for life. Forced into a corner, Bishop agrees to take the job, which sets in motion chain of events that goes from bad to worse…to no turning back.
In the hands of most authors, The Bitch would easily be nothing more than a run-of-the-mill story of blackmail, burglary and revenge. But author Les Edgerton isn’t just any author. You see, like Bishop, Edgerton also spent time at Pendleton for burglary. Described at one point by President Lyndon Johnson as “the single worst prison in the US,” spending time there obviously makes an impression, and Edgerton’s experience permeates The Bitch with a verisimilitude you can’t learn from a book or earn via an MFA. Of course, even that real-world experience wouldn’t matter if Edgerton didn’t also have a masterful, razor-sharp way with words and highly tuned sense of pacing.
Every step Bishop takes, the screws turn a little tighter, the hooks set a little deeper, his plight brought to life by Edgerton with excruciating, squirm-inducing detail and believability. Such is Edgerton’s skill in relaying the frustration and desperation that drive Bishop on down a path he knows deep down can only end in disaster, that even when Bishop starts making decisions that are at first merely subjectively questionable but quickly devolve to objectively reprehensible, the reader still actually sympathizes with him. You can’t help but marvel at the creative, on the fly solutions Bishop comes up with every time an obstacle pops up in his path. Unfortunately, while his solutions serve to solve the immediate problem at hand, the light they create at the end of the tunnel is most definitely that of an oncoming train—the bitch.
With The Bitch, Edgerton challenges readers to put themselves in the shoes of a man in a truly no-win situation, one where it’s not only his life on the line, but those of his family as well—there is no easy solution, no way out without getting dirty. And in that sense The Bitch is not a comfortable read. Its characters are of highly questionable morals, their actions unquestionably violent, their words often unapologetically profane. The Bitch is, however, an extremely powerful read, one that will stick with you long after you’ve turned the final page.
February 13, 2014
http://koeur.wordpress.com/2014/02/13...
Publisher: New Pulp
Publishing Date: January 2014
ISBN: 9780989932301
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Rating: 2.0/5.0
Publisher Description: Ex-con Jake Bishop is several years past his second stint in prison and has completely reformed. He’s married, expecting a child, and preparing to open his own hair salon. But then an old cellmate re-enters his life begging for a favor: to help him with a burglary. Forced by his code of ethics to perform the crime, Jake’s once idyllic life quickly plunges into an abyss. Jake soon realizes that there is only one way out of this purgatory . . . and it may rupture his soul beyond repair.
Review: What an awesome cover! Frikin’ water colored dude spear fishing or digging a grave…..kewl.
This novel was a split decision in that a tie is like kissing your sister (I wouldn’t know as I have 8 brothers). I just couldn’t get over the hump of endless internal dialogue that separates the story-line from the movement (action) of the novel. They just never quite inter-twine into a composite whole. The author chooses to build characters with back-story intermissions throughout the novel, rather than lead you down a path of discovery. Yeah it is harder to write and makes for complex scene development but it can draw you in like a gopher to a hole.
The premise of the novel which essentially involves Spencer (a turd) and Walker his cellie from prison, have a past crime that he committed that they hang over his head in order to get his cooperation in a burglary. Essentially blackmail. So……the question I have is what would you do? Me? Since my life is so great now with a hot chick wife and a loser little brother, I would let the dice fall, as the alternative is getting thrown back in jail for life if you get caught. You have a better chance of lawyering up or denying the charge when the victim is practically a vegetable. The evidence is zero, only hearsay.
This novel kind of barfed the characters and the subsequent development down your shirt front. There was no intrigue that helped develop the depth of the character. Just because you have vignettes of Jake as a youth swallowing coins and getting beaten with a strap does not make you empathize with him. Mainly because there is no real emotional content in the scene that evokes a visceral response from me, the reader. Your mom’s quiet tears coupled with defiant actions just doesn’t create a pull. Remove mom and her tears, and perhaps dad and set the kid in a lonely place dealing with the hurt and pain. This makes for a good opportunity to internalize emotion and develop the character. Children’s thoughts can go in various paths when processing hurtful events.
There is quite a bit of graphic violence that involves man rape and killing women etc. I think the author’s insertion of these events into the story-line was an attempt to create a hard-boiled or noir crime fiction novel. What it really does is replicate a bad memory from a host of bad instances. Again there is no pull and no sympathizing with a character who has made successively degrading life choices. I thought the ending was too simplistic and flirted with the ol’ deus ex. Why not have his wife be the mastermind behind the whole shebang or better yet have turned on him when she knew he participated in killing her mom. This story-line could have taken a myriad of turns and twists to make it interesting but decided to divest itself of any creative inclination. It’s a less than 50 % but better than 30% that you might like it.
Publisher: New Pulp
Publishing Date: January 2014
ISBN: 9780989932301
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Rating: 2.0/5.0
Publisher Description: Ex-con Jake Bishop is several years past his second stint in prison and has completely reformed. He’s married, expecting a child, and preparing to open his own hair salon. But then an old cellmate re-enters his life begging for a favor: to help him with a burglary. Forced by his code of ethics to perform the crime, Jake’s once idyllic life quickly plunges into an abyss. Jake soon realizes that there is only one way out of this purgatory . . . and it may rupture his soul beyond repair.
Review: What an awesome cover! Frikin’ water colored dude spear fishing or digging a grave…..kewl.
This novel was a split decision in that a tie is like kissing your sister (I wouldn’t know as I have 8 brothers). I just couldn’t get over the hump of endless internal dialogue that separates the story-line from the movement (action) of the novel. They just never quite inter-twine into a composite whole. The author chooses to build characters with back-story intermissions throughout the novel, rather than lead you down a path of discovery. Yeah it is harder to write and makes for complex scene development but it can draw you in like a gopher to a hole.
The premise of the novel which essentially involves Spencer (a turd) and Walker his cellie from prison, have a past crime that he committed that they hang over his head in order to get his cooperation in a burglary. Essentially blackmail. So……the question I have is what would you do? Me? Since my life is so great now with a hot chick wife and a loser little brother, I would let the dice fall, as the alternative is getting thrown back in jail for life if you get caught. You have a better chance of lawyering up or denying the charge when the victim is practically a vegetable. The evidence is zero, only hearsay.
This novel kind of barfed the characters and the subsequent development down your shirt front. There was no intrigue that helped develop the depth of the character. Just because you have vignettes of Jake as a youth swallowing coins and getting beaten with a strap does not make you empathize with him. Mainly because there is no real emotional content in the scene that evokes a visceral response from me, the reader. Your mom’s quiet tears coupled with defiant actions just doesn’t create a pull. Remove mom and her tears, and perhaps dad and set the kid in a lonely place dealing with the hurt and pain. This makes for a good opportunity to internalize emotion and develop the character. Children’s thoughts can go in various paths when processing hurtful events.
There is quite a bit of graphic violence that involves man rape and killing women etc. I think the author’s insertion of these events into the story-line was an attempt to create a hard-boiled or noir crime fiction novel. What it really does is replicate a bad memory from a host of bad instances. Again there is no pull and no sympathizing with a character who has made successively degrading life choices. I thought the ending was too simplistic and flirted with the ol’ deus ex. Why not have his wife be the mastermind behind the whole shebang or better yet have turned on him when she knew he participated in killing her mom. This story-line could have taken a myriad of turns and twists to make it interesting but decided to divest itself of any creative inclination. It’s a less than 50 % but better than 30% that you might like it.
November 3, 2014
Les Edgerton's "The Bitch" is about Jake Bishop, a two-time felon with a Bitch dangling around his neck: Ha-BITCH-ual criminal,
two strikes and one away from life without parole in Indiana's Correctional System. With a new business in the works, a loving wife
and a baby on the way, Jake feels the glow of the sun, a chance to be a "straight" (law-abiding citizen).
But then he gets the call from Walker Joy.
Former cellmate and trusted inside-friend, Walker is out and back to tricks. He's in a bind, and Jake owes him.
Walker's in with Sydney Spencer, a shady black market jeweler, and there's a "piece of cake" job that Jake is uniquely
suited to do. But Jake's tasted the dawn, and as the darkness begins to creep up at his heels he wants to run. Jake soon finds that running's not as easy as it should be, and with the Bitch hanging over his head, the night looms.
There is so much to this book. It's the perspective. It's the sublime wisdom embedded in Jake's narration. It's the madness that you can taste as Edgerton guides you through twists and turns that stain the carpets and trunk liners. It's the little things that throw you because the story keeps you looking the other way. It makes Jake's descent real.
Edgerton's style is dynamic, never giving you the time to get easy with the drudgery of getting through some passage. I had to re-read a paragraph or two because I was still stunned by the one sentence that came before it. Yeah, it's that kind of book.
Read it on a day off. Clear the day. Put on a pot of coffee. Trust me.
I will recommend The Bitch to anyone who's capable of enjoying darkness, or just a good book. I would also recommend this to anyone thinking of a life of crime.
two strikes and one away from life without parole in Indiana's Correctional System. With a new business in the works, a loving wife
and a baby on the way, Jake feels the glow of the sun, a chance to be a "straight" (law-abiding citizen).
But then he gets the call from Walker Joy.
Former cellmate and trusted inside-friend, Walker is out and back to tricks. He's in a bind, and Jake owes him.
Walker's in with Sydney Spencer, a shady black market jeweler, and there's a "piece of cake" job that Jake is uniquely
suited to do. But Jake's tasted the dawn, and as the darkness begins to creep up at his heels he wants to run. Jake soon finds that running's not as easy as it should be, and with the Bitch hanging over his head, the night looms.
There is so much to this book. It's the perspective. It's the sublime wisdom embedded in Jake's narration. It's the madness that you can taste as Edgerton guides you through twists and turns that stain the carpets and trunk liners. It's the little things that throw you because the story keeps you looking the other way. It makes Jake's descent real.
Edgerton's style is dynamic, never giving you the time to get easy with the drudgery of getting through some passage. I had to re-read a paragraph or two because I was still stunned by the one sentence that came before it. Yeah, it's that kind of book.
Read it on a day off. Clear the day. Put on a pot of coffee. Trust me.
I will recommend The Bitch to anyone who's capable of enjoying darkness, or just a good book. I would also recommend this to anyone thinking of a life of crime.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews