Only Bones

by Daniel Vlasaty

Daniel is a bike messenger in Chicago. He’s good at his job and takes pride in his work. In his riding. In the fact that he knows the city’s streets like the back of his hand. Daniel’s also in debt to his drug dealer, Lawrence. And when he’s offered a job to work off his debt Daniel doesn’t hesitate. It’ll be an easy job, Lawrence tells him. Just running packages. But Daniel’s about to learn that things are never easy. Not in this city.

Genres: Crime

190 pages, Paperback

First published July 31, 2016

About the author

author of THE CHURCH OF TV AS GOD, AMPHETAMINE PSYCHOSIS, ONLY BONES, A NEW AND DIFFERENT KIND OF PAIN, STAY UGLY.

Reviews

[Janie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daniel is a drug addict. He snorts and swallows amphetamines without eating or sleeping. His only attachments are his pills and his bicycle. He is one with his bike, flying through the streets of Chicago making deliveries and feeling his heart pump. Daniel is going nowhere in a hurry, and when his dealer gets involved with some violent characters, Daniel allows himself to get pulled into an urban void. This novel was a tense and jittery ride, and Daniel Vlasaty is an author I will surely keep my eye on.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vlasaty absolutely hits it out of the park here. It's a narrative stream from an amphetamine-popping bicycle messenger with nothing much to live for in the streets of Chicago. Many books have been written about gritty inner city life and the desperate losers, junkies, and dealers there, but few writers have made this world come alive as it does here. The real magic of this book is the narrative voice of the Daniel character, a complete dope head loser who comes alive in these pages. He can get on his bike and pedal out of Chicago, but where is he going to go. Daniel's never going to escape the few blocks he knows as home.

[Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This text provides you with a glimpse into the underbelly of Chicago. It reads fast. The theme of addiction is prevalent, and the insights offered about addiction are unique. There are some great descriptive passages relating to the mental and physical symptoms associated with drug use.

The story is just the right amount of dark and never gets too heavy. It is a perfect weekend read.

[Scott Cumming · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a recent interview I read with Vlasaty he stated that people had told him that people didn't speak how his characters do, but when the writing is this good, does it even matter? Bike messenger, Daniel, finds himself in debt to his drug dealer, but his habit won't let him stay away and he soon finds himself delivering a package on his dealer's behalf to make up his debt. What could go wrong?!

The prose is sharp, snappy and has a great rhythm that makes it feel like you're really stuck in Daniel's head experiencing the things that are happening to him. I often reference how expectation has a funny effect on how you see a book and I did feel disappointment that there wasn't a wild bicycle chase scene in the novel.

Look forward to Vlasaty's next one, "Stay Ugly".

[Grant Wamack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like to keep my eye on a lot of writers. When I heard that Daniel Vlasaty was writing a crime fiction novella set in Chicago, I instantly became hyped. I read his first book The Church of TV as God and it was a solid debut in the bizarro genre. However, I’m always curious to see people switch lanes and if they can pull it off.

I cracked open Only Bones before going to bed and burnt through it within a matter of hours. The main character Daniel is a bike messenger who’s life revolves around popping pills and drifting around the Chicago. Addiction is a sonuvabitch. We find out Daniel is in debt to his drug dealer Lawrence and will do anything to keep the pills coming. To pay off his debt, Daniel starts running packages for him, but shit hits the fan. Daniel runs into corrupt cops, rival drug dealers, and a number of other issues.

The prose in Only Bones is just that-bare bones; lean and loaded. There’s not a single scrap of fluff or fat to be found. Each sentence hits like a hard hitting beat. Reminded me of Charlie Huston.

Vlasaty definitely knows Chicago like the back of his hand and describes certain streets and neighborhoods to a T. Plus, the first person narrative really gives you inside look of a pill addict. You feel Daniel’s pain and desperation dripping off every other page.

Only Bones is Daniel Vlasaty’s first foray into crime fiction and well worth your time and money. It shows how sharp and versatile he is. I feel like a fiend because I can’t wait for the next literary rush he offers.

[Paul Heatley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daniel Vlasaty is a great writer that keeps you engaged with this tale of a drug addicted bike messenger. You really feel for his hardships and addictions, and the struggle of the life he has trapped himself in. Also present are some colourful criminals, some dirty cops, and bone crunching violence that you feel down in the pit of your stomach. I couldn't put this book down and tore through it in just a few hours it kept me so hooked.

[Kathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did try to read this because I have a place in the city as well as the suburbs, and while I did at one time live and walk to work in Chicago as long as my job(s) held out, I am finding things far more peaceful in the suburbs. I spend less and less time on the streets of Chicago, but then I do not owe any money to any drug dealers and would not recommend it. I do see a whole lot of bike messengers and occasionally talk to one here and there. I see them as healthy, fit, alert and sometimes friendly beings. If I thought they were anything like what is portrayed in this book I would not return to my downtown loft. Am I a "too dainty" female for the language and violence in this book? Yes. Watching the morning news here is enough punishment.

[Bix Skahill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This great book is an action burrito filled with action meat. I couldn't put this book down, read it in one sitting. If you like noir crime fiction with taut sentences and tight dialogue, this book is a must read.

[David Nemeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main character in Daniel Vlasaty's Only Bones (All Due Respect Books) has only three things that drive him: snorting amphetamines, thinking about where his next batch of pills, and riding his bike through the streets of Chicago.

Daniel, the protagonist of Only Bones, is a bike messenger and is running out of pills to pop, so he heads over to his dealer's apartment with only a few dollars in his pocket and a larger amount fronted — the dealer's hook, the junkie's lifeline. His dealer, Lawrence, is his only friend or as close to a friend that any junkie can have. Daniel starts working off his debt by delivering and picking up packages for his dealer. First stop a drug dealer named Elf.

My spit nothing but a thick paste. Dry and clumpy.

I try to work up some saliva in my mouth to wash away the dry-mouth taste. But I’ve got nothing.

All these pills for all these days have left me shriveled and crispy.

They’ve dried me out from the inside.

For a second I’m able to forget that I have an envelope full of cash in my bag.

Right on my back.

No idea how much cash is in it. Never thought to ask.

I don’t even know what I’m buying. What or how much.

I’m just the delivery man. I don’t need to know all the details.

But the cash in this envelope is definitely more than I’ve ever had in my possession.

If you add up all the money I’ve ever had or made in my entire life it’s still probably less than what I have in my bag right now.

It’s a lot of money.

A lot of money that Lawrence has trusted me with.

We’re either better friends than I thought we were or Lawrence is the stupidest motherfucker to ever do business in this city.

Why would anyone trust some junked-out asshole like me with probably thousands and thousands of dollars?

Vlasaty writes in a stream-of-conscious Ode to Speed. Whether he writes about the rush of the amphetamines hitting a junkie's blood stream or the drool of a drug addict's body shutting down or the shit that Daniel and Lawrence get into with Elf, Only Bones makes for some fast-paced good reading.

[Edward · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really good noir from author Daniel Vlasaty. A bike messenger who doesn't stop taking amphetamines even for a minute takes a job from his drug dealer and gets in over his head with dirty cops, and his drug dealers drug dealer. Grounded in reality and written in a minimalist style Only Bones is a fast paced, witty, and often times funny tour through Chicago via bicycle. Daniel, the messenger not the author, is basically the sidekick to all the tough guys you normally read about. The reader stands on the sideline with him as he's dragged from one bad situation to another always questioning if he should just walk away and disappear from the city he's grown up in and loves. I just really loved the characters voice and realistic situations. Vlasaty never goes over the top to where it's unbelievable. You can seriously imagine being in some of the situations he finds himself in. It's a pure noir grounded in reality. I highly recommend it.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book wasn't much interesting to me. Mostly about a drug addict and how he lives and his feeling about himself. He delivers drug and food for money for drugs. Theres two dirty cops who rob and steal their money and their drugs from them. It PO's them, so a bunch of the guys that it happened to decide to do something about it all.

[Ronald L Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty Scarry life of man strung out on drugs,

Enough f..bombs to fill a box car. But it keeps you turning the pages. The author has talent I will have to admit.

[Donna Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

You will speed right through this vivid and poignant story.

[Andy Rausch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daniel Vlasaty can write his ass off. This book is more proof if you needed it. This book is so gritty you feel like you need a shower after reading it.

[David Bridges · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another quick burner from the folks at All Due Respect. Only Bones is bare bones crime with the tale about Daniel, a bike messenger in Chicago, who snorts and swallows all his money in the form of amphetamine pills. After running himself into a hole with his crazy ass drug dealer, Daniel starts to make deliveries for said dealer. This leads to encounters with crooked cops and other even crazier drug dealers. It eventually all comes to a violent end.

This is my first bump of Vlasaty's work and I enjoyed it. I will be coming back for more. The prose in the story is stripped down and it has funny dialog. I read the book in two sittings in a 24 hour period. It is just one of those books that you let your guard down and try to have fun.

[Rory Costello · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is rooted in gritty reality and uses its lowdown Chicago locations well. But the story construction is caught in a middle ground: more than a novella but not a novel either. I thought it could have been developed some more, which would have enhanced its impact.

[Dave Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A amphetamine bike carrier finds himself in a difficult situation when he gets to deep into his habit. Really dug this book and will be reading his first book The Church of TV as God next.