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A Lesson in Violence
Meet Polly: eleven years old and smart beyond her years. But she’s a loner, always on the outside, until she is unexpectedly reunited with her father.
Meet Nate: fresh out of jail and driving a stolen car, Nate takes Polly from the safety of her quiet existence into a world of robbery, violence and the constant threat of death.
And he does it to save her life.
A Lesson in Violence is a gripping and emotionally wrenching novel that upends even our most long-held expectations about heroes, villains and victims. Nate takes Polly to save her life, but in the end it may very well be Polly who saves him.
Meet Nate: fresh out of jail and driving a stolen car, Nate takes Polly from the safety of her quiet existence into a world of robbery, violence and the constant threat of death.
And he does it to save her life.
A Lesson in Violence is a gripping and emotionally wrenching novel that upends even our most long-held expectations about heroes, villains and victims. Nate takes Polly to save her life, but in the end it may very well be Polly who saves him.
257 pages, Hardcover
First published June 6, 2017
889 people are currently reading
12596 people want to read
About the author
Jordan Harper
32 books1,028 followersJordan Harper is the Edgar-Award winning author of SHE RIDES SHOTGUN, THE LAST KING OF CALIFORNIA, EVERYBODY KNOWS and the short story collection LOVE AND OTHER WOUNDS. He lives in Los Angeles, where he works as a writer and producer for television.
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June 3, 2017
My reviews can also be seen at: https://deesradreadsandreviews.wordpr...
WOW!! I want to get more creative than that right now but.... Wow!
I just finished this book and I am almost at a loss for words.
What a ride. What a read.....Seriously.
After reading the description of this book, I knew it was one I just had to read. Thankfully I was able to get my hands on a copy. I read it in two sittings. I was hooked from page one. This book took me on a roller coaster of emotions that left me breathless, and it's not a book I'll soon forget.
As the book begins we learn about Penguin Bay Prison inmate, Crazy Craig Hollington. Crazy Craig is the president of the prison gang known as Aryan Steel. He sits in his cell but runs all of the "dirty white boys" in California. The lights are on 24 hours in Supermax. He's not allowed to be near other prisoners. They even bring the shower up to his stall instead of letting him out of his cell.
But they say he's a God made of other men.
He had men for a mouth
He had men for blood
He had men for feet
He had men for eyes
He had men for hands
"His will be done"
In other words.....he's one scary MoFo!!!!
He writes death warrants and they move on kites which are pieces of paper that move from cell to cell eventually to the outside.
All signed with the motto: steel forever forever steel
The words were a Vendetta
Three condemned. A man. A woman. A child
Specific acts of bloodshed.
But he doesn't have anything like a pen so how does he write it?
With a thumbtack punching out the letters, dried urine painted onto envelopes invisible until held to a flame.
How do they get out of the prison? A kiss......A whisper
Eventually made into wanted posters with pictures. Passed around and memorized.
Polly's mother has always told her she has 'gunfighter eyes' like her father. The father she's never met. However when she leaves school one afternoon those same eyes are looking right at her before she is grabbed and thrown into a car.
Someone has a hit out on newly released prisoner, Nate McClusky and his 11-year-old daughter Polly. That hit was originally for three people but they got to Polly's mom already, which is why Nate takes his daughter out of school that day. They are all each other has left.
Marked for death.
These people follow orders and would think nothing of killing an 11-year-old girl.
One day Polly is a schoolgirl. The next she's on the run pulling off heists and learning how to do a stranglehold, how to take a punch, and finding out what a blue lightning tattoo means. Things no little girl should have to learn. But life is tough and sometimes you have to fight to survive.
I loved the characters, flaws and all. But my favorite character isn't human, isn't an animal ....but a stuffed bear. The author describes Polly and how she interacts with her bear. A bear who I can clearly "see" covering his eyes, waving, doing push-ups, fist bumps, and even waving his farts away. Polly used her bear to explain what she couldn't. She used him to help her cope and it was very emotional and heart-warming.
The story is told mostly from Nate and Polly's perspectives but interspersed with additional characters who help to tell the story.
Nate feels things he never knew he could. He will do anything and everything in his power to keep Polly safe. They need someone to lift the greenlight on them.
The rules of the street...chaos to their rules. Councils. Dirty cops on the take.
She Rides Shotgun broke my heart. But I wouldn't have it any other way as the book was fantastic.
Although there was violence and at times it was hard to take, I could not stop reading. This book will stay with you long after you read the last page. An addictive, edgy, and compelling read.
Thank you Simon & Schuster and Jordan Harper for providing an advanced readers copy of this book for me to read in exchange for my honest review.
WOW!! I want to get more creative than that right now but.... Wow!
I just finished this book and I am almost at a loss for words.
What a ride. What a read.....Seriously.
After reading the description of this book, I knew it was one I just had to read. Thankfully I was able to get my hands on a copy. I read it in two sittings. I was hooked from page one. This book took me on a roller coaster of emotions that left me breathless, and it's not a book I'll soon forget.
As the book begins we learn about Penguin Bay Prison inmate, Crazy Craig Hollington. Crazy Craig is the president of the prison gang known as Aryan Steel. He sits in his cell but runs all of the "dirty white boys" in California. The lights are on 24 hours in Supermax. He's not allowed to be near other prisoners. They even bring the shower up to his stall instead of letting him out of his cell.
But they say he's a God made of other men.
He had men for a mouth
He had men for blood
He had men for feet
He had men for eyes
He had men for hands
"His will be done"
In other words.....he's one scary MoFo!!!!
He writes death warrants and they move on kites which are pieces of paper that move from cell to cell eventually to the outside.
All signed with the motto: steel forever forever steel
The words were a Vendetta
Three condemned. A man. A woman. A child
Specific acts of bloodshed.
But he doesn't have anything like a pen so how does he write it?
With a thumbtack punching out the letters, dried urine painted onto envelopes invisible until held to a flame.
How do they get out of the prison? A kiss......A whisper
Eventually made into wanted posters with pictures. Passed around and memorized.
Polly's mother has always told her she has 'gunfighter eyes' like her father. The father she's never met. However when she leaves school one afternoon those same eyes are looking right at her before she is grabbed and thrown into a car.
Someone has a hit out on newly released prisoner, Nate McClusky and his 11-year-old daughter Polly. That hit was originally for three people but they got to Polly's mom already, which is why Nate takes his daughter out of school that day. They are all each other has left.
Marked for death.
These people follow orders and would think nothing of killing an 11-year-old girl.
One day Polly is a schoolgirl. The next she's on the run pulling off heists and learning how to do a stranglehold, how to take a punch, and finding out what a blue lightning tattoo means. Things no little girl should have to learn. But life is tough and sometimes you have to fight to survive.
I loved the characters, flaws and all. But my favorite character isn't human, isn't an animal ....but a stuffed bear. The author describes Polly and how she interacts with her bear. A bear who I can clearly "see" covering his eyes, waving, doing push-ups, fist bumps, and even waving his farts away. Polly used her bear to explain what she couldn't. She used him to help her cope and it was very emotional and heart-warming.
The story is told mostly from Nate and Polly's perspectives but interspersed with additional characters who help to tell the story.
Nate feels things he never knew he could. He will do anything and everything in his power to keep Polly safe. They need someone to lift the greenlight on them.
The rules of the street...chaos to their rules. Councils. Dirty cops on the take.
She Rides Shotgun broke my heart. But I wouldn't have it any other way as the book was fantastic.
Although there was violence and at times it was hard to take, I could not stop reading. This book will stay with you long after you read the last page. An addictive, edgy, and compelling read.
Thank you Simon & Schuster and Jordan Harper for providing an advanced readers copy of this book for me to read in exchange for my honest review.
June 28, 2018
He could have laughed at how fucked up life was. That soon as you found something to live for, you found something to die for too. But he guessed in the end it was a good trade.
it's "take your daughter on the lam day"!
this book is damn good. ridiculously good. i knew it would be - i loved his book of stories, Love and Other Wounds: Stories, and there are so few short story collections i like in their entirety that when i find one, i know i'm gonna have to read everything that author ever writes.
this dude is definitely in the same echelon as Cormac McCarthy, Daniel Woodrell and Donald Ray Pollock when it comes to writing literary grit lit. some grit lit skimps on character in favor of action or relies too heavily on shock value, but harper has it all: sharp, economical prose, complex, memorable characters, and a plot that zips along with equal emphasis on the crime writing as the character development. there are even some references to events that occurred in Love and Other Wounds: Stories, which touch was so appreciated. (the fact that i remembered details of a book i read in 2014 means it was really, really good)
it's about a man leaving prison after a five-year sentence who is anything but free: after pissing off the aryan steel gang inside, nate has a bounty his head, as well as on his ex-wife and their eleven-year-old daughter polly. when he finds his ex and her new husband have already been eliminated, his only goal is to protect polly, get her out of the gang's not inconsiderable reach, before going back for revenge. he barely knows polly, but during their road trip together, they develop a very unusual father-daughter bond, cemented in self-defense training and criminal masterminding, and after polly's intended drop-off point is compromised, nate takes her with him and they become a wonderfully steely team.
polly is definitely well-equipped for this life, although the stuffed bear she carries everywhere and uses as an extension of her persona makes her appear younger or less mentally competent than she is. there are times when she reads much older than eleven, but i think the text justifies this, and it only makes her more of a badass.
She felt something strange, a thrumming in her muscles, a thrumming in her mind. It took her a second to find the word for what she felt. It was a word she hadn't gotten to use for herself in a long time. The word was power.
nate, polly, and detective park are the main POV's, although others pop in now and again to provide context or texture to the unfolding plot. it's full of meth and torture and various shades of criminal behavior from both sides of the law, and it's just a whammy of a book, despite being so short.
there's nothing i do not love about this book, but the two standouts in the category of "bestest things" are detective park (i would love to read more of his adventures in law and order), and the relationship-arc between nate and polly and all the unconventional lessons in parenting.
Either you teach her how to take a punch or the world does.
write faster, jordan harper!
come to my blog!
it's "take your daughter on the lam day"!
this book is damn good. ridiculously good. i knew it would be - i loved his book of stories, Love and Other Wounds: Stories, and there are so few short story collections i like in their entirety that when i find one, i know i'm gonna have to read everything that author ever writes.
this dude is definitely in the same echelon as Cormac McCarthy, Daniel Woodrell and Donald Ray Pollock when it comes to writing literary grit lit. some grit lit skimps on character in favor of action or relies too heavily on shock value, but harper has it all: sharp, economical prose, complex, memorable characters, and a plot that zips along with equal emphasis on the crime writing as the character development. there are even some references to events that occurred in Love and Other Wounds: Stories, which touch was so appreciated. (the fact that i remembered details of a book i read in 2014 means it was really, really good)
it's about a man leaving prison after a five-year sentence who is anything but free: after pissing off the aryan steel gang inside, nate has a bounty his head, as well as on his ex-wife and their eleven-year-old daughter polly. when he finds his ex and her new husband have already been eliminated, his only goal is to protect polly, get her out of the gang's not inconsiderable reach, before going back for revenge. he barely knows polly, but during their road trip together, they develop a very unusual father-daughter bond, cemented in self-defense training and criminal masterminding, and after polly's intended drop-off point is compromised, nate takes her with him and they become a wonderfully steely team.
polly is definitely well-equipped for this life, although the stuffed bear she carries everywhere and uses as an extension of her persona makes her appear younger or less mentally competent than she is. there are times when she reads much older than eleven, but i think the text justifies this, and it only makes her more of a badass.
She felt something strange, a thrumming in her muscles, a thrumming in her mind. It took her a second to find the word for what she felt. It was a word she hadn't gotten to use for herself in a long time. The word was power.
nate, polly, and detective park are the main POV's, although others pop in now and again to provide context or texture to the unfolding plot. it's full of meth and torture and various shades of criminal behavior from both sides of the law, and it's just a whammy of a book, despite being so short.
there's nothing i do not love about this book, but the two standouts in the category of "bestest things" are detective park (i would love to read more of his adventures in law and order), and the relationship-arc between nate and polly and all the unconventional lessons in parenting.
Either you teach her how to take a punch or the world does.
write faster, jordan harper!
come to my blog!
June 24, 2019
The Coen Brothers need to adapt this book to film like yesterday! ...but in the meantime, read it! It's Bonnie and Clyde, Thelma and Louise, it's dark and innocent and corrupt and redemptive. It's full of contradictions that make you forget the line that divides the good and the bad. I loved it!
My favorite quote:
"The best thing you could do in this world was find the thing that jolted you the most and killed you the least and go after it hard."
My favorite quote:
"The best thing you could do in this world was find the thing that jolted you the most and killed you the least and go after it hard."
February 20, 2020
She wore a loser's slumped shoulders and hid her face with her hair, but the girl had gunfighter eyes... Gunfighter eyes just like her dad, her mom would tell her...
A raw, grim, dark but also strangely poetic story of a father and a daughter (and a bear ;-)) on the run, with a death penalty on their heads by a gang controlled by their leader in prison: Aryan Steel. First they run, then they decide to fight the bad guys...and they do it together. Without any sort of chance... it seems. Fighting for their lives...Excellent debut by Jordan Harper.
Now I'm a fan of dark books, so this perfectly fits in my 'schedule'. Writing is minimal and beautiful, scarce and to the point and yet with sensitive beauty. Will be looking out for this author. Recommended for those who like gritty, dark books in the darkest corners of society.
Fun bit is the toy bear by the way, who does play an important part in this grim story...
But the star of the show is Polly McClusky, Nate's 11 year old daughter, scarily courageous in her efforts to help and save her father...Star of the show, this young lady. Bit like young Mattie in True Grit. And underlying the love of the father and daughter, although it is by all means not lovey dovey... but heartfelt.
Great debut, recommended! 2017 highlight!
A raw, grim, dark but also strangely poetic story of a father and a daughter (and a bear ;-)) on the run, with a death penalty on their heads by a gang controlled by their leader in prison: Aryan Steel. First they run, then they decide to fight the bad guys...and they do it together. Without any sort of chance... it seems. Fighting for their lives...Excellent debut by Jordan Harper.
Now I'm a fan of dark books, so this perfectly fits in my 'schedule'. Writing is minimal and beautiful, scarce and to the point and yet with sensitive beauty. Will be looking out for this author. Recommended for those who like gritty, dark books in the darkest corners of society.
Fun bit is the toy bear by the way, who does play an important part in this grim story...
But the star of the show is Polly McClusky, Nate's 11 year old daughter, scarily courageous in her efforts to help and save her father...Star of the show, this young lady. Bit like young Mattie in True Grit. And underlying the love of the father and daughter, although it is by all means not lovey dovey... but heartfelt.
Great debut, recommended! 2017 highlight!
September 3, 2017
Nate McClusky kills Crazy Craig Hollington's brother while he is in prison. Crazy Craig is the president of the prison gang known as Aryan Steel, which made him the president of all the dirty white boys in California. His skin told his history in tattoos and knife scars. Crazy Craig found out that Nate killed his brother. On the night that Nate was released from prison he found out that Crazy Craig had issued naming him a dead man along with his Ex and his daughter Polly. When he gets to their house he finds his Ex and her husband dead, which are Polly's Mom and Step Dad. He then goes to Polly's school to pick her up and protect her.
Polly had not seen her Dad for nearly half her eleven years.
Polly knew her Dad was a bad guy and a robber and that he was suppose to be in jail. When she walked out of the front door of her school, she saw him standing there. Her mother told her that he liked being a bad guy more than he liked being a husband or father. Polly just stood there full of fear. She did not scream or yell for help. She reached behind herself to where the teddy bear's head poked out of her backpack and gave his ear a squeeze. She always did this in anxious situations. Polly carried her teddy bear wherever she went.
Nate told Polly that if she ever sees anyone with a blue tattoo of a thunder bolt on their arm, she needs to keep hitting them and keep hitting them with a bat until they stop moving. Blue lightning on their arms mean they are bad guys. Nate did not have anyone that he knew that could have watched Polly. He had to teach Polly how to fight dirty. Then they went after the members of the Aryan Steel gang to find out who killed Polly's Mom and Stepdad.
They got some help and I am just going to end to what else happens in this story.
The author developed her characters very well. They seemed real and brought them to life. This was so very well written. Polly was just adorable. She didn't like social situations but liked being with her father. She didn't talk much and thought she was from Venus. Her mother always told her that she had gunfighter eyes like her father. She also had dirty blonde hair like her father but had to disguise herself and colored her red when the gang was after them.
Her teddy bear was another character. He was so cute and had one of his black eyes missing leaving only a dry patch of glue. Polly made this teddy bear come to life.
I hated Crazy Craig. His skin told his history in tattoos and knife scars. He was a very mean man. He was so mean that his light was left on 24 hours a day and they brought a shower stall on wheels to his cell so that he was kept away from all the prisoners.
Nate McCusky did everything he could to protect his daughter. They both have a special bond. He was a robber and a bad guy. He had a face carved out of pebble rock and tattoos.
This was a dark and gritty thriller and I enjoyed every moment of it. It was so good. It was unputdownable and it will put you on the edge of your seat. Nail biting suspense!
And the best thing is, is that no animals or pets were killed.
If you like these kind of books, then this book is a must. You need to read it. Loved it!
Polly had not seen her Dad for nearly half her eleven years.
Polly knew her Dad was a bad guy and a robber and that he was suppose to be in jail. When she walked out of the front door of her school, she saw him standing there. Her mother told her that he liked being a bad guy more than he liked being a husband or father. Polly just stood there full of fear. She did not scream or yell for help. She reached behind herself to where the teddy bear's head poked out of her backpack and gave his ear a squeeze. She always did this in anxious situations. Polly carried her teddy bear wherever she went.
Nate told Polly that if she ever sees anyone with a blue tattoo of a thunder bolt on their arm, she needs to keep hitting them and keep hitting them with a bat until they stop moving. Blue lightning on their arms mean they are bad guys. Nate did not have anyone that he knew that could have watched Polly. He had to teach Polly how to fight dirty. Then they went after the members of the Aryan Steel gang to find out who killed Polly's Mom and Stepdad.
They got some help and I am just going to end to what else happens in this story.
The author developed her characters very well. They seemed real and brought them to life. This was so very well written. Polly was just adorable. She didn't like social situations but liked being with her father. She didn't talk much and thought she was from Venus. Her mother always told her that she had gunfighter eyes like her father. She also had dirty blonde hair like her father but had to disguise herself and colored her red when the gang was after them.
Her teddy bear was another character. He was so cute and had one of his black eyes missing leaving only a dry patch of glue. Polly made this teddy bear come to life.
I hated Crazy Craig. His skin told his history in tattoos and knife scars. He was a very mean man. He was so mean that his light was left on 24 hours a day and they brought a shower stall on wheels to his cell so that he was kept away from all the prisoners.
Nate McCusky did everything he could to protect his daughter. They both have a special bond. He was a robber and a bad guy. He had a face carved out of pebble rock and tattoos.
This was a dark and gritty thriller and I enjoyed every moment of it. It was so good. It was unputdownable and it will put you on the edge of your seat. Nail biting suspense!
And the best thing is, is that no animals or pets were killed.
If you like these kind of books, then this book is a must. You need to read it. Loved it!
July 13, 2017
She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper is a 2017 Simon & Schuster publication.
Steel forever, Forever Steel
This is the creed of the Ayran Steel white supremacist gang, which is run out of a prison cell by Crazy Craig Hollington, whose power and reach seemingly has no bounds.
So, when Nate, kills Craig’s brother, he is tipped off, right before his prison release, that Crazy Craig has fingered him, and has sent out orders to exact his revenge. It’s too late for Nate’s ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend, but Nate manages to nab his eleven-year old daughter, Polly, before the ‘Steel’ manages to find her.
Thus, begins a most unusual father/ daughter road trip, chock full of adventure, danger, and gruesome criminal acts. But, Polly appears to take it all in stride- like father- like daughter, all the way down to their shared ‘gunfighter eyes.’ Although they are strangers to each other in the beginning, their connection is instantaneous, as only blood relations can be, but their bond only solidifies as they fight for their very lives.
Will they manage to make it to safety before the ‘Steel’ catches up to them, or is their fate already sealed?
I heard many good things about this book, so I had to see what all the fuss was about. I gotta tell you, this one deserves all the kudos and accolades it receives.
This book has a noir-ish atmosphere, but is a dark and gritty crime novel, that climbs into the disturbing mindset of gangs, and the price paid for living by the sword. Nate’s own background is harsh, and he doesn’t have the verbal or emotional ability to express his feelings to Polly, but in his own way, he does the best he can for her, by putting his own life on the line to save hers. But, Nate also has his own demons and ulterior motives, exposing his flawed and selfish characteristics.
However, it is most definitely Polly, who steals the spotlight in this story. She’s vulnerable, clinging to her beloved teddy bear who often speaks or communicates on her behalf, but quickly takes to her new life on the run, almost like a duck to water. She is loyal to her father, and two make quite a team.
We see Nate teaching Polly things no eleven -year old should have to know, while Polly studiously observes and even participates in things no child should ever witness, much less be allowed to ‘ride shotgun.’
Along the way, in this very unusual coming of age tale, Polly learns how to cope in an uncertain world, to stand on her own two feet, using the skills her father taught her, but also by realizing her own inner strength, and we know she’s going to be a survivor. Despite her exposure to the mentality of hardened criminals and the underbelly of society, she walks away, miraculously, with her principles in tact.
The story also has a strong supporting cast, with people playing both sides and a detective who is perhaps rooting for Nate and Polly, even while he tries to locate them.
While this is a brutal and very violent crime thriller, there is an underlying theme that centers on family connections and bonds, which are unbreakable ties, even under the most extreme circumstances.
The characterizations blew me away, the pacing is very brisk, and action packed, the dialogue is outstanding and the prose is stunning. If you enjoy crime novels, I don’t see how you could go wrong with this book.
5 stars
Steel forever, Forever Steel
This is the creed of the Ayran Steel white supremacist gang, which is run out of a prison cell by Crazy Craig Hollington, whose power and reach seemingly has no bounds.
So, when Nate, kills Craig’s brother, he is tipped off, right before his prison release, that Crazy Craig has fingered him, and has sent out orders to exact his revenge. It’s too late for Nate’s ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend, but Nate manages to nab his eleven-year old daughter, Polly, before the ‘Steel’ manages to find her.
Thus, begins a most unusual father/ daughter road trip, chock full of adventure, danger, and gruesome criminal acts. But, Polly appears to take it all in stride- like father- like daughter, all the way down to their shared ‘gunfighter eyes.’ Although they are strangers to each other in the beginning, their connection is instantaneous, as only blood relations can be, but their bond only solidifies as they fight for their very lives.
Will they manage to make it to safety before the ‘Steel’ catches up to them, or is their fate already sealed?
I heard many good things about this book, so I had to see what all the fuss was about. I gotta tell you, this one deserves all the kudos and accolades it receives.
This book has a noir-ish atmosphere, but is a dark and gritty crime novel, that climbs into the disturbing mindset of gangs, and the price paid for living by the sword. Nate’s own background is harsh, and he doesn’t have the verbal or emotional ability to express his feelings to Polly, but in his own way, he does the best he can for her, by putting his own life on the line to save hers. But, Nate also has his own demons and ulterior motives, exposing his flawed and selfish characteristics.
However, it is most definitely Polly, who steals the spotlight in this story. She’s vulnerable, clinging to her beloved teddy bear who often speaks or communicates on her behalf, but quickly takes to her new life on the run, almost like a duck to water. She is loyal to her father, and two make quite a team.
We see Nate teaching Polly things no eleven -year old should have to know, while Polly studiously observes and even participates in things no child should ever witness, much less be allowed to ‘ride shotgun.’
Along the way, in this very unusual coming of age tale, Polly learns how to cope in an uncertain world, to stand on her own two feet, using the skills her father taught her, but also by realizing her own inner strength, and we know she’s going to be a survivor. Despite her exposure to the mentality of hardened criminals and the underbelly of society, she walks away, miraculously, with her principles in tact.
The story also has a strong supporting cast, with people playing both sides and a detective who is perhaps rooting for Nate and Polly, even while he tries to locate them.
While this is a brutal and very violent crime thriller, there is an underlying theme that centers on family connections and bonds, which are unbreakable ties, even under the most extreme circumstances.
The characterizations blew me away, the pacing is very brisk, and action packed, the dialogue is outstanding and the prose is stunning. If you enjoy crime novels, I don’t see how you could go wrong with this book.
5 stars
August 18, 2019
Pulpy novel about a recently released man who must save his daughter after a death warrant is issued for him and his girl by an aryan gang leader. Lots of action. Gritty. Polly is well-written. At several points, the writing becomes too enamored with itself but this was a fun, bloody, read.
August 20, 2018
I may have almost cried when I finished this book. If I had a heart I probably would have. Not because it's heart wrenchingly sad (It is in parts) but just because it is so damn good.
There is a little mini rant I have to get off my chest before I even talk about the book.
Why has no one snatched this book up and promoted the heck outta it? Why is it not being made into the best movie of the year? Everyone talks about their books being the next "Gone Stupid Girl" or that tedious "Girl on the Train-that I'd like to run over" but they let books like this one just slide by unnoticed? I don't get it. I have read three books this year....this one included that are not getting the attention they so deserve. It makes my eye all twitchy.
And now for this book. Good lort. It's so freaking good.
Polly's daddy is in prison and about to get out. He gets an offer he can't refuse from a gang called Aryan Steel. He puts balls to the wall and refuses anyways. BTW..Polly's daddy is badass.
Head bad guy puts out a hit on Daddy, Polly's mom and even eleven year old Polly.
Polly is at school one day when he dad shows up and picks her up in a stolen car. He is trying to keep Polly and himself alive..no matter what it costs.
This book. You honestly feel that cloud of dread following these characters and you know deep down that it's not going to be a pretty fairy tale story but it grips you and you can not put it down. You are in it with them.
Only way out is through.
And sorry I just do not have the words to tell how much I loved this story. It seems like my favorite books always just leave me speechless.
June 24, 2019
Simply put, She Rides Shotgun is a fabulous debut novel. At its center is eleven-year-old Polly McClusky, a character that no reader is ever likely to ever forget. Polly has only dim memories of her father, Nate, who has been in prison for much of her life. But when he unexpectedly pops up in her schoolyard, demanding that Polly accompany him in a car that he's obviously stolen, Polly does as she's told, bringing along the small stuffed bear that is her best and perhaps only friend.
At eleven, Polly is obviously too old to be having a stuffed bear as her constant companion, but it's not been an easy eleven years, and things are about to get exponentially worse. While in prison, Polly's father killed the brother of the head of a prison gang called Aryan Steel. Nate was due to be released, and the gang was attempting to coerce him into working for them on the outside. Nate resisted; the brother came at him with a shank; shit happens.
Now the Aryan Steel has put a death sentence on Nate and, for good measure, on his ex-wife and daughter as well. Nate arrives back in his home town only to find that his ex and her new man have already been brutally murdered. He knows that Polly is next on the list and his only option is grab up his daughter and go on the run.
What follows is a story unlike any other in this history of father/daughter road trips. Nate and Polly McClusky are a combination unlike any other you've ever met, on the page, in the movies, or anywhere else, for that matter. Nate knows little or nothing about being a traditional father, which is a very good thing, because with a death threat from a vicious gang like the Aryan Steel hanging over her head, the last thing Polly needs is to be riding shotgun with Ward Cleaver. And, fortunately, Polly is not your run-of-the-mill eleven-year-old girl either. If she's going to survive, she's going to have to grow up quick and learn the kind of lessons that no one ever taught at the school she so recently left behind.
This is a beautifully-written book--dark, bloody and violent, with characters that will leave an indelible imprint on the mind of anyone who reads it. It rushes along, twisting and turning like a raging river, and once it grabs hold of you, all you can do is hang on for dear life and hope to somehow come out safely at the other end. A fantastic read.
At eleven, Polly is obviously too old to be having a stuffed bear as her constant companion, but it's not been an easy eleven years, and things are about to get exponentially worse. While in prison, Polly's father killed the brother of the head of a prison gang called Aryan Steel. Nate was due to be released, and the gang was attempting to coerce him into working for them on the outside. Nate resisted; the brother came at him with a shank; shit happens.
Now the Aryan Steel has put a death sentence on Nate and, for good measure, on his ex-wife and daughter as well. Nate arrives back in his home town only to find that his ex and her new man have already been brutally murdered. He knows that Polly is next on the list and his only option is grab up his daughter and go on the run.
What follows is a story unlike any other in this history of father/daughter road trips. Nate and Polly McClusky are a combination unlike any other you've ever met, on the page, in the movies, or anywhere else, for that matter. Nate knows little or nothing about being a traditional father, which is a very good thing, because with a death threat from a vicious gang like the Aryan Steel hanging over her head, the last thing Polly needs is to be riding shotgun with Ward Cleaver. And, fortunately, Polly is not your run-of-the-mill eleven-year-old girl either. If she's going to survive, she's going to have to grow up quick and learn the kind of lessons that no one ever taught at the school she so recently left behind.
This is a beautifully-written book--dark, bloody and violent, with characters that will leave an indelible imprint on the mind of anyone who reads it. It rushes along, twisting and turning like a raging river, and once it grabs hold of you, all you can do is hang on for dear life and hope to somehow come out safely at the other end. A fantastic read.
July 29, 2017
Not too long ago I read another book with a plot somewhat similar to this novel. A criminal father raising his daughter alone, after his wife was killed. I had a huge problem with that novel and the parenting within, so why then did I love this one? In the first book the father had a choice, he could have left his daughter to be raised by her grandmother, in this Nate has no choice. There is no one else, nowhere he could leave her where she was safe, and everything that follows is to try to ensure Polly's safety.
Nate and a young Polly were fantastically drawn characters, the way their relationship developments seemed true to life. It is a violent book, but anytime you have drugs and gangs this is generally the case. A well paced story and an addictive one. A debut novel with one very smart author. Often the characteristics that make a story memorable for me are the little details that add to and provide a personal element. In this one it is the watermelon colored hair and that darn teddy bear, two visuals I will not soon forget. The teddy bear provided humor to a story that was anything but humorous, but also enforced the vision that Polly was indeed a young girl, who out of necessity had to grow up quickly. The first book I mentioned I don't even remember the title of, but this one I won't forget.
Nate and a young Polly were fantastically drawn characters, the way their relationship developments seemed true to life. It is a violent book, but anytime you have drugs and gangs this is generally the case. A well paced story and an addictive one. A debut novel with one very smart author. Often the characteristics that make a story memorable for me are the little details that add to and provide a personal element. In this one it is the watermelon colored hair and that darn teddy bear, two visuals I will not soon forget. The teddy bear provided humor to a story that was anything but humorous, but also enforced the vision that Polly was indeed a young girl, who out of necessity had to grow up quickly. The first book I mentioned I don't even remember the title of, but this one I won't forget.
May 3, 2023
She Rides Shotgun is what a novel looks like when the student has mastered Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing. Leonard not only left a literary legacy of bandits like Ordell Robbie in Rum Punch and lawmen like Raylan Givens in Pronto or Karen Sisco in Out of Sight, but advised writers of tips he'd picked up in the trade. My favorite is:"Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip." If Jordan Harper (male, born and educated in Missouri, based in Los Angeles) has never read Leonard's work, he could've fooled me. Published in 2017, his debut novel is terse, tough, tender and suffers no parts I wanted to skip.
The story opens not with a prologue (Leonard's Rules advised against prologues), but with Chapter 0: Crazy Craig, in which readers are briefly introduced to Crazy Craig Hollington, president of Aryan Steel. Crazy Craig spends life confined to a Supermax cell in Pelican Bay State Prison, from where he commands not only Aryan Steel soldiers but their affiliates, white power gangs like Peckerwood Nation or Odin's Bastards all over California. Death warrants sent out to the gangs any number of ways when someone is deemed to need killing, Crazy Craig has issued a greenlight on an ex-con as well as the ex-con's woman and child.
Eleven-year-old Polly McCluskey is introduced at Fontana Middle School. A strange fifth grader, Polly often expresses herself using a teddy bear as a surrogate. Raised by her mother Avis and new stepfather Tom Huff, Polly hasn't seen her biological father Nate McCluskey in eleven years, not since he was sentenced to Susanville for armed robbery. Naturally, when dear old dad appears at her school with a stolen car and tells her to come with him, Polly figures he must have busted out. Her brain telling her to run, her legs obey her father. Stopping first at a sporting goods store, Nate quickly checks them into a motel room in Rancho Cucamonga.
One by one her dad laid out the things he had bought. A kid-sized metal baseball bat. A black hoodie and black sweatpants. A black ski mask. A long, wicked-looking hunting knife that seemed to hiss like a snake at Polly.
He picked up the kiddie bat, flipped it so he held the fat end. He held the skinny end toward Polly.
"Come on and take it," he said. She swallowed a lump of chicken nugget, suddenly huge in her throat as she tried to get it down. She took the bat. It was cold in her hands. It made her realize she was burning up. He pulled the cushion off the chair in the corner and held it up.
"Want you to take a swing at this," he said. She looked back to the bear like he could save her, but of course he couldn't.
"Forget the bear," her dad said, his like you better not mess around. "Show me what you got."
Waiting for dark, Nate goes to check on Polly's mother and stepfather. He finds . Nate also finds an ashy beer can in the living room and knowing how Avis felt about smoking, calculates that whoever committed this killing hung around the house for a while. Waited for Polly to come home from school. The answer to whether Aryan Steel is hunting Nate's daughter is "yes." When Polly figures out her mother is dead, she tries jumping out of the stolen car. In some more quick figuring, Nate determines Polly's best chance of survival is to stick with her.
Protected in prison by his brother Nick, a stickup man and killer many shades harder than Nate, Polly's father managed to stay out of trouble even after his brother died live on the evening news in a police chase. Nate's lucky stroke continued, winning an appeal and granted an early release. Good fortune turns bad when Ground Chuck Hollington, brother of Aryan Steel's president, approached Nate a week before his release. Offered a job working for the Steel, Nate declined, and Ground Chuck announced that he wasn't offering but telling. The fight is brief, Ground Chuck is felled by his own shank and Crazy Craig puts the greenlight on Nate, Avis and Polly.
Detective John Park, San Bernardino Sheriff's Department, is assigned the Huffs' double homicide and with Polly missing, proceeds in his manhunt with Nate McCluskey as his only suspect. Hiding out in L.A. where the soldiers of La Eme outnumber Aryan Steel, Polly's dad explains the situation to his daughter, who far from being a cuckoo, is on the genius end of the bell curve. Nate's plan is to inflict so much damage on Aryan Steel that the death warrant on Polly will be lifted. He solicits the cooperation of Charlotte, a Missouri transplant who got swept up with Aryan Steel and feels responsible for the greenlight on Polly. On the run, father and daughter bond over Mexican food and fight training.
"You take the left hand, your choking arm, and you grab your right bicep. It's just for leverage," he said. "I'm going to choke you now. When you feel it, just tap my arm. What are you going to do?"
"Tap your arm," she said.
"Right. When you squeeze a choke, you squeeze with your whole body. Like this."
The arm around her throat tightened slowly, and his chest pressed into her back all at once. And there wasn't any pain or anything like that. It was just that the world started to get smaller and farther away. And it was only right before the world disappeared all the way that she understood what was happening. She tapped his arm. The pressure on her neck went away and the world came back.
"You okay?"
She nodded. At least maybe she did. She felt a stranger in her own body.
"Tap sooner than that. You don't need to go to sleep to see it works. Did it work?"
She nodded like yeah. So weird that nothingness was so close to her, always, and she'd never even known. She wondered what else she didn't know, and the sugar rush intensified.
"We're starting with chokes," he said, "because you're small. Chokes, you don't have to be big and strong. See, all you're doing is squeezing those two little arteries at the side of your neck that go up and feed the brain. And even a little girl like you is strong enough to squeeze them."
He turned around.
"Now you do it to me."
She Rides Shotgun shares qualities with the contemporary pulp fiction of Don Winslow, author of The Dawn Patrol and Savages: The Golden State, brutal violence and electrifying prose that jumps off the page like a casino neon reflecting in a grimy puddle, language that breaks convention as savagely as the bandits in the story. Where Jordan Harper clears space between himself and the Don Winslow novels I've read is that he doesn't try to replace story and characters with style and formatting, but invested me in his characters. His prose sent a charge through me, like breaking news being wired into a teletype--
She pulled the shirt down. She looked at herself in the mirror. The bright red hair, the color she'd picked for herself, the hair almost boy-short. The way the man with the blue lightning on his arm had looked at her when he'd opened the door came back to her, ruined her good mood. She struggled to find the right words for what had been in that gaze. He had looked at her like she wasn't a person exactly, more like she was a roast chicken on the plate and he was trying to figure out which piece to eat first.
Beyond the author's electric prose, though, is a story about transformation. Like all terrific open road adventures, it has a beginning, middle (there's actually a chapter titled Interlude: Whale Ship Cannibals which actually made me break into a grin, never having read an intermission in a novel before) and end. Harper takes no shortcuts, introduces no character or story element he doesn't later use and fills the novel with stark and harrowing description. My favorite involves Polly and Nate torching an Aryan Steel chop shop, but rescuing a fighting cock that the girl discovers caged up there. It's a lean, endearing and thrilling read and one of the best debut novels I've read.
The story opens not with a prologue (Leonard's Rules advised against prologues), but with Chapter 0: Crazy Craig, in which readers are briefly introduced to Crazy Craig Hollington, president of Aryan Steel. Crazy Craig spends life confined to a Supermax cell in Pelican Bay State Prison, from where he commands not only Aryan Steel soldiers but their affiliates, white power gangs like Peckerwood Nation or Odin's Bastards all over California. Death warrants sent out to the gangs any number of ways when someone is deemed to need killing, Crazy Craig has issued a greenlight on an ex-con as well as the ex-con's woman and child.
Eleven-year-old Polly McCluskey is introduced at Fontana Middle School. A strange fifth grader, Polly often expresses herself using a teddy bear as a surrogate. Raised by her mother Avis and new stepfather Tom Huff, Polly hasn't seen her biological father Nate McCluskey in eleven years, not since he was sentenced to Susanville for armed robbery. Naturally, when dear old dad appears at her school with a stolen car and tells her to come with him, Polly figures he must have busted out. Her brain telling her to run, her legs obey her father. Stopping first at a sporting goods store, Nate quickly checks them into a motel room in Rancho Cucamonga.
One by one her dad laid out the things he had bought. A kid-sized metal baseball bat. A black hoodie and black sweatpants. A black ski mask. A long, wicked-looking hunting knife that seemed to hiss like a snake at Polly.
He picked up the kiddie bat, flipped it so he held the fat end. He held the skinny end toward Polly.
"Come on and take it," he said. She swallowed a lump of chicken nugget, suddenly huge in her throat as she tried to get it down. She took the bat. It was cold in her hands. It made her realize she was burning up. He pulled the cushion off the chair in the corner and held it up.
"Want you to take a swing at this," he said. She looked back to the bear like he could save her, but of course he couldn't.
"Forget the bear," her dad said, his like you better not mess around. "Show me what you got."
Waiting for dark, Nate goes to check on Polly's mother and stepfather. He finds . Nate also finds an ashy beer can in the living room and knowing how Avis felt about smoking, calculates that whoever committed this killing hung around the house for a while. Waited for Polly to come home from school. The answer to whether Aryan Steel is hunting Nate's daughter is "yes." When Polly figures out her mother is dead, she tries jumping out of the stolen car. In some more quick figuring, Nate determines Polly's best chance of survival is to stick with her.
Protected in prison by his brother Nick, a stickup man and killer many shades harder than Nate, Polly's father managed to stay out of trouble even after his brother died live on the evening news in a police chase. Nate's lucky stroke continued, winning an appeal and granted an early release. Good fortune turns bad when Ground Chuck Hollington, brother of Aryan Steel's president, approached Nate a week before his release. Offered a job working for the Steel, Nate declined, and Ground Chuck announced that he wasn't offering but telling. The fight is brief, Ground Chuck is felled by his own shank and Crazy Craig puts the greenlight on Nate, Avis and Polly.
Detective John Park, San Bernardino Sheriff's Department, is assigned the Huffs' double homicide and with Polly missing, proceeds in his manhunt with Nate McCluskey as his only suspect. Hiding out in L.A. where the soldiers of La Eme outnumber Aryan Steel, Polly's dad explains the situation to his daughter, who far from being a cuckoo, is on the genius end of the bell curve. Nate's plan is to inflict so much damage on Aryan Steel that the death warrant on Polly will be lifted. He solicits the cooperation of Charlotte, a Missouri transplant who got swept up with Aryan Steel and feels responsible for the greenlight on Polly. On the run, father and daughter bond over Mexican food and fight training.
"You take the left hand, your choking arm, and you grab your right bicep. It's just for leverage," he said. "I'm going to choke you now. When you feel it, just tap my arm. What are you going to do?"
"Tap your arm," she said.
"Right. When you squeeze a choke, you squeeze with your whole body. Like this."
The arm around her throat tightened slowly, and his chest pressed into her back all at once. And there wasn't any pain or anything like that. It was just that the world started to get smaller and farther away. And it was only right before the world disappeared all the way that she understood what was happening. She tapped his arm. The pressure on her neck went away and the world came back.
"You okay?"
She nodded. At least maybe she did. She felt a stranger in her own body.
"Tap sooner than that. You don't need to go to sleep to see it works. Did it work?"
She nodded like yeah. So weird that nothingness was so close to her, always, and she'd never even known. She wondered what else she didn't know, and the sugar rush intensified.
"We're starting with chokes," he said, "because you're small. Chokes, you don't have to be big and strong. See, all you're doing is squeezing those two little arteries at the side of your neck that go up and feed the brain. And even a little girl like you is strong enough to squeeze them."
He turned around.
"Now you do it to me."
She Rides Shotgun shares qualities with the contemporary pulp fiction of Don Winslow, author of The Dawn Patrol and Savages: The Golden State, brutal violence and electrifying prose that jumps off the page like a casino neon reflecting in a grimy puddle, language that breaks convention as savagely as the bandits in the story. Where Jordan Harper clears space between himself and the Don Winslow novels I've read is that he doesn't try to replace story and characters with style and formatting, but invested me in his characters. His prose sent a charge through me, like breaking news being wired into a teletype--
She pulled the shirt down. She looked at herself in the mirror. The bright red hair, the color she'd picked for herself, the hair almost boy-short. The way the man with the blue lightning on his arm had looked at her when he'd opened the door came back to her, ruined her good mood. She struggled to find the right words for what had been in that gaze. He had looked at her like she wasn't a person exactly, more like she was a roast chicken on the plate and he was trying to figure out which piece to eat first.
Beyond the author's electric prose, though, is a story about transformation. Like all terrific open road adventures, it has a beginning, middle (there's actually a chapter titled Interlude: Whale Ship Cannibals which actually made me break into a grin, never having read an intermission in a novel before) and end. Harper takes no shortcuts, introduces no character or story element he doesn't later use and fills the novel with stark and harrowing description. My favorite involves Polly and Nate torching an Aryan Steel chop shop, but rescuing a fighting cock that the girl discovers caged up there. It's a lean, endearing and thrilling read and one of the best debut novels I've read.
November 19, 2017
Whoa what a ride. Felt like it was me in the passenger side.
This is a gritty, violent crime infested read fast paced read. Polly is 11- her mother and father in law have just been murdered. Her dad, just released from prison, picks her up from school and they are now on the run. Prison gang slugs out to get them as the bounty prize for someone killed on the inside.
Great rhythm, good character development and some nasty characters and scenes.
One pet peeve I had -as it did come up several times- when did TV become teevee? Haven't seen that before and it was distracting.
4+ ⭐️and looking forward to more from this author.
This is a gritty, violent crime infested read fast paced read. Polly is 11- her mother and father in law have just been murdered. Her dad, just released from prison, picks her up from school and they are now on the run. Prison gang slugs out to get them as the bounty prize for someone killed on the inside.
Great rhythm, good character development and some nasty characters and scenes.
One pet peeve I had -as it did come up several times- when did TV become teevee? Haven't seen that before and it was distracting.
4+ ⭐️and looking forward to more from this author.
February 18, 2018
5 Stars.
“She Rides Shotgun” is a book that makes you feel things you shouldn’t as it goes against the grain and makes your heart beat wildly against your chest. I fell in love with eleven year-old Polly McClusky in the first few seconds of this novel and I have a feeling you will too.
As soon as Polly McClusky walks out of school, she knows that something is wrong. Her father, Nate McClusky is waiting for her. Her father, who has been in jail for most of her life. She wants to run, just take off, but seeing him, she knows that something terrible has happened. She is right. Nate is there to protect her because the Aryan Steel gang, (Nate’s enemies) have murdered Polly’s mother and her boyfriend and both Nate and Polly are on their hit list. It’s a really bad situation. Seeing him, Polly is anxious, nervous and completely rattled. Her only comfort is her stuffed bear - who happens to have a personality all his own.
At first, Nate knows that the only thing he can do is run. Hide, protect his daughter. And then he comes up with a plan. Strike back against the Aryans and hit hard. Then Polly, with her gunfighter eyes, decides that she wants to help and she becomes his protege. It’s wild, terrifying and completely fascinating. Though Polly and her dad face the most unspeakable danger, somehow Polly finds bravery, strength and her sense of self.
In the wickedest of ways, the readers are drawn into to this father/daughter relationship, one that is completely unorthodox, one we know we shouldn’t approve of and yet it’s like simpatico - we the readers fall in love - with Nate and Polly, her bear and the journey Jordan Harper takes us on. The effect it had one me was profound. Heartfelt. Lovely. It’s hard to believe this novel is Jordan Harper’s debut. As much as I loved the character of Polly, I loved the bear even more (yes, its true, I fell in love with a teddy bear (hard to believe, I know)). Jordan Harper’s use of the bear to make us feel what Polly was feeling and to bring humor into the story was utterly brilliant.
“She Rides Shotgun” book is definitely one of my favorite books of 2018. I hope it will become a favorite of yours as well! I read this with Brenda and loved the experience of reading it with her.. our discussions about Polly, Nate and the bear. Sigh. What can I say? I just loved that bear.
Published on Goodreads, Amazon and Twitter on 2.18.18.
“She Rides Shotgun” is a book that makes you feel things you shouldn’t as it goes against the grain and makes your heart beat wildly against your chest. I fell in love with eleven year-old Polly McClusky in the first few seconds of this novel and I have a feeling you will too.
As soon as Polly McClusky walks out of school, she knows that something is wrong. Her father, Nate McClusky is waiting for her. Her father, who has been in jail for most of her life. She wants to run, just take off, but seeing him, she knows that something terrible has happened. She is right. Nate is there to protect her because the Aryan Steel gang, (Nate’s enemies) have murdered Polly’s mother and her boyfriend and both Nate and Polly are on their hit list. It’s a really bad situation. Seeing him, Polly is anxious, nervous and completely rattled. Her only comfort is her stuffed bear - who happens to have a personality all his own.
At first, Nate knows that the only thing he can do is run. Hide, protect his daughter. And then he comes up with a plan. Strike back against the Aryans and hit hard. Then Polly, with her gunfighter eyes, decides that she wants to help and she becomes his protege. It’s wild, terrifying and completely fascinating. Though Polly and her dad face the most unspeakable danger, somehow Polly finds bravery, strength and her sense of self.
In the wickedest of ways, the readers are drawn into to this father/daughter relationship, one that is completely unorthodox, one we know we shouldn’t approve of and yet it’s like simpatico - we the readers fall in love - with Nate and Polly, her bear and the journey Jordan Harper takes us on. The effect it had one me was profound. Heartfelt. Lovely. It’s hard to believe this novel is Jordan Harper’s debut. As much as I loved the character of Polly, I loved the bear even more (yes, its true, I fell in love with a teddy bear (hard to believe, I know)). Jordan Harper’s use of the bear to make us feel what Polly was feeling and to bring humor into the story was utterly brilliant.
“She Rides Shotgun” book is definitely one of my favorite books of 2018. I hope it will become a favorite of yours as well! I read this with Brenda and loved the experience of reading it with her.. our discussions about Polly, Nate and the bear. Sigh. What can I say? I just loved that bear.
Published on Goodreads, Amazon and Twitter on 2.18.18.
March 8, 2020
I thought I wrote a text review for this book. This book was one of my favorite reviews for that year. This book won the 2018 Edgar and deservedly so. Its a crime novel (chase plot) with a father and daughter. This one is well worth the read and I highly recommend it.
(Another one I read the same year and put it on the same level is The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley another excellent read).
David Putnam author of the Bruno Johnson series.
(Another one I read the same year and put it on the same level is The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley another excellent read).
David Putnam author of the Bruno Johnson series.
January 28, 2020
Edgar Award for Best First Novel 2018
Barry Nominee for Best First Novel 2018
If you like dark and gritty, edge-of-your-seat crime thrillers, sit back and enjoy the ride.
Wow, what a debut. Jordan Harper knows how to pack a punch. Eleven year old Polly McClusky is at school and gets whisked away by her Dad, Nate, whom she hasn’t seen in years. Turns out he just got out of jail, but it’s bad news. Nate killed the wrong person and the Aryan Steel has put a hit on his entire family. Too late for Polly’s Mom, but not for Polly. Nate takes Polly on the ride of her life.
With her teddy bear by her side, Polly learns what it takes to fight for your life. She changes from a school girl to a survivor riding shotgun beside her Dad. Life’s harsh reality is thrown her way, but that’s okay. Polly has Nate’s genes and his ‘gunfighter eyes’. They make a great team.
I loved this action-packed, violent and raw novel. The characters are great and so well developed. Polly’s teddy bear was such a terrific addition. If you like a good fight, read this one!
4.5 out of 5 stars
Barry Nominee for Best First Novel 2018
If you like dark and gritty, edge-of-your-seat crime thrillers, sit back and enjoy the ride.
Wow, what a debut. Jordan Harper knows how to pack a punch. Eleven year old Polly McClusky is at school and gets whisked away by her Dad, Nate, whom she hasn’t seen in years. Turns out he just got out of jail, but it’s bad news. Nate killed the wrong person and the Aryan Steel has put a hit on his entire family. Too late for Polly’s Mom, but not for Polly. Nate takes Polly on the ride of her life.
With her teddy bear by her side, Polly learns what it takes to fight for your life. She changes from a school girl to a survivor riding shotgun beside her Dad. Life’s harsh reality is thrown her way, but that’s okay. Polly has Nate’s genes and his ‘gunfighter eyes’. They make a great team.
I loved this action-packed, violent and raw novel. The characters are great and so well developed. Polly’s teddy bear was such a terrific addition. If you like a good fight, read this one!
4.5 out of 5 stars
March 9, 2019
I loved the bear. It's like a dark crime fairy tale about a milk carton kid.
June 9, 2017
*This is still one of the best books I've read this year and it's NOW AVAILABLE! Read it!*
She Rides Shotgun was one of my most anticipated releases for 2017, after reading author Jordan Harper's stellar collection of short stories in his debut, Love and Other Wounds, possibly one of the best collections I've read in a while, and becoming an instant fanboy. And damn if his first novel doesn't disappoint!
Through a series of unfortunate events, no-good ex-con Nate McClusky lands a death sentence from the white power gang Aryan Steel right before his release. Now a target is not only on his head but also on his ex-wife and his young daughter Polly. After Aryan Steel murders his ex and her new husband, Nate manages to grab Polly just in time, essentially kidnapping her and sparking a desperate trip through Southern California, trying to stay one step ahead of the Steel and the Law, as Nate tries to make up for his mistakes and save the last good thing in his life, all while Polly is forced to grow up faster than she could have ever expected.
This novel really solidified why I enjoy Harper's writing so much. He not only has an effortless way with words and prose, but he's also an accomplished television screenwriter, which probably helped him hone his skills in the way he economically and efficiently details character and themes, with almost no wasted time. And his character work here is great, with the star being young Polly. It's always a real tightrope walk when it comes to writing a child's POV, but I thought that Harper nails it and avoids making her feel too adult, allowing her to exist as a child, but at the same time doesn't treat the character with kid gloves. The way her relationship with her father grows and blossoms is another tricky maneuver that Harper scores. It could have easily felt forced and inappropriate, especially with all the violence and death, but he makes it all believable. It's all in the little details. The fact that he does all of this in under 300 pages is another success. And I'm not really sure how Harper was able to get me to care so much about the safety of a nameless teddy bear, but for that feat alone this book deserves a bunch of love!
Even aside from all of that, the novel moves at an action-packed pace, with scenes that'll have you gripping your copy tight. I believe that Harper is one of the brightest rising stars in the crime fiction world and here's hoping that this novel shows up in this year's best lists with heaps of award talk.
*This novel will be released in June and I received an Advanced Review Copy from Ecco through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review*
She Rides Shotgun was one of my most anticipated releases for 2017, after reading author Jordan Harper's stellar collection of short stories in his debut, Love and Other Wounds, possibly one of the best collections I've read in a while, and becoming an instant fanboy. And damn if his first novel doesn't disappoint!
Through a series of unfortunate events, no-good ex-con Nate McClusky lands a death sentence from the white power gang Aryan Steel right before his release. Now a target is not only on his head but also on his ex-wife and his young daughter Polly. After Aryan Steel murders his ex and her new husband, Nate manages to grab Polly just in time, essentially kidnapping her and sparking a desperate trip through Southern California, trying to stay one step ahead of the Steel and the Law, as Nate tries to make up for his mistakes and save the last good thing in his life, all while Polly is forced to grow up faster than she could have ever expected.
This novel really solidified why I enjoy Harper's writing so much. He not only has an effortless way with words and prose, but he's also an accomplished television screenwriter, which probably helped him hone his skills in the way he economically and efficiently details character and themes, with almost no wasted time. And his character work here is great, with the star being young Polly. It's always a real tightrope walk when it comes to writing a child's POV, but I thought that Harper nails it and avoids making her feel too adult, allowing her to exist as a child, but at the same time doesn't treat the character with kid gloves. The way her relationship with her father grows and blossoms is another tricky maneuver that Harper scores. It could have easily felt forced and inappropriate, especially with all the violence and death, but he makes it all believable. It's all in the little details. The fact that he does all of this in under 300 pages is another success. And I'm not really sure how Harper was able to get me to care so much about the safety of a nameless teddy bear, but for that feat alone this book deserves a bunch of love!
Even aside from all of that, the novel moves at an action-packed pace, with scenes that'll have you gripping your copy tight. I believe that Harper is one of the brightest rising stars in the crime fiction world and here's hoping that this novel shows up in this year's best lists with heaps of award talk.
*This novel will be released in June and I received an Advanced Review Copy from Ecco through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review*
February 26, 2018
4.5
What a ride! A 🎥 of this should be made! Action packed! Nate and 11 year old daughter Polly on the run, after a hit has been placed on them from inside prison, by the leader of a white supremacist gang. Nate is a newly released prisoner and hadn’t seen his daughter for much of her life.
This is a combination of a crime spree, a quest for vengeance, a joyride, and reconciliation. It’s also an emotional read! You will feel like you are right there beside them on their journey!
What a ride! A 🎥 of this should be made! Action packed! Nate and 11 year old daughter Polly on the run, after a hit has been placed on them from inside prison, by the leader of a white supremacist gang. Nate is a newly released prisoner and hadn’t seen his daughter for much of her life.
This is a combination of a crime spree, a quest for vengeance, a joyride, and reconciliation. It’s also an emotional read! You will feel like you are right there beside them on their journey!
August 14, 2017
Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
“Get your keys. I’ll get the bear.”
On Thursday morning I rushed to the library as soon as it opened in order to retrieve a reserved copy of my most anticipated book of 2017. Upon finishing that one Friday afternoon, I was at a loss for what to read next. She Rides Shotgun (best title ever) was on what seemed to be an eternal hold at the porny library, but for whatever reason (*cough* kismet *cough*) I decided to roll the dice and check availability at the “fancy” library as well. And then? Well, then I got smacked right in the face with what turned out to be the sleeper of the year. I started reading it at work (shhhhh, keep that on the DL), got home and put my “going to Wal-Mart clothes” (a/k/a jammies) on and didn’t put it down until I was done. When I finished I had one thing to say . . . .
She Rides Shotgun is the story of Nate, a man who is set to be released from prison after serving time for armed robbery. Days before Nate’s freedom, he’s presented an offer hecan’t shouldn’t refuse from the local Alt-Right Movement skinheads, the Aryan Steel. However, Nate isn’t exactly what you’d call a team player, so refuse he does – which leads to a “greenlight” being put on not only him, but also on his ex and his 11 year old daughter . . . .
“You think you can turn this around? Hell, you’re already dead. You’re a goddamn zombie walking.”
When Nate discovers his ex (and her new husband) have already been brutally murdered, it’s up to him to save the little girl, and an unlikely partnership is formed while attempting to remove the marker from their heads . . . .
“I’ll be back. Something goes wrong, you run.”
“I won’t leave you.”
“Fuck that noise. You’ll run.”
Which eventually leads to me really channeling my inner-Mitchell and being willing to declare ol’ Nate dysfunctional father-of-the-year . . . .
“He was all she had and so he was all that mattered. And maybe she was all he had anymore, and maybe that meant she mattered.”
If She Rides Shotgun was food, I would have looked pretty much like this while reading it . . . .
Although I’m married to a huge movie buff, I’m (obviously) more of a reader. I had a very rare experience with She Rides Shotgun . . . . .
This sucker played out like a film in my head. That means there was not one break in character where they did something I didn’t think that character would do, or went someplace I didn’t think they would go, or said something I didn’t think they would say. And they were so three-dimensional that the actors cast themselves in the roles. I’m not one who wants to make the sexy with Charlie Hunnam, but he was the only person I ever imagined as Nate. Same goes forEleven Millie Bobby Brown as Polly, and Michael Rooker as Crazy Craig, and Danny Trejo as Boxer, and John Cho as Park and Tommy Lee Jones as Sheriff Houser and on and on and on and on. Jordan Harper, I’m telling you, if this was a movie my husband would watch the shit out of it. He tried to claim he might even be interested in reading the book, but that’s just crazy talk and even Mitchell said so. As for my feelings for you? Well . . . . .
You might want to go ahead and get a preemptive restraining order in case you aren’t already working on your next novel. Mitchell and I aren’t really well-known for our patience. Or you can take us up on our offer and stay in ourdungeon guest room. We’re all for making sure new authors find the following they deserve . . . .
Just ask Adam Howe. We let him out every now and again. Sometimes long enough for him to even be the one who finally wears us down and makes us pick up a new release - like what happened here.
Every Star. Best book of 2017 for me.
“Get your keys. I’ll get the bear.”
On Thursday morning I rushed to the library as soon as it opened in order to retrieve a reserved copy of my most anticipated book of 2017. Upon finishing that one Friday afternoon, I was at a loss for what to read next. She Rides Shotgun (best title ever) was on what seemed to be an eternal hold at the porny library, but for whatever reason (*cough* kismet *cough*) I decided to roll the dice and check availability at the “fancy” library as well. And then? Well, then I got smacked right in the face with what turned out to be the sleeper of the year. I started reading it at work (shhhhh, keep that on the DL), got home and put my “going to Wal-Mart clothes” (a/k/a jammies) on and didn’t put it down until I was done. When I finished I had one thing to say . . . .
She Rides Shotgun is the story of Nate, a man who is set to be released from prison after serving time for armed robbery. Days before Nate’s freedom, he’s presented an offer he
“You think you can turn this around? Hell, you’re already dead. You’re a goddamn zombie walking.”
When Nate discovers his ex (and her new husband) have already been brutally murdered, it’s up to him to save the little girl, and an unlikely partnership is formed while attempting to remove the marker from their heads . . . .
“I’ll be back. Something goes wrong, you run.”
“I won’t leave you.”
“Fuck that noise. You’ll run.”
Which eventually leads to me really channeling my inner-Mitchell and being willing to declare ol’ Nate dysfunctional father-of-the-year . . . .
“He was all she had and so he was all that mattered. And maybe she was all he had anymore, and maybe that meant she mattered.”
If She Rides Shotgun was food, I would have looked pretty much like this while reading it . . . .
Although I’m married to a huge movie buff, I’m (obviously) more of a reader. I had a very rare experience with She Rides Shotgun . . . . .
This sucker played out like a film in my head. That means there was not one break in character where they did something I didn’t think that character would do, or went someplace I didn’t think they would go, or said something I didn’t think they would say. And they were so three-dimensional that the actors cast themselves in the roles. I’m not one who wants to make the sexy with Charlie Hunnam, but he was the only person I ever imagined as Nate. Same goes for
You might want to go ahead and get a preemptive restraining order in case you aren’t already working on your next novel. Mitchell and I aren’t really well-known for our patience. Or you can take us up on our offer and stay in our
Just ask Adam Howe. We let him out every now and again. Sometimes long enough for him to even be the one who finally wears us down and makes us pick up a new release - like what happened here.
Every Star. Best book of 2017 for me.
December 29, 2020
Well, to use a bad pun, She Rides Shotgun is one wild ride. It’s been a while since I felt so totally in the heads of each of the main characters. Nate is fresh out of prison, with a death warrant from the Aryan Steel on his head. Not just his head, but also his ex-wife and his daughter. Eleven year old Polly still carries her teddy bear with her everywhere. But this shy young girl is forced to grow up fast when her mother is killed and Polly goes on the run with her dad. The developing relationship between father and daughter was a joy to “see”.
This is a graphic novel. There’s lots of violence, squirm-inducing violence. And it’s tense. More than once I found myself holding my breath. There is very little down time with this book, it just zooms.
The writing is sparse but the descriptions were spot on.
The book did leave me wondering what kind of woman Polly would grow up to be. Because she was one sharp pre-teen.
I listened to this and it made for a perfect audiobook. Kudos to David Marantz for pitch perfect narration.
This is a graphic novel. There’s lots of violence, squirm-inducing violence. And it’s tense. More than once I found myself holding my breath. There is very little down time with this book, it just zooms.
The writing is sparse but the descriptions were spot on.
The book did leave me wondering what kind of woman Polly would grow up to be. Because she was one sharp pre-teen.
I listened to this and it made for a perfect audiobook. Kudos to David Marantz for pitch perfect narration.
September 9, 2019
4.5 Stars
”His skin told his history in tattoos and knife scars. He lived in a room with no night. And he was to his own mind a god.
“Crazy Craig Hollington, Pelican Bay life, president of the prison gang known as Aryan Steel, which made him the president of all the dirty whiteboys in California, lived his life in a Supermax cell where the lights were on twenty-four hours a day. He couldn’t own anything firmer than a Q-tip. They rolled his shower stall to the door of his cell twice a week to keep him from the other prisoners. But he was a god made of other men.”
Polly is an eleven-year-old girl when her father is granted an early release from prison where he’s been for more than half her life. When she is leaving school, she sees him, and remembers her mother telling her through the years how her eyes were just like her father’s - ” …gunfighter eyes.”
Meanwhile, beyond the prison walls, a call has gone out by Hollington, calling on his gang members to execute Nate, his ex-wife, and their daughter, Polly.
It’s too late for Polly’s mother, her life taken before they even reached her, but it’s not too late for Polly. In order for him to protect her from this blood feud, she must be with him.
Little by little they build on their connection, and both begin to recognize the traits she shares with him. He teaches her how to fight even as she still carries her beloved teddy bear everywhere she goes. Their intrinsic loyalty, his faith in her and her faith in him in return is heartwarming, even as warning bells were ringing that something’s going to hit the fan, and soon.
”Later on she learned that eyes don’t only reflect what they’re seeing. They also reflect what they’ve already seen.”
Despite the gloomy, somewhat sinister atmosphere, the cruelty and evil that seems to surround them, what really moved me was their devotion and belief in each other. The hope that their long awaited salvation would arrive kept me turning pages, and falling deeper and deeper into this story.
”It didn’t matter the bear wasn’t real. It only mattered that he was true.”
”His skin told his history in tattoos and knife scars. He lived in a room with no night. And he was to his own mind a god.
“Crazy Craig Hollington, Pelican Bay life, president of the prison gang known as Aryan Steel, which made him the president of all the dirty whiteboys in California, lived his life in a Supermax cell where the lights were on twenty-four hours a day. He couldn’t own anything firmer than a Q-tip. They rolled his shower stall to the door of his cell twice a week to keep him from the other prisoners. But he was a god made of other men.”
Polly is an eleven-year-old girl when her father is granted an early release from prison where he’s been for more than half her life. When she is leaving school, she sees him, and remembers her mother telling her through the years how her eyes were just like her father’s - ” …gunfighter eyes.”
Meanwhile, beyond the prison walls, a call has gone out by Hollington, calling on his gang members to execute Nate, his ex-wife, and their daughter, Polly.
It’s too late for Polly’s mother, her life taken before they even reached her, but it’s not too late for Polly. In order for him to protect her from this blood feud, she must be with him.
Little by little they build on their connection, and both begin to recognize the traits she shares with him. He teaches her how to fight even as she still carries her beloved teddy bear everywhere she goes. Their intrinsic loyalty, his faith in her and her faith in him in return is heartwarming, even as warning bells were ringing that something’s going to hit the fan, and soon.
”Later on she learned that eyes don’t only reflect what they’re seeing. They also reflect what they’ve already seen.”
Despite the gloomy, somewhat sinister atmosphere, the cruelty and evil that seems to surround them, what really moved me was their devotion and belief in each other. The hope that their long awaited salvation would arrive kept me turning pages, and falling deeper and deeper into this story.
”It didn’t matter the bear wasn’t real. It only mattered that he was true.”
September 17, 2024
Toda una sorpresa. Primera obra de un autor al que sin duda voy a seguir. Iba a dejarla pasar, pero me la recomendó una amiga en redes, estaba disponible en eBiblio y me decidí a leerla. Me alegro de haberlo hecho.
Dice la sinopsis:
A punto de salir de prisión, Nate McClusky comete un grave error y su familia y él son condenados a muerte. Así lo sentencia Craig el Loco, líder de la mafia blanca Acero Ario, desde la celda de máxima seguridad donde cumple cadena perpetua.
Unas horas después de ser puesto en libertad, Nate roba un coche y, por primera vez en su vida, va a buscar a su hija al colegio. Aunque Polly McClusky todavía no lo sabe, a su madre ya la han asesinado y su padre viene para ponerla a salvo. A sus once años, Polly es tímida, de inteligencia vivaz, y apenas conoce a Nate, pero juntos se lanzan a la carretera por una California desértica y llena de moteles y lugares inadecuados. Polly deberá madurar a toda prisa si quiere sobrevivir y salvarle la vida a su padre.
Mis impresiones.
Novela violenta de corta extensión, que trata exactamente de lo que dice la sinopsis. Los capítulos son cortos, el ritmo muy vivo y la acción una constante de principio a fin.
La trama, bien desarrollada, no nos da tregua. El autor nos mete en contexto desde el minuto uno. Narrador omnisciente y cronología lineal, rota de cuando en cuando para explicarnos las circunstancias que llevaron a los personajes al punto actual.
Me ha gustado el retrato que traza sobre algunos aspectos de la vida carcelaria y las diversas facciones que allí imperan y dictan su ley dentro y fuera de sus muros.
Los personajes bien construidos dentro de lo que permiten el género, la acción y el número de páginas. Todos ellos en gris oscuro. No hay ni uno que se salve ya sea adulto o niño, hombre o mujer, forajido o policía. Es como si el autor se hubiera propuesto mostrar la cara oscura de cada uno de ellos. Nate McClusky, delincuente desde su niñez, tiene la vaga idea de querer cambiar de vida cuando salga de la cárcel. El error que comete poco antes de salir por el que se decreta su muerte, la de su ex mujer y la de su hija, dará al traste con sus buenos propósitos. Desde el momento en que encuentra asesinada a la madre de Polly, salvarle la vida a esta será su única prioridad. Nate es el único personaje del libro que me ha caído bien. Es lo que parece. Ha llevado una vida de violencia y delito, pero también es un padre que quiere salvar a su hija.
Polly me produjo escalofríos prácticamente desde el principio. No es una niña con la que resulte fácil empatizar. Todo en ella, desde la relación rarita para su edad con su oso de peluche, hasta esa zona oscura que tiene y de la que es consciente, nos grita cuidado con esta niña. No es exactamente una psicópata, pero sí exhibe un ramalazo de que algo en su cabeza no va como debiera.
Jack, el policía, es otro que tal baila, aunque tenga claro de qué lado de la ley está y en cuanto a Charlotte y sus elecciones mejor correr un tupido velo.
Me ha gustado mucho el final. Además de coherente nos muestra a esa Polly que se deja intuir desde el comienzo.
En conclusión una novela violenta, de ritmo muy ágil y trama con buen desarrollo. Recomendable si os gusta este género.
Dice la sinopsis:
A punto de salir de prisión, Nate McClusky comete un grave error y su familia y él son condenados a muerte. Así lo sentencia Craig el Loco, líder de la mafia blanca Acero Ario, desde la celda de máxima seguridad donde cumple cadena perpetua.
Unas horas después de ser puesto en libertad, Nate roba un coche y, por primera vez en su vida, va a buscar a su hija al colegio. Aunque Polly McClusky todavía no lo sabe, a su madre ya la han asesinado y su padre viene para ponerla a salvo. A sus once años, Polly es tímida, de inteligencia vivaz, y apenas conoce a Nate, pero juntos se lanzan a la carretera por una California desértica y llena de moteles y lugares inadecuados. Polly deberá madurar a toda prisa si quiere sobrevivir y salvarle la vida a su padre.
Mis impresiones.
Novela violenta de corta extensión, que trata exactamente de lo que dice la sinopsis. Los capítulos son cortos, el ritmo muy vivo y la acción una constante de principio a fin.
La trama, bien desarrollada, no nos da tregua. El autor nos mete en contexto desde el minuto uno. Narrador omnisciente y cronología lineal, rota de cuando en cuando para explicarnos las circunstancias que llevaron a los personajes al punto actual.
Me ha gustado el retrato que traza sobre algunos aspectos de la vida carcelaria y las diversas facciones que allí imperan y dictan su ley dentro y fuera de sus muros.
Los personajes bien construidos dentro de lo que permiten el género, la acción y el número de páginas. Todos ellos en gris oscuro. No hay ni uno que se salve ya sea adulto o niño, hombre o mujer, forajido o policía. Es como si el autor se hubiera propuesto mostrar la cara oscura de cada uno de ellos. Nate McClusky, delincuente desde su niñez, tiene la vaga idea de querer cambiar de vida cuando salga de la cárcel. El error que comete poco antes de salir por el que se decreta su muerte, la de su ex mujer y la de su hija, dará al traste con sus buenos propósitos. Desde el momento en que encuentra asesinada a la madre de Polly, salvarle la vida a esta será su única prioridad. Nate es el único personaje del libro que me ha caído bien. Es lo que parece. Ha llevado una vida de violencia y delito, pero también es un padre que quiere salvar a su hija.
Polly me produjo escalofríos prácticamente desde el principio. No es una niña con la que resulte fácil empatizar. Todo en ella, desde la relación rarita para su edad con su oso de peluche, hasta esa zona oscura que tiene y de la que es consciente, nos grita cuidado con esta niña. No es exactamente una psicópata, pero sí exhibe un ramalazo de que algo en su cabeza no va como debiera.
Jack, el policía, es otro que tal baila, aunque tenga claro de qué lado de la ley está y en cuanto a Charlotte y sus elecciones mejor correr un tupido velo.
Me ha gustado mucho el final. Además de coherente nos muestra a esa Polly que se deja intuir desde el comienzo.
En conclusión una novela violenta, de ritmo muy ágil y trama con buen desarrollo. Recomendable si os gusta este género.
September 13, 2022
Set in California, this is a terrific example of grit lit with a strong father/daughter relationship at its core. Nate is a robber who has just been released from prison where he ran into trouble with Crazy Craig, the leader of Aryan Steel. Craig runs the Aryan Steel criminal enterprises from prison and he issues a death warrant on the race traitor Nate and his entire family, including his 11 year old daughter Polly. Nate, all tattoos, shaved head, hard body and faded blue eyes, shows up at Polly's school in a stolen car and takes her and her teddy bear in order to save her from the Aryan Steel. He hands her a baseball bat and warns her to be on the lookout for people with blue lightning tattoos. Nate and Polly have not had much of a relationship before this, but Nate is fierce in his determination to keep her safe and it turns out that Nate and Polly share more than their "gunfighter eyes". Polly is every bit as strong and determined as her father.
Nate's plan is to disrupt the Aryan Steel businesses until Crazy Craig rescinds the warrant. It's a kind of desperate plan that is made shakier by the involvement of crooked cops. There's a lot of violence in this book so if that disturbs you look elsewhere. However I thought it was a very well written, fast paced and extremely involving crime novel. It doesn't seem to have gotten much attention so far, and that's too bad. I'm looking forward to the author's next book. I listened to the audiobook and the narration by David Marantz was very good.
Nate's plan is to disrupt the Aryan Steel businesses until Crazy Craig rescinds the warrant. It's a kind of desperate plan that is made shakier by the involvement of crooked cops. There's a lot of violence in this book so if that disturbs you look elsewhere. However I thought it was a very well written, fast paced and extremely involving crime novel. It doesn't seem to have gotten much attention so far, and that's too bad. I'm looking forward to the author's next book. I listened to the audiobook and the narration by David Marantz was very good.
July 12, 2019
3 Gunfighter eyes. ★'s
“You got to feel weak to get strong. Don’t run away from it.”
“He could have laughed at how fucked up life was. That soon as you found something to live for, you found something to die for too. But he guessed, in the end, it was a good trade.”
She has gunfighter eyes...and she rides shotgun.
I decided to step out of the box and try something that isn't in the realm of books I would typically ever read. (Mystery/Thriller/Suspense/Crime Fiction) books are something my mom loves to read a LOT of so I figured eh why not give it a go. Though it wasn't a horrible experience I'm just not sure this kinda genre is right for me. Or maybe it was just the book...? IDk.
Either way, it was still interesting and entertaining with some exciting parts and a couple of sweet moments here and there. As for the story aspect, it was just fine. I felt that the first half of the book was much better than the second half. Some of the dialogs are just plain bad and I had some trouble believing that the girl Polly who quickly became a "badass" and was willing to face down criminals, would still be carrying around a teddy bear. But I'll admit I love that damn stuffed bear, the scenes with the teddy really had me laughing 😂😂. It added some humor to all of the dark and heavy which it needed. I'm also, not the biggest fan of third-person storytelling for it just doesn't let me connect to the characters in the way I need to, unfortunately :( All in all, I did enjoy it for the most part but it wasn't anything special.
“She had a teddy bear in her arms and murder in her eyes.”
*The (Narrator) David Marantz did such an amazing job!! I really loved his voice, therefore I definitely recommend the audiobook version ;)*
“You got to feel weak to get strong. Don’t run away from it.”
“He could have laughed at how fucked up life was. That soon as you found something to live for, you found something to die for too. But he guessed, in the end, it was a good trade.”
She has gunfighter eyes...and she rides shotgun.
I decided to step out of the box and try something that isn't in the realm of books I would typically ever read. (Mystery/Thriller/Suspense/Crime Fiction) books are something my mom loves to read a LOT of so I figured eh why not give it a go. Though it wasn't a horrible experience I'm just not sure this kinda genre is right for me. Or maybe it was just the book...? IDk.
Either way, it was still interesting and entertaining with some exciting parts and a couple of sweet moments here and there. As for the story aspect, it was just fine. I felt that the first half of the book was much better than the second half. Some of the dialogs are just plain bad and I had some trouble believing that the girl Polly who quickly became a "badass" and was willing to face down criminals, would still be carrying around a teddy bear. But I'll admit I love that damn stuffed bear, the scenes with the teddy really had me laughing 😂😂. It added some humor to all of the dark and heavy which it needed. I'm also, not the biggest fan of third-person storytelling for it just doesn't let me connect to the characters in the way I need to, unfortunately :( All in all, I did enjoy it for the most part but it wasn't anything special.
“She had a teddy bear in her arms and murder in her eyes.”
*The (Narrator) David Marantz did such an amazing job!! I really loved his voice, therefore I definitely recommend the audiobook version ;)*
February 7, 2020
Edgar Award for Best First Novel 2018. Eleven-year-old Polly is an outcast at school. She decides she is from Venus, carries her bedraggled teddy bear everywhere with her, and misses her Dad who was sent to prison years ago. So, she was one surprised girl when Nate McClusky shows up at her school to whisk her away with him. She barely knows this man—even though he is definitely her Dad.
Nate kidnapped his daughter to save her from certain death. “Crazy” Craig Hollington the leader of Aryan Steel has put the word out to kill Nate, his ex-wife, and daughter in retribution for Nate killing his brother just before he was released from prison. Polly’s mother and step-father have already been murdered. So Nate scoops up Polly and does his best to keep the two of them safe.
Harper takes the two of them on a wild, dangerous journey through the dark underbelly of society. [There is a cinematic feel along the lines of Tarantino or the Coen brothers in the plot, and may reflect Jordan’s own screenwriter background.] Along the way, Polly finds herself becoming stronger and discovering her place in the dark world of crime and violence that she and Nate have to navigate. The themes of love and loyalty pervade this harrowing tale. Recommend.
Nate kidnapped his daughter to save her from certain death. “Crazy” Craig Hollington the leader of Aryan Steel has put the word out to kill Nate, his ex-wife, and daughter in retribution for Nate killing his brother just before he was released from prison. Polly’s mother and step-father have already been murdered. So Nate scoops up Polly and does his best to keep the two of them safe.
Harper takes the two of them on a wild, dangerous journey through the dark underbelly of society. [There is a cinematic feel along the lines of Tarantino or the Coen brothers in the plot, and may reflect Jordan’s own screenwriter background.] Along the way, Polly finds herself becoming stronger and discovering her place in the dark world of crime and violence that she and Nate have to navigate. The themes of love and loyalty pervade this harrowing tale. Recommend.
June 1, 2024
I think it was the authors first book. It was a good read. Very violent with a lot of gang and drug references. I finished it in a day. Not your usual plot devices. Especially since one of the stars of the story is a stuffed bear.
November 10, 2017
3★ aka She Rides Shotgun
“Magic needed payback. Magic found the suckmouth’s old biker gang. Magic took thumbs as trophies. Can’t ride a chopper with no thumbs. Magic left a bunch of half-handed bastards pawning their bikes.”
Violence. Lots. And lessons.
“The hardest thing about a fight is learning to get hit.’
‘“You mean how not to get hit?’
‘You’re going to get hit,’ he said. ‘Life ain’t a video game or a school test. There’s no doing it perfect. . .
‘When the bullies came after you, when they hurt you, it wasn’t the hurt that you were scared of. It was what you wanted to do, what you could do, that’s what scared you.’
Nate’s out of prison and has to rescue his 11-year-old daughter, Polly, before the hitmen from Aryan Steele wipe her out. His older brother was the muscle of the family and he tries to teach his shy, introverted little girl how to protect herself the way Nick taught him.
She talks only to her teddy bear and otherwise pretends she’s living underwater to escape the world. Who could blame her?
Eventually, after plenty of violent encounters and a rather bloody version of Fagin teaching the kids how to steal in Oliver Twist Polly toughens up and thrives on it, regular bruised chip off the scarred old block. How to strangle, how to choke, and so on (ad nauseum).
They meet a woman called Charlotte:
Polly liked the way Charlotte looked at her, like Polly was a monster wearing little girl skin.
She was. Polly loves how tough she’s become. Nate hopes it will be enough to save her from the gang. I became increasingly disinterested. Blood and gore in a simple story of how you never escape your prison ‘obligations’ or enemies.
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster UK for the review copy from which I’ve quoted. I’m certainly not the target audience so should probably have given it a miss.
“Magic needed payback. Magic found the suckmouth’s old biker gang. Magic took thumbs as trophies. Can’t ride a chopper with no thumbs. Magic left a bunch of half-handed bastards pawning their bikes.”
Violence. Lots. And lessons.
“The hardest thing about a fight is learning to get hit.’
‘“You mean how not to get hit?’
‘You’re going to get hit,’ he said. ‘Life ain’t a video game or a school test. There’s no doing it perfect. . .
‘When the bullies came after you, when they hurt you, it wasn’t the hurt that you were scared of. It was what you wanted to do, what you could do, that’s what scared you.’
Nate’s out of prison and has to rescue his 11-year-old daughter, Polly, before the hitmen from Aryan Steele wipe her out. His older brother was the muscle of the family and he tries to teach his shy, introverted little girl how to protect herself the way Nick taught him.
She talks only to her teddy bear and otherwise pretends she’s living underwater to escape the world. Who could blame her?
Eventually, after plenty of violent encounters and a rather bloody version of Fagin teaching the kids how to steal in Oliver Twist Polly toughens up and thrives on it, regular bruised chip off the scarred old block. How to strangle, how to choke, and so on (ad nauseum).
They meet a woman called Charlotte:
Polly liked the way Charlotte looked at her, like Polly was a monster wearing little girl skin.
She was. Polly loves how tough she’s become. Nate hopes it will be enough to save her from the gang. I became increasingly disinterested. Blood and gore in a simple story of how you never escape your prison ‘obligations’ or enemies.
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster UK for the review copy from which I’ve quoted. I’m certainly not the target audience so should probably have given it a miss.
May 28, 2024
FANTASTICO!! Me ha encantado todo!! El ritmo, los protagonistas, la historia.
Me ha recordado un poco al estilo, salvando las distancias, a Winslow y a las pelis de Tarantino.
Toda una road movie!!
Está claro que voy a seguir a este autor, si es su primera obra!! Si escribe así de bien y con esa intensidad, es alguien digno de seguir y leer.
Nuestra protagonista se me metida de lleno en un mundo cruel duro que la hará crecer mentalmente muy por encima de su edad. NO se puede decir que no sea hija de su padre!!
Valoración: 10/10
Sinopsis: A punto de salir de prisión, Nate McClusky comete un grave error y su familia y él son condenados a muerte. Así lo sentencia Craig el Loco, líder de la mafia blanca Acero Ario, desde la celda de máxima seguridad donde cumple cadena perpetua. Un decreto ineludible, pues todo nazi supremacista de California responde al Acero, que compite contra los cárteles mexicanos por el control del narcotráfico en el Estado. Unas horas después de ser puesto en libertad, Nate roba un coche y, por primera vez en su vida, va a buscar a su hija al colegio. Aunque Polly McClusky todavía no lo sabe, a su madre ya la han asesinado y su padre viene para ponerla a salvo. A sus once años, Polly es tímida, de inteligencia vivaz, y apenas conoce a Nate, pero juntos se lanzan a la carretera por una California desértica y llena de moteles y lugares inadecuados. Polly deberá madurar a toda prisa si quiere sobrevivir y salvarle la vida a su padre.
El aclamado debut literario de Jordan Harper combina un vertiginoso ritmo cinematográfico, digno de Tarantino o los hermanos Coen, con personajes inolvidables que crecen y luchan, atrapados en las redes de un mundo brutal en el que las lealtades se firman con sangre.
Me ha recordado un poco al estilo, salvando las distancias, a Winslow y a las pelis de Tarantino.
Toda una road movie!!
Está claro que voy a seguir a este autor, si es su primera obra!! Si escribe así de bien y con esa intensidad, es alguien digno de seguir y leer.
Nuestra protagonista se me metida de lleno en un mundo cruel duro que la hará crecer mentalmente muy por encima de su edad. NO se puede decir que no sea hija de su padre!!
Valoración: 10/10
Sinopsis: A punto de salir de prisión, Nate McClusky comete un grave error y su familia y él son condenados a muerte. Así lo sentencia Craig el Loco, líder de la mafia blanca Acero Ario, desde la celda de máxima seguridad donde cumple cadena perpetua. Un decreto ineludible, pues todo nazi supremacista de California responde al Acero, que compite contra los cárteles mexicanos por el control del narcotráfico en el Estado. Unas horas después de ser puesto en libertad, Nate roba un coche y, por primera vez en su vida, va a buscar a su hija al colegio. Aunque Polly McClusky todavía no lo sabe, a su madre ya la han asesinado y su padre viene para ponerla a salvo. A sus once años, Polly es tímida, de inteligencia vivaz, y apenas conoce a Nate, pero juntos se lanzan a la carretera por una California desértica y llena de moteles y lugares inadecuados. Polly deberá madurar a toda prisa si quiere sobrevivir y salvarle la vida a su padre.
El aclamado debut literario de Jordan Harper combina un vertiginoso ritmo cinematográfico, digno de Tarantino o los hermanos Coen, con personajes inolvidables que crecen y luchan, atrapados en las redes de un mundo brutal en el que las lealtades se firman con sangre.
August 12, 2019
This reminded me a lot of The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley, in that both are a story about a father-daughter duo where the father is not a good man, but he has goodness in him. Luckily, I like both both books quite a bit, so I would recommend either one of them!
July 29, 2017
OMG !!!!!!......This book was GREAT!!!! Harper is such a talented writer. This book had everything ! Crime, a strong family bond between a father and his daughter, (as well as a stuffed animal), lots of violence which at times was hard to read yet the story was so compelling, I absolutely couldn't stop !! I love when I continue to think about a book after I've finished it. She a Rides Shotgun won't leave me for a long while. 5 Stars !!!
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