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Safe
"Set in LA against the backdrop of the 2008 financial crash, this is the story of Rudy Reyes (a.k.a. Glasses), a gangster-turned-double-agent who wants out of the high-stakes high-risk criminal life, and Ricky Mendoza, Junior (a.k.a. Ghost), a DEA safe-cracker with terminal cancer who’s got nothing to lose. When Ghost goes rogue and steals thousands of dollars from a safe that belongs to Rooster, an LA crime lord who happens to be Glasses’ boss, he endangers a deal Glasses had with a DEA official. As Ghost sets out to steal as much money as he can get his hands on – all with the plan to give it to those hit hardest by the crash – and Rooster gets ever closer to catching him, Glasses tries desperately to keep his plans on track.
Fast-paced and gritty, Safe is both a moving and human morality tale and an utterly immersive and heart-stoppingly suspenseful thriller."
Fast-paced and gritty, Safe is both a moving and human morality tale and an utterly immersive and heart-stoppingly suspenseful thriller."
272 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2017
130 people are currently reading
1069 people want to read
About the author
Ryan Gattis
23 books268 followersRyan Gattis is the author of Safe, Kung Fu High School, The System (July 2020), The Big Drop novellas (Homecoming & Impermanence) and All Involved, which won the Alex Award from the American Library Association and the Lire Award for Noir of the Year in France. He lives and writes in South Los Angeles, where he is a member of art collective UGLARworks, a founding board member of arts non-profit Heritage Future, and a PEN America Prison Writing Mentor.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
April 2, 2020
“Ricky Mendoza, Junior, wasn’t my real name, just one I took as my legal back when it seemed smart to. Like, the real me died back when I changed it and what’s left of me just floats.”
Everybody calls him Ghost.
Sometimes a man has to move on from a name and start over. A new name is like shedding your skin. It is a chance to redeem and be someone closer to whom you wanted to be before things went sideways.
Ghost is an addict who doesn’t use.
A man takes a chance on him, teaches him how to crack safes, and now Ghost is about to disappoint him.
”Betraying this man, I’ve never hated myself so much in my life as now. I feel shame bursting up inside me, telling me, once a junkie, always a junkie. Telling me, I can’t ever be loved, or trusted, Telling me, I’ll break his world and everything in it if I haven’t already stolen it first.
It’s what I am.
Stupid.
Selfish.
Worthless.
I grab a big breath and use it to try to kill this negativity inside me. Or at least get it quieter. Because if I don’t, I’ll spiral. And I can’t do that. Not now.”
The DEA calls him and needs a safe popped at a drug house. Ghost has lost the ability to smell, and he knows what that means. The Big C is back, growing tumors in his brain, but before he checks out he decides he needs to do something to help others. It is 2008, the housing crises is cresting, and people, good people, are losing their homes.
He takes $887,000 from the safe.
He’s going to pay off some mortgages. He is a street wise Robin Hood on a mission of self-destruction.
Time has become compressed. Between the DEA and the drug dealers Rooster and Glasses, from whom he stole, he knows it is only a matter of time before they catch up with him. He has to keep moving and stretch his life. He has to steal more.
Glasses wants out. He has a son now who turns him all gooey inside. ”I feel like there’s a secret room inside him, a room inside a room even, one that I can fill up with good things and advice, stuff he should know if I talk to him at night like this. The more I do it, the more I can build a voice in the back of his brain that will guide him through everything even when I’m not here.”
The streets have left their scars on Glasses. Rooster has taught him a lot. Glassas wants to pass his knowledge to his son without his son having to experience the streets. He has to get his son away from all of this, and the only way he can do that is if he burns Rooster down. The DEA has frozen all his assets, all that money Glasses put into Best Buy stock when it was cheap. The only way he gets it back is if he gives them Rooster.
Oddly enough, Ghost and Glasses both end up working for the DEA, but pulling strings from different ends. As Ghost drives around LA, listening to a mixtape from his dead girlfriend, Rose, and Glasses contemplates how best to stay alive while playing the role of Benedict Arnold, little do they know they are on a collision course that will leave one or both of them dead.
”It’s Rose’s fault that I think stories are one of the most powerful things in the world. More powerful than knives and surgeries. More powerful than bullets. Because stories live past you. Stories can get into other people and live there too. Stories are like glasses, kind of. They change how you see the world.”
I’ve never read Ryan Gattis before. Not only was I impressed by the deft way he handled this duel plot, but also how he humanized monsters. Because most people, even bad people, aren’t monsters once you peel back the bark they have built between themselves and the world. They have been hurt. They have been forced to hurt. They are caught in a tragic play, and survival is paramount. They are capable of terrible acts, but they are also capable of extending compassion, as well. They are broken human beings who, if given the choice, would live a different life, but early on the street grabbed them and never let go. They learned to survive and became people they were never meant to be. This is a hardboiled, gritty, street wise novel that is not only heart pounding thrilling, but also incredibly moving.
FSG sent me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
Everybody calls him Ghost.
Sometimes a man has to move on from a name and start over. A new name is like shedding your skin. It is a chance to redeem and be someone closer to whom you wanted to be before things went sideways.
Ghost is an addict who doesn’t use.
A man takes a chance on him, teaches him how to crack safes, and now Ghost is about to disappoint him.
”Betraying this man, I’ve never hated myself so much in my life as now. I feel shame bursting up inside me, telling me, once a junkie, always a junkie. Telling me, I can’t ever be loved, or trusted, Telling me, I’ll break his world and everything in it if I haven’t already stolen it first.
It’s what I am.
Stupid.
Selfish.
Worthless.
I grab a big breath and use it to try to kill this negativity inside me. Or at least get it quieter. Because if I don’t, I’ll spiral. And I can’t do that. Not now.”
The DEA calls him and needs a safe popped at a drug house. Ghost has lost the ability to smell, and he knows what that means. The Big C is back, growing tumors in his brain, but before he checks out he decides he needs to do something to help others. It is 2008, the housing crises is cresting, and people, good people, are losing their homes.
He takes $887,000 from the safe.
He’s going to pay off some mortgages. He is a street wise Robin Hood on a mission of self-destruction.
Time has become compressed. Between the DEA and the drug dealers Rooster and Glasses, from whom he stole, he knows it is only a matter of time before they catch up with him. He has to keep moving and stretch his life. He has to steal more.
Glasses wants out. He has a son now who turns him all gooey inside. ”I feel like there’s a secret room inside him, a room inside a room even, one that I can fill up with good things and advice, stuff he should know if I talk to him at night like this. The more I do it, the more I can build a voice in the back of his brain that will guide him through everything even when I’m not here.”
The streets have left their scars on Glasses. Rooster has taught him a lot. Glassas wants to pass his knowledge to his son without his son having to experience the streets. He has to get his son away from all of this, and the only way he can do that is if he burns Rooster down. The DEA has frozen all his assets, all that money Glasses put into Best Buy stock when it was cheap. The only way he gets it back is if he gives them Rooster.
Oddly enough, Ghost and Glasses both end up working for the DEA, but pulling strings from different ends. As Ghost drives around LA, listening to a mixtape from his dead girlfriend, Rose, and Glasses contemplates how best to stay alive while playing the role of Benedict Arnold, little do they know they are on a collision course that will leave one or both of them dead.
”It’s Rose’s fault that I think stories are one of the most powerful things in the world. More powerful than knives and surgeries. More powerful than bullets. Because stories live past you. Stories can get into other people and live there too. Stories are like glasses, kind of. They change how you see the world.”
I’ve never read Ryan Gattis before. Not only was I impressed by the deft way he handled this duel plot, but also how he humanized monsters. Because most people, even bad people, aren’t monsters once you peel back the bark they have built between themselves and the world. They have been hurt. They have been forced to hurt. They are caught in a tragic play, and survival is paramount. They are capable of terrible acts, but they are also capable of extending compassion, as well. They are broken human beings who, if given the choice, would live a different life, but early on the street grabbed them and never let go. They learned to survive and became people they were never meant to be. This is a hardboiled, gritty, street wise novel that is not only heart pounding thrilling, but also incredibly moving.
FSG sent me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
March 23, 2025
4 stars
short review for busy readers
A hard-hitting, emotionally gut-wrenching ride of a crime novel about two men on opposites sides of the Los Angeles gangs, both with the same goal and both racing against the same clock. Fast paced, direct language but semi-literary in overall style. Alternates between tense action scenes and interior monologue. Sensitive, yet brutal. A phenomenal gut-punch of a novel.
in detail
Years ago, I read Gattis' All Involved about the '92 Los Angeles riots.
The research he did for that novel was on the level of foolhardy. He requested, and got permission, to speak to top level Chicano gang leaders to make sure he got the details of how they operate, their ethics and rules, correct. In the end notes to "All Involved," Gattis says that he very easily could have been maimed or killed for misrepresenting people who lived such violent lives, and he absolutely did not want to do that.
Now, several novels later, he gives us "Safe". Which in some ways reads like an update to "All Involved" in that the conversations between some of the older gang members/gangsters are about how much things have changed in 20-30 years. How the "old rules" had been replaced with new technology, new ideas and a brand new level of brutality. (All of which I'm sure is true.)
Those who knew how it was before don't want a part of it any more. It's too much, and they're too tired. But how to get out?
In a perfect mirroring, Gattis gives us "Glasses" the ageing director of operations for one of LA's toughest Chicano drug running gangs and "Ghost" a youngish ex-criminal-turned-government-safecracker, whose brain cancer has returned.
They both want the same thing: out.
Glasses wants out to live a normal life with his wife and baby son, so he's negotiating with the DEA to turn state's evidence. Ghost knows he only has weeks to live and wants to go out with a bang.
That bang is stealing vast sums of cash out of the safes of drug gangs and donating it to families who are set to lose their homes in the coming financial crash. A "hood Robin Hood" move, as Glasses puts it. Ghost has done a lot of horrible things in the past, messed up a lot of lives -- I'm okay when I'm sober, but a me on drugs you wouldn't want to meet -- he says. If he can leave the world with a little bit of that steep bill paid, then he thinks he'll be able to rest easy.
Too bad the gang he steals from is Glasses' gang, and although they understand each other, each has his own exit goal to protect. And protect they will, even if it means killing or being killed.
The only detractor from this high-violence, heart-wrenching tale, is that the inner monologues get repetitious at times. About 20 pages of Ghost's thoughts could have boiled off and the narrative would have been better for it.
Still, the story is a repeated kick to the gut that left me exhausted. If I say a little bit of me , I'm not kidding.
This one's a really good Gattis, but not *quite* up to the level of "All Involved". But then, that one is a tough act to follow.
short review for busy readers
A hard-hitting, emotionally gut-wrenching ride of a crime novel about two men on opposites sides of the Los Angeles gangs, both with the same goal and both racing against the same clock. Fast paced, direct language but semi-literary in overall style. Alternates between tense action scenes and interior monologue. Sensitive, yet brutal. A phenomenal gut-punch of a novel.
in detail
Years ago, I read Gattis' All Involved about the '92 Los Angeles riots.
The research he did for that novel was on the level of foolhardy. He requested, and got permission, to speak to top level Chicano gang leaders to make sure he got the details of how they operate, their ethics and rules, correct. In the end notes to "All Involved," Gattis says that he very easily could have been maimed or killed for misrepresenting people who lived such violent lives, and he absolutely did not want to do that.
Now, several novels later, he gives us "Safe". Which in some ways reads like an update to "All Involved" in that the conversations between some of the older gang members/gangsters are about how much things have changed in 20-30 years. How the "old rules" had been replaced with new technology, new ideas and a brand new level of brutality. (All of which I'm sure is true.)
Those who knew how it was before don't want a part of it any more. It's too much, and they're too tired. But how to get out?
In a perfect mirroring, Gattis gives us "Glasses" the ageing director of operations for one of LA's toughest Chicano drug running gangs and "Ghost" a youngish ex-criminal-turned-government-safecracker, whose brain cancer has returned.
They both want the same thing: out.
Glasses wants out to live a normal life with his wife and baby son, so he's negotiating with the DEA to turn state's evidence. Ghost knows he only has weeks to live and wants to go out with a bang.
That bang is stealing vast sums of cash out of the safes of drug gangs and donating it to families who are set to lose their homes in the coming financial crash. A "hood Robin Hood" move, as Glasses puts it. Ghost has done a lot of horrible things in the past, messed up a lot of lives -- I'm okay when I'm sober, but a me on drugs you wouldn't want to meet -- he says. If he can leave the world with a little bit of that steep bill paid, then he thinks he'll be able to rest easy.
Too bad the gang he steals from is Glasses' gang, and although they understand each other, each has his own exit goal to protect. And protect they will, even if it means killing or being killed.
The only detractor from this high-violence, heart-wrenching tale, is that the inner monologues get repetitious at times. About 20 pages of Ghost's thoughts could have boiled off and the narrative would have been better for it.
Still, the story is a repeated kick to the gut that left me exhausted. If I say a little bit of me , I'm not kidding.
This one's a really good Gattis, but not *quite* up to the level of "All Involved". But then, that one is a tough act to follow.
August 12, 2024
I was tempted to give this five stars due to the amount of emotional intelligence demonstrated by the characters. But didn’t have quite enough tension or peril to make the full grade.
June 4, 2020
J’ignore si je dois blâmer le roman ou la traduction. Une traduction franchouillarde, d’un tout autre niveau, des plus déplaisantes pour mes oreilles québécoises. Le récit en souffre, les personnages perdent de la crédibilité et le tout m’a fait décrocher. J’aurais sans doute plus apprécié en version orignal, mais malgré tout, l’histoire me semblait réchauffée, du déjà-vu qui manque de profondeur. Pas d’un grand intérêt pour moi… C’est malheureux. Il s’agissait du premier livre de la sélection de juin du Prix des lecteurs du livre de poche 2020
August 25, 2017
Safe – A Modern Day Robin Hood
Safe is the latest book from Ryan Gattis, set over 48 hours with a backdrop of the dark underbelly of Los Angeles and its drugs gangs. Gattis uses two voices to narrate the story, in the form of Ricky “Ghost” Mendoza and Rudy “Glasses” Reyes with a punk rock mixed tape giving the story an old school vibe. This old school vibe can be seen as an American version of Robin Hood, with guns, drugs, money and cancer running central to the story.
Ghost is a reformed drug addict, who is now a locksmith, and safe cracker for the DEA, who when the story opens is cracking a safe of a major drug dealer for the agency. He has been left alone by the DEA agents who leave the scene as he cracks the safe, while they have gone he also removes a large amount of money, $887,000. Unfortunately, his car has been seen and the gang will be searching for him within a few hours. Glasses is sent by his boss to find the missing money and get it back, as he cannot be seen to be going weak with a sneak thief.
What we get is the back story to why Ghost has taken this money, and he is not planning on keeping a penny for himself. As he drives to meet his friend who will pay off people’s mortgages for them as they are heading for trouble as the financial system is crashing. Ghost has become Robin Hood in his desire to help unfortunate people who will never know him, as he knows he is going to die, if the cancer does not get him then a bullet will.
Glasses has his own private reasons for looking in to getting out of the drug trade, and he is not afraid to act covertly to further his interests. He is a husband and a father and he is getting desperate to escape the clutches of his boss and the violence of the drugs trade. He knows that leaving the gang culture and life is not easy and like a cancer will slowly kill you.
Gattis’ uses vernacular language to voice the characters and gives it authenticity, and the narrative is better for it as this is a fast-moving thriller. Amidst the violence, there are touching moments of tenderness Ghost when he thinks back to Rose and Glasses when he thinks to his own family.
This is a wonderful story, full of hope and tenderness, things not normally associated with a thriller, but this book is better for it. There are mutual definitions that could be used for the word safe, from where we see money and drugs, to something far deeper.
Safe is a book that will live long in the memory.
Safe is the latest book from Ryan Gattis, set over 48 hours with a backdrop of the dark underbelly of Los Angeles and its drugs gangs. Gattis uses two voices to narrate the story, in the form of Ricky “Ghost” Mendoza and Rudy “Glasses” Reyes with a punk rock mixed tape giving the story an old school vibe. This old school vibe can be seen as an American version of Robin Hood, with guns, drugs, money and cancer running central to the story.
Ghost is a reformed drug addict, who is now a locksmith, and safe cracker for the DEA, who when the story opens is cracking a safe of a major drug dealer for the agency. He has been left alone by the DEA agents who leave the scene as he cracks the safe, while they have gone he also removes a large amount of money, $887,000. Unfortunately, his car has been seen and the gang will be searching for him within a few hours. Glasses is sent by his boss to find the missing money and get it back, as he cannot be seen to be going weak with a sneak thief.
What we get is the back story to why Ghost has taken this money, and he is not planning on keeping a penny for himself. As he drives to meet his friend who will pay off people’s mortgages for them as they are heading for trouble as the financial system is crashing. Ghost has become Robin Hood in his desire to help unfortunate people who will never know him, as he knows he is going to die, if the cancer does not get him then a bullet will.
Glasses has his own private reasons for looking in to getting out of the drug trade, and he is not afraid to act covertly to further his interests. He is a husband and a father and he is getting desperate to escape the clutches of his boss and the violence of the drugs trade. He knows that leaving the gang culture and life is not easy and like a cancer will slowly kill you.
Gattis’ uses vernacular language to voice the characters and gives it authenticity, and the narrative is better for it as this is a fast-moving thriller. Amidst the violence, there are touching moments of tenderness Ghost when he thinks back to Rose and Glasses when he thinks to his own family.
This is a wonderful story, full of hope and tenderness, things not normally associated with a thriller, but this book is better for it. There are mutual definitions that could be used for the word safe, from where we see money and drugs, to something far deeper.
Safe is a book that will live long in the memory.
August 21, 2018
Eine Gangster-Aussteigergeschichte im Gangsterstyle in einer Gangsterwelt. Gangstermäßig gut!
Okay, "In den Straßen die Wut" ist um einen Tick besser als "Safe" zu lesen. Aber Ryan Gattis beweist wieder sein Können: Sein Thema ist Programm, von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite. Knallhart bleibt er an diesem Thema dran, lässt es nicht los, zieht es voll durch. Dieses Mal lautet es: Gangster.
Ghost ist Tresorknacker für die Polizei. Wie ein Geist kommt er mit geschwärzten Nummerschildern daher, geht rein, öffnet den Safe, geht wieder raus, ist weg.
So war er nicht immer. Früher war ein Junkie, verliebt in eine todkranke Frau, die starb, und als Stimme auf einen Tape ihn noch heute begleitet.
Nun ist sein Gehirntumor zurück und er wünscht sich nur eines: einen sauberen Abgang. Also knackt er wieder einen Safe und klaut daraus eine Menge Kohle. Die ist nicht für ihn, sondern für Leute, die das Geld dringend brauchen. So als gute Tat an seinen letzten Tagen.
Natürlich lassen sich Drogenbosse nicht so einfach beklauen. Hier kommt Glasses ins Spiel, ein Handlanger des Drogenkönigs Rooster, ein Gangster in einer Gangsterwelt. Er soll Ghost suchen, das Geld zurückholen, ein Zeichen setzen.
Doch auch Glasses spielt ein eigenes Spiel, denn hinter seiner finsteren Miene hat er ganz andere Absichten. Er will aussteigen aus der Gangsterwelt. Er hat Familie. Er will alt werden. Auch das lassen Drogenbosse eigentlich zu.
Gattis nimmt den Leser mit in diese Gangsterwelt, lässt die Gangster selbst auftreten und erzählen, so dass ein Gangsterstil entsteht. Das Thema "Gangster" drängt sich in jedes Wort, jede Tat, von Anfang bis zum Ende durch. Da bleibt Gattis sich treu, sein Thema ist Programm, bleibt es von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite und einfach alles - wirklich alles - hat mit diesem Thema zu tun. Wie auch schon in "In den Straßen die Wut" die Wut einfach allgegenwärtig war, so sind es hier Gangster.
Das ist Gattis Markenzeichen. Und das macht er wieder richtig gut. Ein absolut lesenswertes Buch für Gangsterleser!
Okay, "In den Straßen die Wut" ist um einen Tick besser als "Safe" zu lesen. Aber Ryan Gattis beweist wieder sein Können: Sein Thema ist Programm, von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite. Knallhart bleibt er an diesem Thema dran, lässt es nicht los, zieht es voll durch. Dieses Mal lautet es: Gangster.
Ghost ist Tresorknacker für die Polizei. Wie ein Geist kommt er mit geschwärzten Nummerschildern daher, geht rein, öffnet den Safe, geht wieder raus, ist weg.
So war er nicht immer. Früher war ein Junkie, verliebt in eine todkranke Frau, die starb, und als Stimme auf einen Tape ihn noch heute begleitet.
Nun ist sein Gehirntumor zurück und er wünscht sich nur eines: einen sauberen Abgang. Also knackt er wieder einen Safe und klaut daraus eine Menge Kohle. Die ist nicht für ihn, sondern für Leute, die das Geld dringend brauchen. So als gute Tat an seinen letzten Tagen.
Natürlich lassen sich Drogenbosse nicht so einfach beklauen. Hier kommt Glasses ins Spiel, ein Handlanger des Drogenkönigs Rooster, ein Gangster in einer Gangsterwelt. Er soll Ghost suchen, das Geld zurückholen, ein Zeichen setzen.
Doch auch Glasses spielt ein eigenes Spiel, denn hinter seiner finsteren Miene hat er ganz andere Absichten. Er will aussteigen aus der Gangsterwelt. Er hat Familie. Er will alt werden. Auch das lassen Drogenbosse eigentlich zu.
Gattis nimmt den Leser mit in diese Gangsterwelt, lässt die Gangster selbst auftreten und erzählen, so dass ein Gangsterstil entsteht. Das Thema "Gangster" drängt sich in jedes Wort, jede Tat, von Anfang bis zum Ende durch. Da bleibt Gattis sich treu, sein Thema ist Programm, bleibt es von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite und einfach alles - wirklich alles - hat mit diesem Thema zu tun. Wie auch schon in "In den Straßen die Wut" die Wut einfach allgegenwärtig war, so sind es hier Gangster.
Das ist Gattis Markenzeichen. Und das macht er wieder richtig gut. Ein absolut lesenswertes Buch für Gangsterleser!
May 5, 2017
Ryan Gattis’ All Involved was my favourite novel of 2015, so Safe had big boots to fill. That novel delivered like a gut-punch that kept me rocked back on my heels, and what impressed me most was his ability to connect me as a reader to his characters on a deeply human level. That a small-town Yorkshire girl can feel the motivations of LA's criminal class shows that Gattis digs at the very core of people. In Safe, he shows this skill again. Back in downtown LA, each of his characters is laced with both sweet and salt, tender and tough. Gattis exposes something raw and fragile about us whilst hitting our senses with the blunt force of an often brutal existence. Just. Bam…
The action in Safe can be measured in hours rather than days or weeks, and alternates between two characters – Ricky ‘Ghost’ Mendoza Jr. and Rudolfo ‘Glasses’ Reyes – two guys on opposing sides of an opportunistic safe heist, spinning like a tossed coin of action and consequence, where either could end up dead. Set against the backdrop of the American financial crash of 2008, I was once again left debating what constitutes good and bad, or right or wrong. Gattis has a knack for pulling back from the black and white and playing instead with all the shades in between. What’s striking about Ghost and Glasses is just how similar their motivations are, in spite of their opposing positions.
Love, grief, pain, addiction, remorse, redemption. Safe has it all. There’s even a mix-tape. (And, man, if you’re going to scrape at the emotional bones of a character, you are going to need a good soundtrack, right?). Safe presses emotional bruises, and it confirms for me that Ryan Gattis is the sort of universally wise writer that I really want to share with readers. If you want a great, tense, thought-provoking thriller, this is most definitely the book for you.
The action in Safe can be measured in hours rather than days or weeks, and alternates between two characters – Ricky ‘Ghost’ Mendoza Jr. and Rudolfo ‘Glasses’ Reyes – two guys on opposing sides of an opportunistic safe heist, spinning like a tossed coin of action and consequence, where either could end up dead. Set against the backdrop of the American financial crash of 2008, I was once again left debating what constitutes good and bad, or right or wrong. Gattis has a knack for pulling back from the black and white and playing instead with all the shades in between. What’s striking about Ghost and Glasses is just how similar their motivations are, in spite of their opposing positions.
Love, grief, pain, addiction, remorse, redemption. Safe has it all. There’s even a mix-tape. (And, man, if you’re going to scrape at the emotional bones of a character, you are going to need a good soundtrack, right?). Safe presses emotional bruises, and it confirms for me that Ryan Gattis is the sort of universally wise writer that I really want to share with readers. If you want a great, tense, thought-provoking thriller, this is most definitely the book for you.
October 17, 2019
Interesting read but, ultimately, I found this one unbelievable, a sentimental tale about Los Angeles gang and drug related criminal activity and the tragedy of an honorable thief. The plot is a stretch and the whole story seems overly romanticized considering the grim reality of the subject matter.
May 20, 2018
Visit the locations in the novel
Perhaps one of the grittiest and most raw novels I’ve read in a long while. I certainly felt that spending so much time with a reformed drug runner turned double agent left me feeling exhausted..in a good way. There’s plenty of drama here but good, raw honesty in the way the characters are portrayed and even down to how they speak and to each other in particular.
This is not the LA the tourist board would have you believe. It’s the mean streets of the drugs gangs and those where there is a large Mexican and hispanic population. The areas are those of the ‘projects’ where the poverty and social deprivation is everywhere, but it’s also where the heart and the humour of a people often lives too.
It all feels very real and very threatening but it fast paced. Not the heist novel it’s billed to be though – I think it’s more than that. A raw honest look at the underbelly of the city – but not for the fainthearted!
September 10, 2017
This is so so good. Punchy and yet touching it tells the story of a heist in LA that unfolds over 48 hours. It's the first time in a while I've brushed a tear from my face when reading. I also ❤️ the playlists I got from Rose's mix at the beginning. This is going to be a HUGE film I reckon.
September 4, 2019
On aurait pu appeler ce roman "Ghostbuster" car notre Ricky "Ghost" Mendoza va se faire chasser par des chasseurs sachant chasser avec leurs chiens.
Ricky, ex-junkie est revenu dans le droit chemin et met ses talents de perceur de coffres-forts au service des agences gouvernementales de Los Angeles car il est doué dans son métier et est clean.
Mais voilà, quand un coffre est bourré de fric jusqu'à la gueule et que personne ne vous regarde, la tentation est grande de prendre le pognon et de jouer à Ricky ou la belle vie (les gens de ma génération comprendront l'allusion).
J'avoue que j'ai été bluffée quand au mobile de Ricky… Oui, il pique du fric à des dealers/gangs mais pas pour la raison que l'on pense et c'est là que réside le point fort du roman, en plus de nous proposer des personnages assez décalés et inhabituels puisqu'ici, exit les policiers, tout se joue entre gangsters et notre perceur de coffres.
L'auteur ne se prive pas de tirer à coup de bazookas sur les banquiers et les subprimes qui ont entrainé la faillite du système ainsi que de multiples expulsions des gens de leurs domiciles. Les coups sous la ceinture sont permis et certains risquent de grimacer, surtout si ce sont des banquiers ou autres gangsters en cols blancs.
Le récit est concentré sur quelques jours, même si Ricky fera quelques retours dans le passé pour nous éclairer sur le genre d'homme qu'il a été et celui qu'il est devenu, le tout sur des musiques mélancoliques et un vieil amour perdu.
Niveau peps, rien à dire, on n'a pas vraiment le temps de s'emmerder dans ces pages.
Là, vous vous dites que si je lance un compliment, c'est qu'un bémol va suivre et vous avez gagné ! Mon plus gros bémol ira à l'usage de mots argotiques spécifiques à l'américain ou au milieu, le tout sans renvoi en bas de page pour la définition et je peux vous dire que ce n'est pas toujours évident de comprendre le sens du mot dans la phrase.
Pour certains, ça coulait de source vu le contexte, mais pour d'autre, il m'aurait fallu interroger le moteur de recherche bien connu et c'est chose impossible dans les transports en commun et puis, zut, le traducteur ou l'éditeur pour faire en sorte que les mots soient expliqués afin que les lecteurs ne perdent pas de temps en recherche, ça casse le rythme de lecture.
J'avais donc compris que le chtar c'était la prison, que le brelic était un révolver, mais que signifiait être keus ? C'est être mince… Un Homies ? Ben c'était un pote. Bader veut dire être triste et un marave, c'est un combat, une bagarre entre, au moins deux personnes qui ont un différend. Mais ne me demandez pas ce que veut dire quince…
Ce sera mon seul bémol. Pour le reste, c'est aussi noir que du café torréfié à partir de jus de chaussettes sales et c'est sans édulcorant ou sucre quelconque, même pas un nuage de crème pour adoucir le récit : brut de décoffrage, aussi violent qu'un coffre-fort qui te tomberait sur le pied alors que tu ne portes pas tes bottines de sécurité.
J'ai aimé l'ambiance noire qui se dégage de ces pages, le fait que la crise financière plane tel un vautour, prêt à bouffer tout le monde, sauf les trafiquants, j'ai aimé le personnage de Ricky Mendoza mais il m'a manqué quelques émotions en plus pour que le roman s'imprime durablement dans ma rétine et dans mes tripes.
Mais s'il ne me marquera comme certains romans noirs l'ont fait, je n'ai pas à me plaindre de la marchandise car il a fait son job : me divertir, faire monter mon adrénaline, mon rythme cardiaque et me surprendre.
Un bon p'tit café noir bien sombre et, comme le disait si bien Ricky : parce qu'il fait pas seulement sombre par ici, on est carrément dans une obscurité qui a mis des lunettes de soleil et un manteau noir pour aller traîner dans une cave. Genre, noir sombre.
N'oublie pas ta lampe de poche car le récit est sombre.
Ricky, ex-junkie est revenu dans le droit chemin et met ses talents de perceur de coffres-forts au service des agences gouvernementales de Los Angeles car il est doué dans son métier et est clean.
Mais voilà, quand un coffre est bourré de fric jusqu'à la gueule et que personne ne vous regarde, la tentation est grande de prendre le pognon et de jouer à Ricky ou la belle vie (les gens de ma génération comprendront l'allusion).
J'avoue que j'ai été bluffée quand au mobile de Ricky… Oui, il pique du fric à des dealers/gangs mais pas pour la raison que l'on pense et c'est là que réside le point fort du roman, en plus de nous proposer des personnages assez décalés et inhabituels puisqu'ici, exit les policiers, tout se joue entre gangsters et notre perceur de coffres.
L'auteur ne se prive pas de tirer à coup de bazookas sur les banquiers et les subprimes qui ont entrainé la faillite du système ainsi que de multiples expulsions des gens de leurs domiciles. Les coups sous la ceinture sont permis et certains risquent de grimacer, surtout si ce sont des banquiers ou autres gangsters en cols blancs.
Le récit est concentré sur quelques jours, même si Ricky fera quelques retours dans le passé pour nous éclairer sur le genre d'homme qu'il a été et celui qu'il est devenu, le tout sur des musiques mélancoliques et un vieil amour perdu.
Niveau peps, rien à dire, on n'a pas vraiment le temps de s'emmerder dans ces pages.
Là, vous vous dites que si je lance un compliment, c'est qu'un bémol va suivre et vous avez gagné ! Mon plus gros bémol ira à l'usage de mots argotiques spécifiques à l'américain ou au milieu, le tout sans renvoi en bas de page pour la définition et je peux vous dire que ce n'est pas toujours évident de comprendre le sens du mot dans la phrase.
Pour certains, ça coulait de source vu le contexte, mais pour d'autre, il m'aurait fallu interroger le moteur de recherche bien connu et c'est chose impossible dans les transports en commun et puis, zut, le traducteur ou l'éditeur pour faire en sorte que les mots soient expliqués afin que les lecteurs ne perdent pas de temps en recherche, ça casse le rythme de lecture.
J'avais donc compris que le chtar c'était la prison, que le brelic était un révolver, mais que signifiait être keus ? C'est être mince… Un Homies ? Ben c'était un pote. Bader veut dire être triste et un marave, c'est un combat, une bagarre entre, au moins deux personnes qui ont un différend. Mais ne me demandez pas ce que veut dire quince…
Ce sera mon seul bémol. Pour le reste, c'est aussi noir que du café torréfié à partir de jus de chaussettes sales et c'est sans édulcorant ou sucre quelconque, même pas un nuage de crème pour adoucir le récit : brut de décoffrage, aussi violent qu'un coffre-fort qui te tomberait sur le pied alors que tu ne portes pas tes bottines de sécurité.
J'ai aimé l'ambiance noire qui se dégage de ces pages, le fait que la crise financière plane tel un vautour, prêt à bouffer tout le monde, sauf les trafiquants, j'ai aimé le personnage de Ricky Mendoza mais il m'a manqué quelques émotions en plus pour que le roman s'imprime durablement dans ma rétine et dans mes tripes.
Mais s'il ne me marquera comme certains romans noirs l'ont fait, je n'ai pas à me plaindre de la marchandise car il a fait son job : me divertir, faire monter mon adrénaline, mon rythme cardiaque et me surprendre.
Un bon p'tit café noir bien sombre et, comme le disait si bien Ricky : parce qu'il fait pas seulement sombre par ici, on est carrément dans une obscurité qui a mis des lunettes de soleil et un manteau noir pour aller traîner dans une cave. Genre, noir sombre.
N'oublie pas ta lampe de poche car le récit est sombre.
December 19, 2017
Very slow getting started. I almost gave up on it. Also very confusing. I was well into the book before I realized that we were following two different characters. 3/4 of the way into the book I finally understood what was going on and the story started to make sense. The basic story was very good but the way it was told ruined it. Giving this book fairly low marks.
August 20, 2017
Did not finish this book, not something I normally do but I could not waste my time on this book when there are so many good ones waiting.
August 19, 2022
Ganz clever erzählt, kann man gut als Krimi zwischendurch lesen, vor allem wenn man nicht auf jeder Seite Gewalt will.
August 13, 2017
'Safe' is stunningly good read, especially if you're into crime novels and don't have a problem with reading about violence. Ryan Gattis must specialize in this type of novel- 'All Involved' is likewise a gritty one with a bunch of really bad guy characters you'd avoid in real life but you can't stop reading about.
I'll try to avoid spoilers here..... Safe starts off as what seems to be a pretty standard 'heist' novel but gradually morphs into something both bigger and smaller. As in 'All Involved', the characters are all criminals but what separates Safe from others in the 'heist' genre is the near stream-of-consciousness you get from both of the narrators, the 'heister' and the 'guy who better find the heister'. The two narrators eventually intersect with a conclusion that to me was inevitable. Along the way, you learn backstory details in abundance that draw you into a crime story that has a surprising amount of humanity in it.
Gattis writes in the voices of his narrators, poor language and grammar and all. I don't have a huge problem with that- the criminals are almost all Mexican-American and use a lot of colloquialisms that you may or may not be able to interpret. If you're looking for well constructed sentences with perfect language usage, be advised it ain't that type of book.
'Safe' is going on my 'Best of 2017' shelf. It's one of the most unusual stories I've read in a long time and I highly recommend it.
I'll try to avoid spoilers here..... Safe starts off as what seems to be a pretty standard 'heist' novel but gradually morphs into something both bigger and smaller. As in 'All Involved', the characters are all criminals but what separates Safe from others in the 'heist' genre is the near stream-of-consciousness you get from both of the narrators, the 'heister' and the 'guy who better find the heister'. The two narrators eventually intersect with a conclusion that to me was inevitable. Along the way, you learn backstory details in abundance that draw you into a crime story that has a surprising amount of humanity in it.
Gattis writes in the voices of his narrators, poor language and grammar and all. I don't have a huge problem with that- the criminals are almost all Mexican-American and use a lot of colloquialisms that you may or may not be able to interpret. If you're looking for well constructed sentences with perfect language usage, be advised it ain't that type of book.
'Safe' is going on my 'Best of 2017' shelf. It's one of the most unusual stories I've read in a long time and I highly recommend it.
April 23, 2022
How is it that Ryan Gattis doesn’t have a larger readership? This book is excellent - a crime thriller of the first order. It is set in the underbelly of LA’s drug and crime scene in the late 2000s, something I know a lot more about now than when I started the book. The two main characters, whose interests both conflict and converge, are smart, complex, nuanced, flawed, and wholly sympathetic. You find yourself pulling for them both. This book pulls you in and doesn’t let up until the conclusion. I’ll definitely look for more novels from Ryan Gattis!
November 9, 2022
This was a tough one for me to get through. Some of that was because I didn't find the narration appealing. There were some things I liked and some I didn't. It's gritty but also human. It was just okay in my opinion though.
November 4, 2018
Nun gehöre ich wohl zu den wenigen, die im damaligen Hype „In den Straßen die Wut“ natürlich fleißig und mit guten Vorsätzen gekauft hat, aber heute immer noch ungelesen im SUB beherbergt. Das hindert mich aber ja nun nicht daran, dass nächste Werk von Ryan Gattis vorher zu lesen, sind die beiden Bücher ja auch nicht verknüpft oder Teil einer Reihe. Bevor wir allerdings zum Inhalt kommen, muss ich noch ein klein wenig am, zwar klasse aussehenden Buchschnitt, der in schwarz angepinselt wurde, herummäkeln. Wenn ich die Seiten erst trennen muss, bevor ich sie lesen kann, finde ich das nur semi-gut. Also eigentlich gar nicht gut. Denn das stört den Lesefluss. Aber gut… man muss eben mit den Seiten mal kurz Fingerkino spielen. Dann geht es einigermaßen.
Ghost
Nun soll aber vermutlich das schwarze Cover, der schwarzgefärbte Buchschnitt und natürlich das Zahlenrad des Covers auf den Inhalt hinweisen: Tresore, Safes, Geldschränke. Oder eben auf das Öffnen von den selbigen. Ricky Mendoza, auch Ghost genannt, ist so einer, der das kann: ein Safeknacker. War er früher Junkie und Kleinkrimineller, hat er mittlerweile dem Verbrechen den Rücken gekehrt und arbeitet für die Polizei. Das macht er schon seit Jahren, Tresore zu knacken hat er von der Pieke auf gelernt, von seinem Chef und übernimmt mittlerweile die meisten Aufträge. Er ist hundertprozentig vertrauenswürdig. So vertrauenswürdig, dass die Polizisten, die ihn anfordern, ihn auch mal alleine die Tresore von Drogenhändlern oder ähnlichem öffnen lassen. Doch dann kommt der Tag, an dem Ghost Geld aus dem Tresor mitnimmt. Aus einem reichlich gefüllten Tresor. Das macht er natürlich nicht einfach aus irgendeinem Grund, es ist schon ein guter Grund.
Glasses
Die Polizisten kriegen auch erst mal gar nichts davon mit. Der Drogendealer, dem der Tresor gehört, aber schon. Der weiß ja, wie viel in dem Safe war und erfährt auch, wie viel in die Asservatenkammer wandert. Der Drogendealer ist also wenig begeistert und schickt seine rechte Hand, Rudy Reyes, genannt Glasses. Er soll herausfinden, wer ihn beklaut hat und entsprechend bestrafen. Glasses sieht nicht aus wie der übliche Gangster, dazu reicht schon die Brille, die kein Verbrecher freiwillig aufziehen würde, ihm aber zu seinem Spitznamen verholfen hat, und er macht seinen Job schon sehr lange. Doch was der Drogenkönig nicht weiß ist, dass seine rechte Hand plant auszusteigen.
Rose
Hört sich nun nach einer üblichen Geschichte an, doch es gibt eine Besonderheit: Rose. Rose ist zu der Zeit als die Handlung spielt schon lange nicht mehr am Leben. Aber Rose war und ist Ghosts große Liebe. Gemeinsam haben sie gegen den Krebs gekämpft, sich dabei kennen und lieben gelernt. Ghost hat gewonnen, doch Rose hat gegen den Krebs verloren. Rose hat ihn so genommen wie er war und damit sein Leben gerettet. Ihn von den Drogen befreit und zu einem aufrechten Leben geführt. Ganz ohne etwas bewusst zu tun, denn dazu war sie schon zu schwach. Aber ein Mixtape hat sie ihm hinterlassen. Ein Tape, dass er auch noch heute als seinen größten Schatz betrachtet. Vor allem jetzt, als er weiß, dass der Krebs wieder da ist. Diesmal endgültig.
Tanz
Und so umtänzeln sich die beiden Kontrahenten. Ghost will so viel Geld wie möglich abschöpfen und knackt noch einige Tresore, bevor er Glasses letztendlich trifft. Glasses versteht nicht, warum Ghost sein Leben riskiert und muss gleichzeitig darauf achten, nichts von seinen Ausstiegsplänen zu verraten. Sympathisch sind einem beide Kerle und man will auch unbedingt, dass beide an ihr Ziel kommen. Eins ist allerdings klar: Ghost wird sterben. Die Frage ist eben nur wie. Und so treiben die beiden umeinander, bis es letztendlich bei einem Showdown anderer Art endet.
Melancholie
Rose schwebt irgendwie immer im Hintergrund, sie ist Ghosts Antrieb und Nemesis, sie ist immer präsent. Auch hangelt man sich als Leser, gemeinsam mit Ghost an Ihrem Mixtape entlang, die eine Kassettenseite voller Songs steht für Ghosts Geschichte, die andere für Roses Geschichte – zwei Seiten voller Punkrock. Vor allem im letzten Drittel begleiten die Songs die Geschichte und treiben sie voran. Insgesamt ist der Thriller rasant geschrieben, Ghosts Gedanken bringen zwar einen melancholischen Unterton in die Geschichte, dieser tut ihr aber sehr gut. Auch wenn der Anfang und das Ende packender waren als der Mittelteil, erklärt dieser eben viele Hintergründe und spitzt die Spannung langsam zu.
Erwartungen
Der Thriller war spannend, die Hauptcharaktere gut ausgearbeitet und sympathisch, die tote Freundin und das Mixtape haben der Geschichte etwas Besonderes verliehen. Ein rundum gelungenes Leseerlebnis? Nur, wenn die eigenen Erwartungen nicht im Weg stehen, denn tatsächlich hatte ich nach den begeisterten Stimmen zu „In den Straßen die Wut“ tatsächlich mehr von dem Thriller erwartet. Da „Safe“ ja aber nun nichts dafür kann wie ich meine Erwartungen setze, ist und bleibt es ein wirklich guter, unterhaltsamer Thriller.
Fazit:
Spannender Thriller um einen todkranken, legalen Safeknacker, der einen Drogenkönig beraubt und sich mächtig Ärger einhandelt. Packend, rasant, aber auch ein wenig melancholisch. Gut gemacht!
Ghost
Nun soll aber vermutlich das schwarze Cover, der schwarzgefärbte Buchschnitt und natürlich das Zahlenrad des Covers auf den Inhalt hinweisen: Tresore, Safes, Geldschränke. Oder eben auf das Öffnen von den selbigen. Ricky Mendoza, auch Ghost genannt, ist so einer, der das kann: ein Safeknacker. War er früher Junkie und Kleinkrimineller, hat er mittlerweile dem Verbrechen den Rücken gekehrt und arbeitet für die Polizei. Das macht er schon seit Jahren, Tresore zu knacken hat er von der Pieke auf gelernt, von seinem Chef und übernimmt mittlerweile die meisten Aufträge. Er ist hundertprozentig vertrauenswürdig. So vertrauenswürdig, dass die Polizisten, die ihn anfordern, ihn auch mal alleine die Tresore von Drogenhändlern oder ähnlichem öffnen lassen. Doch dann kommt der Tag, an dem Ghost Geld aus dem Tresor mitnimmt. Aus einem reichlich gefüllten Tresor. Das macht er natürlich nicht einfach aus irgendeinem Grund, es ist schon ein guter Grund.
Glasses
Die Polizisten kriegen auch erst mal gar nichts davon mit. Der Drogendealer, dem der Tresor gehört, aber schon. Der weiß ja, wie viel in dem Safe war und erfährt auch, wie viel in die Asservatenkammer wandert. Der Drogendealer ist also wenig begeistert und schickt seine rechte Hand, Rudy Reyes, genannt Glasses. Er soll herausfinden, wer ihn beklaut hat und entsprechend bestrafen. Glasses sieht nicht aus wie der übliche Gangster, dazu reicht schon die Brille, die kein Verbrecher freiwillig aufziehen würde, ihm aber zu seinem Spitznamen verholfen hat, und er macht seinen Job schon sehr lange. Doch was der Drogenkönig nicht weiß ist, dass seine rechte Hand plant auszusteigen.
Rose
Hört sich nun nach einer üblichen Geschichte an, doch es gibt eine Besonderheit: Rose. Rose ist zu der Zeit als die Handlung spielt schon lange nicht mehr am Leben. Aber Rose war und ist Ghosts große Liebe. Gemeinsam haben sie gegen den Krebs gekämpft, sich dabei kennen und lieben gelernt. Ghost hat gewonnen, doch Rose hat gegen den Krebs verloren. Rose hat ihn so genommen wie er war und damit sein Leben gerettet. Ihn von den Drogen befreit und zu einem aufrechten Leben geführt. Ganz ohne etwas bewusst zu tun, denn dazu war sie schon zu schwach. Aber ein Mixtape hat sie ihm hinterlassen. Ein Tape, dass er auch noch heute als seinen größten Schatz betrachtet. Vor allem jetzt, als er weiß, dass der Krebs wieder da ist. Diesmal endgültig.
Tanz
Und so umtänzeln sich die beiden Kontrahenten. Ghost will so viel Geld wie möglich abschöpfen und knackt noch einige Tresore, bevor er Glasses letztendlich trifft. Glasses versteht nicht, warum Ghost sein Leben riskiert und muss gleichzeitig darauf achten, nichts von seinen Ausstiegsplänen zu verraten. Sympathisch sind einem beide Kerle und man will auch unbedingt, dass beide an ihr Ziel kommen. Eins ist allerdings klar: Ghost wird sterben. Die Frage ist eben nur wie. Und so treiben die beiden umeinander, bis es letztendlich bei einem Showdown anderer Art endet.
Melancholie
Rose schwebt irgendwie immer im Hintergrund, sie ist Ghosts Antrieb und Nemesis, sie ist immer präsent. Auch hangelt man sich als Leser, gemeinsam mit Ghost an Ihrem Mixtape entlang, die eine Kassettenseite voller Songs steht für Ghosts Geschichte, die andere für Roses Geschichte – zwei Seiten voller Punkrock. Vor allem im letzten Drittel begleiten die Songs die Geschichte und treiben sie voran. Insgesamt ist der Thriller rasant geschrieben, Ghosts Gedanken bringen zwar einen melancholischen Unterton in die Geschichte, dieser tut ihr aber sehr gut. Auch wenn der Anfang und das Ende packender waren als der Mittelteil, erklärt dieser eben viele Hintergründe und spitzt die Spannung langsam zu.
Erwartungen
Der Thriller war spannend, die Hauptcharaktere gut ausgearbeitet und sympathisch, die tote Freundin und das Mixtape haben der Geschichte etwas Besonderes verliehen. Ein rundum gelungenes Leseerlebnis? Nur, wenn die eigenen Erwartungen nicht im Weg stehen, denn tatsächlich hatte ich nach den begeisterten Stimmen zu „In den Straßen die Wut“ tatsächlich mehr von dem Thriller erwartet. Da „Safe“ ja aber nun nichts dafür kann wie ich meine Erwartungen setze, ist und bleibt es ein wirklich guter, unterhaltsamer Thriller.
Fazit:
Spannender Thriller um einen todkranken, legalen Safeknacker, der einen Drogenkönig beraubt und sich mächtig Ärger einhandelt. Packend, rasant, aber auch ein wenig melancholisch. Gut gemacht!
March 19, 2019
Loved the energy in this book. It's perfect for a movie. A very fast, engaging read.
January 1, 2023
Great book to end the year on with one of my new favorite authors.
February 8, 2024
Man, I burnt right through this. The modern LA gang thing is typically not for me, but damn I couldn't put this down. The characters were amazing, the perspectives between the two mains were balanced and distinct, and the descriptions and emotions will break your heart in the best way. This one really surprised me, and I am again grateful for listening to booktok for recommendations.
March 21, 2022
I don’t read much in the recovering drug addict safe cracker genre, but this was great! No really!
August 21, 2018
Ghost hat in seinem Leben viel falsch gemacht. Doch dieses Mal, will er -in vollem Bewusstsein, dass es mit ziemlicher Wahrscheinlichkeit seinen Tod bedeutet- das Richtige tun.
Glasses hat vermutlich noch mehr Fehler gemacht, sich aber vorgenommen, ab jetzt alles richtig zu machen. Aber auch ihm ist bewusst, dass sein Tod dadurch eine reale Gefahr bedeutet…
Und obwohl die beiden auf den ersten Blick nicht unterschiedlicher sein könnten, ist es doch derselbe Grundgedanke, der die beiden weitermachen lässt. Und so sind ihrer beider Schicksale plötzlich verwobener, als sie zu Beginn ahnen.
„Safe“ erzählt die Geschichten der beiden Männer. Ihre Fehler, Ängste, aber auch Hoffnungen sowie prägende Erlebnisse in ihrem früheren Leben werden uns im Wechsel aus jeweils deren eigenen Perspektiven erzählt.
So werden die beiden für den Leser authentischer und vor allem verständlicher. Man erkennt ihre Wege, die Fehler, die sie gemacht haben und kann so natürlich auch ihre Beweggründe und Motivationen für kommende Entscheidungen -auch wenn diese auf den ersten Blick absolut falsch erscheinen- besser verstehen. Das macht es für den Leser jedoch ein Stück weit problematisch, sich für eine Seite zu entscheiden, denn genau genommen sind sie eigentlich Gegner. Dennoch sind beide Charakter für mich „sympathisch“, sofern man das von einem Dieb und der rechten Hand eines Drogenkönigs sagen kann, aber unabhängig von ihrer zuerst sichtbaren Jobbeschreibung steckt ja noch mehr in den Menschen, als das Offensichtliche. Und davon lebt dieses Buch in meinen Augen auch.
Die Erzählweise, die Geschichten hinter der Geschichte, die stest verschwimmenden Linien zwischen Richtig und Falsch, lassen einen warmherzigen und gleichwohl sehr traurigen Roman entstehen, der mich sehr gut unterhalten konnte.
Jedoch muss ich dazu sagen, dass ich dieses Buch absolut nicht als „Thriller“ sehen kann. Die Geschichte ist wirklich spannend und interessant, keine Frage! Aber eher auf die emotionale und menschliche Art und Weise.
Für mich ist „Safe“ eher eine Story über die Vergangenheit eines Menschen, sein Heimkommen und die Erkenntnis, was für ihn im Leben wirklich wichtig ist. Und auch, wenn Details darüber gerade in den Fällen Ghost und Glasses oftmals grenzwertig, brutal und auch schon das ein oder andere mal blutig sind, reichen diese für mich nicht aus, um diese Klassifizierung zu sehen. Vor allem auch, weil ihre Geschichten sich eigentlich erst im letzten Viertel so richtig überschneiden und die Gefahr und die Todesmöglichkeit auch da erst akuter wird. Mehr kann ich jedoch jetzt leider nicht schreiben, ohne euch zu spoilern, und das möchte ich natürlich nicht!
Denn Fakt ist eins: „Safe“ ist in meinen Augen ein absolut lesenswertes Buch, das die ein oder andere Grenze zwischen Gut und Böse, Richtig und Falsch sowie Schwarz und Weiß auf sehr eindrucksvolle Weise verschwimmen lässt.
Trotz -oder gerade wegen- seiner ruhigeren Gangart ein wirklich beeindruckendes Buch!
Glasses hat vermutlich noch mehr Fehler gemacht, sich aber vorgenommen, ab jetzt alles richtig zu machen. Aber auch ihm ist bewusst, dass sein Tod dadurch eine reale Gefahr bedeutet…
Und obwohl die beiden auf den ersten Blick nicht unterschiedlicher sein könnten, ist es doch derselbe Grundgedanke, der die beiden weitermachen lässt. Und so sind ihrer beider Schicksale plötzlich verwobener, als sie zu Beginn ahnen.
„Safe“ erzählt die Geschichten der beiden Männer. Ihre Fehler, Ängste, aber auch Hoffnungen sowie prägende Erlebnisse in ihrem früheren Leben werden uns im Wechsel aus jeweils deren eigenen Perspektiven erzählt.
So werden die beiden für den Leser authentischer und vor allem verständlicher. Man erkennt ihre Wege, die Fehler, die sie gemacht haben und kann so natürlich auch ihre Beweggründe und Motivationen für kommende Entscheidungen -auch wenn diese auf den ersten Blick absolut falsch erscheinen- besser verstehen. Das macht es für den Leser jedoch ein Stück weit problematisch, sich für eine Seite zu entscheiden, denn genau genommen sind sie eigentlich Gegner. Dennoch sind beide Charakter für mich „sympathisch“, sofern man das von einem Dieb und der rechten Hand eines Drogenkönigs sagen kann, aber unabhängig von ihrer zuerst sichtbaren Jobbeschreibung steckt ja noch mehr in den Menschen, als das Offensichtliche. Und davon lebt dieses Buch in meinen Augen auch.
Die Erzählweise, die Geschichten hinter der Geschichte, die stest verschwimmenden Linien zwischen Richtig und Falsch, lassen einen warmherzigen und gleichwohl sehr traurigen Roman entstehen, der mich sehr gut unterhalten konnte.
Jedoch muss ich dazu sagen, dass ich dieses Buch absolut nicht als „Thriller“ sehen kann. Die Geschichte ist wirklich spannend und interessant, keine Frage! Aber eher auf die emotionale und menschliche Art und Weise.
Für mich ist „Safe“ eher eine Story über die Vergangenheit eines Menschen, sein Heimkommen und die Erkenntnis, was für ihn im Leben wirklich wichtig ist. Und auch, wenn Details darüber gerade in den Fällen Ghost und Glasses oftmals grenzwertig, brutal und auch schon das ein oder andere mal blutig sind, reichen diese für mich nicht aus, um diese Klassifizierung zu sehen. Vor allem auch, weil ihre Geschichten sich eigentlich erst im letzten Viertel so richtig überschneiden und die Gefahr und die Todesmöglichkeit auch da erst akuter wird. Mehr kann ich jedoch jetzt leider nicht schreiben, ohne euch zu spoilern, und das möchte ich natürlich nicht!
Denn Fakt ist eins: „Safe“ ist in meinen Augen ein absolut lesenswertes Buch, das die ein oder andere Grenze zwischen Gut und Böse, Richtig und Falsch sowie Schwarz und Weiß auf sehr eindrucksvolle Weise verschwimmen lässt.
Trotz -oder gerade wegen- seiner ruhigeren Gangart ein wirklich beeindruckendes Buch!
March 2, 2018
Ryan Gattis became one of those years-in-the-making overnight successes with his novel All Involved, where Gattis tells us the stories of people involved directly or indirectly with the 1992 L.A. Riots. Safe is his follow up to this and it suffers from an identity problem I feel as the quotes on the front of the book seem to be tauting this as a hard and fast heist novel when it is something much more patient, inward and even tender than that.
Safe switches between the characters of Ricky Mendoza Jr. AKA Ghost and Rudolfo Reyes AKA Glasses; Ghost is a safecracker who works as an officer of the court for many of the three lettered law enforcement agencies and most notably in the book, the DEA. He's called to crack a safe of the stash house they're hitting and has decided to steal any cash he comes across within the safe. Glasses is a gang lieutenant that is charged with tracking down Ghost and the stolen money.
Listening to the Gattis interview on Writer Types and the outtake included on their Facebook page gave me much more of idea of what Gattis was striving for with the book and how he doesn't seem to be your typical thriller writer. I heard the interview prior to reading and it made me see how this wasn't the book described in the quotes. (I'd highly recommend listening for this and for Gattis's own stories.) It's almost more of a character study of two men from the same area who's lives have veered off in different direction with exciting scenes in it. I will admit to it taking time to adjust to the type of novel it is and that I felt like some of Ghost's chapters could've been cut down in the early going.
Ghost is a fascinating character though and you fully feel the weight of what he is carrying with him. Glasses isn't quite as unique a character, but he too has a good backstory and provides a great change of pace at the times where Ghost's sections seem to have dragged a little.
It's not often you'll get crime fiction with so much undisguised emotion at its core and I look forward to whatever Gattis present us with next.
Safe switches between the characters of Ricky Mendoza Jr. AKA Ghost and Rudolfo Reyes AKA Glasses; Ghost is a safecracker who works as an officer of the court for many of the three lettered law enforcement agencies and most notably in the book, the DEA. He's called to crack a safe of the stash house they're hitting and has decided to steal any cash he comes across within the safe. Glasses is a gang lieutenant that is charged with tracking down Ghost and the stolen money.
Listening to the Gattis interview on Writer Types and the outtake included on their Facebook page gave me much more of idea of what Gattis was striving for with the book and how he doesn't seem to be your typical thriller writer. I heard the interview prior to reading and it made me see how this wasn't the book described in the quotes. (I'd highly recommend listening for this and for Gattis's own stories.) It's almost more of a character study of two men from the same area who's lives have veered off in different direction with exciting scenes in it. I will admit to it taking time to adjust to the type of novel it is and that I felt like some of Ghost's chapters could've been cut down in the early going.
Ghost is a fascinating character though and you fully feel the weight of what he is carrying with him. Glasses isn't quite as unique a character, but he too has a good backstory and provides a great change of pace at the times where Ghost's sections seem to have dragged a little.
It's not often you'll get crime fiction with so much undisguised emotion at its core and I look forward to whatever Gattis present us with next.
August 9, 2017
I thoroughly enjoyed Ryan Gattis's previous novel 'All Involved' and quite by accident found out that he had a new novel published and I knew I just had to read it sooner, rather than later.
Ricky Mendoza aka 'Ghost' is a reformed drug addict and gangbanger and is now working as a safe breaker for the D.E.A., cracking safes that are found on drug busts that they can't open. Although reformed, Ricky still likes to take from the safes, especially cash, which he ferrets away before the contents of the safes are inventoried by the authorities. On the latest bust however, Ricky gets more than he bargained for when he takes nearly a million dollars of drug money from the safe. Ricky also knows this will not go unnoticed and he makes plans to get out while he still can. The money however was in a drugs house run by local cartel Lieutenant, 'Rooster', and he sets his right hand man, Rudy Reyes aka 'Glasses', to find out who took the money and to track them down.
The story is told 'first hand' from the points of view of both 'Ghost' and 'Glasses' in alternative chapters and you get the backstories of each of them and as the story develops it turns out that neither of them are who you initially thought they were. The story if fast moving, especially towards the climax but there are also some touching moments. This is most true of 'Ghost' as he recalls his deceased girlfriend, Rose, from whose memory he can't escape and whose mix tape is the 'soundtrack' to the novel. I found that as the book progressed it drew me further and further in and I just couldn't put it down as it raced to the denouement.
A satisfying and thrilling read from Ryan Gattis, who certainly knows his way around L.A. gang culture to produce not only a gripping novel but one with a bit of heart.
Ricky Mendoza aka 'Ghost' is a reformed drug addict and gangbanger and is now working as a safe breaker for the D.E.A., cracking safes that are found on drug busts that they can't open. Although reformed, Ricky still likes to take from the safes, especially cash, which he ferrets away before the contents of the safes are inventoried by the authorities. On the latest bust however, Ricky gets more than he bargained for when he takes nearly a million dollars of drug money from the safe. Ricky also knows this will not go unnoticed and he makes plans to get out while he still can. The money however was in a drugs house run by local cartel Lieutenant, 'Rooster', and he sets his right hand man, Rudy Reyes aka 'Glasses', to find out who took the money and to track them down.
The story is told 'first hand' from the points of view of both 'Ghost' and 'Glasses' in alternative chapters and you get the backstories of each of them and as the story develops it turns out that neither of them are who you initially thought they were. The story if fast moving, especially towards the climax but there are also some touching moments. This is most true of 'Ghost' as he recalls his deceased girlfriend, Rose, from whose memory he can't escape and whose mix tape is the 'soundtrack' to the novel. I found that as the book progressed it drew me further and further in and I just couldn't put it down as it raced to the denouement.
A satisfying and thrilling read from Ryan Gattis, who certainly knows his way around L.A. gang culture to produce not only a gripping novel but one with a bit of heart.
March 27, 2019
Without a doubt, Ryan Gattis' All Involved is one of my Top 10 Favorite Books. So when I saw this one, and that he was taking us back to LA I was more than a little giddy. It's hard not to talk about this book in comparison, as unfair as that is, but I'll probably end up doing it anyway. Though I didn't care for this one quite as much as All Involved, this is still a stellar and deeply moving piece of fiction from an incredible storyteller.
I think it's the element of introspection that I love so much about Gattis' work. Safe is the tale, largely, of two men who go by the street names Ghost and Glasses. If I were to describe them here you'd probably think there very much on opposite ends of the spectrum but they're definitely very much alike as in two sides of the same proverbial coin. Though they're lives are very different with one being a safe cracking locksmith haunted by the death of a dear friend and very much aware of his own mortality the other is a double agent, lieutenant of a type to a gang leader, who is trying to leave his present life behind. Again, they sound pretty different, but at a deeper/more crucial level they are just two men trying to make things better for those around them. Race still plays a major role in this work though the year is 2008 and the LA Riots (the setting of All Involved) only gets a brief mention but call it destiny, call it fate, call it whatever you want Gattis' has once again carved out a deeply engaging story full of both hope and loss that will, very much like All Involved, break your heart.
I think it's the element of introspection that I love so much about Gattis' work. Safe is the tale, largely, of two men who go by the street names Ghost and Glasses. If I were to describe them here you'd probably think there very much on opposite ends of the spectrum but they're definitely very much alike as in two sides of the same proverbial coin. Though they're lives are very different with one being a safe cracking locksmith haunted by the death of a dear friend and very much aware of his own mortality the other is a double agent, lieutenant of a type to a gang leader, who is trying to leave his present life behind. Again, they sound pretty different, but at a deeper/more crucial level they are just two men trying to make things better for those around them. Race still plays a major role in this work though the year is 2008 and the LA Riots (the setting of All Involved) only gets a brief mention but call it destiny, call it fate, call it whatever you want Gattis' has once again carved out a deeply engaging story full of both hope and loss that will, very much like All Involved, break your heart.
June 29, 2017
2 star = it was ok by GoodRead's 5 star system. This is a neutral rating.
It started off ok for me but I got irritated by the first person staccato delivery. First person narratives aren't a deal killer for me but somehow the narrators feel like they are on something. In a way, it doesn't really matter how the author gets the story across but the protagonists aren't doing a good job of it. In one sense, you can say it's realistic because I really get a feel of the narrators but I just didn't like them and they both felt the same to me. If this was a real encounter, I would just nod politely as they're telling me the story, then try and get away as quickly as possible. To summarize: it's ok to get your narrator to tell the story but get them to tell the story in a fairly clear manner and not be too whiny. There is a good plot in there, but it's lost by poor delivery.
I got this book as a free ARC.
It started off ok for me but I got irritated by the first person staccato delivery. First person narratives aren't a deal killer for me but somehow the narrators feel like they are on something. In a way, it doesn't really matter how the author gets the story across but the protagonists aren't doing a good job of it. In one sense, you can say it's realistic because I really get a feel of the narrators but I just didn't like them and they both felt the same to me. If this was a real encounter, I would just nod politely as they're telling me the story, then try and get away as quickly as possible. To summarize: it's ok to get your narrator to tell the story but get them to tell the story in a fairly clear manner and not be too whiny. There is a good plot in there, but it's lost by poor delivery.
I got this book as a free ARC.
September 4, 2017
Billed on the cover as a 'thrilling heist novel'in a blurb by Paula Hawkins, we start out as misled as we were by her best selling book. Michael Connelly gets closer to the truth in his blurb when he calls it finely layered and full of the grit of the streets. If we believe dust jacket blurbs after age 21, we are probably in love with the QVC channel, too.
What Ryan Gattis has given us is a noir story which reminds one of Andrew Vachss, for one. Gritty with little vulgarity and no sex scenes to speak of, spiced with a few safe popping scenes, although no central heist, we follow two protagonists seeking a way out of the narcotics game. The plot will grab you, and the story will carry you along: Gattis delivers. What more can one ask?
Recommended.
What Ryan Gattis has given us is a noir story which reminds one of Andrew Vachss, for one. Gritty with little vulgarity and no sex scenes to speak of, spiced with a few safe popping scenes, although no central heist, we follow two protagonists seeking a way out of the narcotics game. The plot will grab you, and the story will carry you along: Gattis delivers. What more can one ask?
Recommended.
February 14, 2018
I feel bad giving it two stars because I didn’t finish the book, but I tried. I read 50% of it, but it’s soooo ssssllloooowwww. It just drags without any action. The inside cover calls this book “a gritty, fast-paced thriller”. HA! It’s mildly interesting, but you keep hoping the story will pick up steam. And when it doesn’t, you feel like you’re getting the run-around as if the author is saying, “No seriously....one more chapter” but that one more chapter doesn’t give you anything exciting either other than the character mulling over life as they go around town. Snoozer.
Maybe it builds to a “shocking conclusion”, as the inside cover also heralds, but it’s already proven, in my opinion, to exaggerate the book’s story and pace.
Maybe it builds to a “shocking conclusion”, as the inside cover also heralds, but it’s already proven, in my opinion, to exaggerate the book’s story and pace.
February 2, 2018
I just could not get into this book. I think maybe it was the style of writing. Both protagonists seemed to have a depth to them, but they were unable to articulate well. I couldn't tell if the author intended this for authenticity, or if he himself has a limited writing ability. Each character's disposition felt forced or oversimplified.
The story became interesting 3/4 of the way through and piqued my interest, which carried me to the end of the book. I was satisfied at the end...because it was over.
I'm concerned with how so many people rated this 4-5 stars. Is it because you're all LA homers?
The story became interesting 3/4 of the way through and piqued my interest, which carried me to the end of the book. I was satisfied at the end...because it was over.
I'm concerned with how so many people rated this 4-5 stars. Is it because you're all LA homers?
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