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Swerve: Little Bastards 2
coming of age
310 pages, Paperback
Published August 11, 2018
58 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 25, 2018
In SWERVE, we return with Jim Lindsay to America in the 1950’s, the era of rock n’ roll, fast cars seemingly eternal youth. Discover what it was like to live that life, with the thrills and consequences captured in this exciting sequel to his unforgettable The Little Bastards.
The story opens with the main character Sonny Mitchell’s parents reading in the news of the antics, (which happened at the end of the last book) their son had been up to and their outcome. At this point I would like to say that although this is a sequel, this book happily stands alone.
Sonny soon discovers that once his notoriety settles down he still has a lot about life to learn. The Little bastards are growing up, yet being typical boys, they cling onto their youth, and through the authors vividly descriptive writing, the reader tumbles through Sonny and his friend’s lives experiencing through them the fun, freedom, and innocence, which young people enjoyed at this time. Their antics are wide and varied, from tracking down the local legend Lucifer, discover girls, larking around, getting into scrapes, and finding out ways of making money so they could do up their precious cars, you name it they are up to it.
However, despite their fun ways and the thrills and spills of the drag racing scene, the boys are growing up. With his friends beginning to get serious and his own hormones rising, Sonny knows there is only one girl for him, but can he overcome her father’s prejudices and prove himself a worthy suitor?
Refreshingly open and entertaining, Swerve really does allow the reader to time travel back to an era which had so much to offer which was new and full of potential. And yet, through Sonny we glimpse underneath the ‘brave new world’ façade and discover the traditional outlook of the older generation at this time, and how totally revolutionary this era really was to them.
A wonderful story, not a biography, yet it could be as the author has put so much of his memories of his childhood into it. Highly recommended.
The story opens with the main character Sonny Mitchell’s parents reading in the news of the antics, (which happened at the end of the last book) their son had been up to and their outcome. At this point I would like to say that although this is a sequel, this book happily stands alone.
Sonny soon discovers that once his notoriety settles down he still has a lot about life to learn. The Little bastards are growing up, yet being typical boys, they cling onto their youth, and through the authors vividly descriptive writing, the reader tumbles through Sonny and his friend’s lives experiencing through them the fun, freedom, and innocence, which young people enjoyed at this time. Their antics are wide and varied, from tracking down the local legend Lucifer, discover girls, larking around, getting into scrapes, and finding out ways of making money so they could do up their precious cars, you name it they are up to it.
However, despite their fun ways and the thrills and spills of the drag racing scene, the boys are growing up. With his friends beginning to get serious and his own hormones rising, Sonny knows there is only one girl for him, but can he overcome her father’s prejudices and prove himself a worthy suitor?
Refreshingly open and entertaining, Swerve really does allow the reader to time travel back to an era which had so much to offer which was new and full of potential. And yet, through Sonny we glimpse underneath the ‘brave new world’ façade and discover the traditional outlook of the older generation at this time, and how totally revolutionary this era really was to them.
A wonderful story, not a biography, yet it could be as the author has put so much of his memories of his childhood into it. Highly recommended.
September 29, 2018
I’m a baby boomer, born not long after the end of World War II. I spent my early childhood idolizing those older teenage guys who swaggered around wearing leather jackets and butch-waxed hair, smoking cigarettes, and driving souped-up cars. “Swerve” is about those guys.
This is the second book in Jim Lindsay’s “Little Bastards” series. Sonny Mitchell, a hot rod racing teenager born “on the wrong side of town,” wants what every high school guy wants; the hot girl from school who is totally out of his league. Oh yeah, he also wants to work his way out of his birthright of a life of drudgery at the local mill by saving every penny to go to college. He won the heart of that hot girl, Marilyn, by saving her life in the previous book.
The story is light and fun, told in the hard-edged but innocent vernacular of the 1950s. Sonny and his buddies go to drive-in movies and reminisce about their childhood adventures. They race their cars. They work hard and drink as much as they can manage. They dream of a better future. Every time he gets the chance, Sonny defies Marilyn’s bank president father who has forbidden their romance. The book ends in fine ‘50s fashion, with Sonny winning the big drag race against the “unbeatable” Impala of Crazy Horse, solving a mystery that was threatening the future of the mill, and winning the respect of Marilyn’s “old man.”
Along with the fun of taking this joy ride back to the fifties, also I enjoyed Lindsay’s obvious knowledge of building and racing hot rods. The car references brought back memories of burning rubber and putting “Ethyl” - splurging for that extra two or three cents per gallon - in the gas tank.
So if, like me, you’re a child of the fifties, or if you just want to see what it was like to be one, you will enjoy this book.
This is the second book in Jim Lindsay’s “Little Bastards” series. Sonny Mitchell, a hot rod racing teenager born “on the wrong side of town,” wants what every high school guy wants; the hot girl from school who is totally out of his league. Oh yeah, he also wants to work his way out of his birthright of a life of drudgery at the local mill by saving every penny to go to college. He won the heart of that hot girl, Marilyn, by saving her life in the previous book.
The story is light and fun, told in the hard-edged but innocent vernacular of the 1950s. Sonny and his buddies go to drive-in movies and reminisce about their childhood adventures. They race their cars. They work hard and drink as much as they can manage. They dream of a better future. Every time he gets the chance, Sonny defies Marilyn’s bank president father who has forbidden their romance. The book ends in fine ‘50s fashion, with Sonny winning the big drag race against the “unbeatable” Impala of Crazy Horse, solving a mystery that was threatening the future of the mill, and winning the respect of Marilyn’s “old man.”
Along with the fun of taking this joy ride back to the fifties, also I enjoyed Lindsay’s obvious knowledge of building and racing hot rods. The car references brought back memories of burning rubber and putting “Ethyl” - splurging for that extra two or three cents per gallon - in the gas tank.
So if, like me, you’re a child of the fifties, or if you just want to see what it was like to be one, you will enjoy this book.
October 8, 2018
“Sonny Mitchell, with speed in his veins, is at it again.”
Jim Lindsay’s handsome bad-boy character Sonny Mitchell returns in Swerve! Little Bastards Book 2, the riveting sequel to The Little Bastards. The book picks up right where the last one left off, with Sonny a hero and pining after a girl on the other side of the tracks.
Sonny’s ’40 Ford is smashed to pieces, and he wants to get it fixed. Having the fastest car in town can only help with winning the love of Marylyn Swanson, the girl whose life he saved in the last book. Working at the mill to save money for college, Sonny is trying to become the man she deserves.
Lindsay brings his 1950s charm to this book as well, describing in vivid detail what it’s like to live in the era of drag racing and leather jackets. His prose is smooth and very easy to read. You’ll feel like you’re right there in Sonny’s world. The author grew up during this era, so he writes from experiences and the memories of his own life, being a high school boy in the early 1960s, in the shadow of the 1950s.
If you’re into drag-racing, you’ll love this book. Lindsay is too. He holds several national land speed records. But if you’re not, there’s plenty here. The mill is losing money and a mystery evolves. Will Sonny be a hero again? Or will get himself killed? As for me, I liked the romance.
“Her mother and I have high expectations for our daughter and they don’t include her ending up with a man who works in a sawmill.” Says Marylyn’s father. Will Sonny win him over? Will he get the girl? Read and find out. Once you pick up this book, you’re in for a thrill ride.
Jim Lindsay’s handsome bad-boy character Sonny Mitchell returns in Swerve! Little Bastards Book 2, the riveting sequel to The Little Bastards. The book picks up right where the last one left off, with Sonny a hero and pining after a girl on the other side of the tracks.
Sonny’s ’40 Ford is smashed to pieces, and he wants to get it fixed. Having the fastest car in town can only help with winning the love of Marylyn Swanson, the girl whose life he saved in the last book. Working at the mill to save money for college, Sonny is trying to become the man she deserves.
Lindsay brings his 1950s charm to this book as well, describing in vivid detail what it’s like to live in the era of drag racing and leather jackets. His prose is smooth and very easy to read. You’ll feel like you’re right there in Sonny’s world. The author grew up during this era, so he writes from experiences and the memories of his own life, being a high school boy in the early 1960s, in the shadow of the 1950s.
If you’re into drag-racing, you’ll love this book. Lindsay is too. He holds several national land speed records. But if you’re not, there’s plenty here. The mill is losing money and a mystery evolves. Will Sonny be a hero again? Or will get himself killed? As for me, I liked the romance.
“Her mother and I have high expectations for our daughter and they don’t include her ending up with a man who works in a sawmill.” Says Marylyn’s father. Will Sonny win him over? Will he get the girl? Read and find out. Once you pick up this book, you’re in for a thrill ride.
September 20, 2018
My car hadn’t deserved what I'd done to it again.’
Oregon author Jim Lindsay is from the farm arena – born, raised, schooled ‘on the land’ with a break following high school with the Navy Reserve followed by a year and a half of college - then back to the farm where he still lives and works. Much of the essence of the core of THE LITTLE BASTARDS, his debut novel, and now LITTLE BASTARDS 2: SWERVE comes from his early years – and even more from his hobbies of driving hot rods and roadsters in drag racing and land speed racing. All of this Jim brings to his writing, creating not only a credible story but also a sense of keen retrospection.
The challenge of defining that physical, hormonal, experiential cluster of events that coalesce into becoming the coming of age for boys has always been a siren to sensitive authors. Some have succeeded in placing the reader into the time frame during which this change occurs: JD Salinger’s “Catcher in the Rye”, Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Stephen Chbosky’s “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”, E.B. White’s “Charlotte’s Web”, etc. Jim Lindsay takes a step in that direction with these two volumes of THE LITTLE BASTARDS and goes further into the aftermath of once the age is reached.
This particular volume not only sustains the flavor of the initial book, but it adds the growth of friendship, loss, tragedy, love and of course the stigmata of prejudice. The division between those who have and the have-nots is so well painted in the love Sonny has for Marilyn, the daughter of the town banker. Recall for a moment the description of self evaluation - ‘It was 1952. Even though we lived on the downtrodden side, we were twelve and didn’t know any better, so every day was a new opportunity. With expenses like candy, pop, and an occasional smoke, we were always looking for ways to make a buck. Even more so now because it was midwinter and our usual sources of income, picking crops and turning in lost golf balls, had dried up. There was nothing to pick but empty beer bottles. We were nearly penniless and vulnerable. It was bad for a man to have nothing to jingle in his pocket’ – and push that perception of self into the latter part of the time frame and we are privy to the scars that prejudice carves. Or as Sonny phrases it, ‘Joe, Gary, Billy, and I were the core of our club, which went back to our early grade-school years. We had been known as the Little Bastards, the toughs from the east side. Before I could say boo, they shed their bomber jackets and took places around the kitchen table, which was familiar to them from dinners and sleepovers of the past.’
There is a car accident – ‘Marilyn Swanson – Sonny saved, bicycled her home after the crash. Her father was a wealthy banker, told Sonny ‘his kind’ would never get near his daughter Marilyn. And the gradual aftermath – ‘It was Marylyn’s dad. I remembered his voice from the bank. I’d been putting my money in his bank since I was twelve. I wondered how he knew where to find me. “Yes, sir, I am.” He came around his car, his movements steady and forthright as if he was used to being in control and the owner of the biggest bank in town. “Well,” he said, pounding the newspaper on the fender like he was driving home a point, “first of all, I want to thank you for saving my daughter’s life.” I liked hearing that, especially from Marylyn Swanson’s father, to me, The King of Willamette. “I just came from the police station, and after talking with the two officers mentioned in this article, I’m damn sure if it hadn’t been for your quick thinking and guts, my daughter would be down at the morgue right now. I remembered your name as a client at my back, and commend you on your savings record. It is impressive for a person of your age.” And another encounter, ‘He looked at me through the rain, which was pleating his face. His eyes were bloodshot and water was dripping off his nose. “Sonny, I’m here to thank you again. The last time you saved my daughter, and now I guess you’ve saved my tired old ass.” He stopped talking and screwed his face up like he was searching for the right words. “Sonny, I forgot where I came from. I was raised in a place that makes yours look like a king’s estate.” He waved the paper towards our house. “I come up hard and I didn’t want to look back and I didn’t want my family to know. That’s why I’m who I’ve been. But it’s all changed for me now.”
Change is a major theme in this splendid novel, and the manner in which Jim Lindsay reveals it is mesmerizing. Friends, family, challenges, errors, habits, accidents, loss – all of these elements mutate us and we become people. Jim Lindsay has captured that as well as any other writer. His is a remarkable achievement.
Oregon author Jim Lindsay is from the farm arena – born, raised, schooled ‘on the land’ with a break following high school with the Navy Reserve followed by a year and a half of college - then back to the farm where he still lives and works. Much of the essence of the core of THE LITTLE BASTARDS, his debut novel, and now LITTLE BASTARDS 2: SWERVE comes from his early years – and even more from his hobbies of driving hot rods and roadsters in drag racing and land speed racing. All of this Jim brings to his writing, creating not only a credible story but also a sense of keen retrospection.
The challenge of defining that physical, hormonal, experiential cluster of events that coalesce into becoming the coming of age for boys has always been a siren to sensitive authors. Some have succeeded in placing the reader into the time frame during which this change occurs: JD Salinger’s “Catcher in the Rye”, Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Stephen Chbosky’s “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”, E.B. White’s “Charlotte’s Web”, etc. Jim Lindsay takes a step in that direction with these two volumes of THE LITTLE BASTARDS and goes further into the aftermath of once the age is reached.
This particular volume not only sustains the flavor of the initial book, but it adds the growth of friendship, loss, tragedy, love and of course the stigmata of prejudice. The division between those who have and the have-nots is so well painted in the love Sonny has for Marilyn, the daughter of the town banker. Recall for a moment the description of self evaluation - ‘It was 1952. Even though we lived on the downtrodden side, we were twelve and didn’t know any better, so every day was a new opportunity. With expenses like candy, pop, and an occasional smoke, we were always looking for ways to make a buck. Even more so now because it was midwinter and our usual sources of income, picking crops and turning in lost golf balls, had dried up. There was nothing to pick but empty beer bottles. We were nearly penniless and vulnerable. It was bad for a man to have nothing to jingle in his pocket’ – and push that perception of self into the latter part of the time frame and we are privy to the scars that prejudice carves. Or as Sonny phrases it, ‘Joe, Gary, Billy, and I were the core of our club, which went back to our early grade-school years. We had been known as the Little Bastards, the toughs from the east side. Before I could say boo, they shed their bomber jackets and took places around the kitchen table, which was familiar to them from dinners and sleepovers of the past.’
There is a car accident – ‘Marilyn Swanson – Sonny saved, bicycled her home after the crash. Her father was a wealthy banker, told Sonny ‘his kind’ would never get near his daughter Marilyn. And the gradual aftermath – ‘It was Marylyn’s dad. I remembered his voice from the bank. I’d been putting my money in his bank since I was twelve. I wondered how he knew where to find me. “Yes, sir, I am.” He came around his car, his movements steady and forthright as if he was used to being in control and the owner of the biggest bank in town. “Well,” he said, pounding the newspaper on the fender like he was driving home a point, “first of all, I want to thank you for saving my daughter’s life.” I liked hearing that, especially from Marylyn Swanson’s father, to me, The King of Willamette. “I just came from the police station, and after talking with the two officers mentioned in this article, I’m damn sure if it hadn’t been for your quick thinking and guts, my daughter would be down at the morgue right now. I remembered your name as a client at my back, and commend you on your savings record. It is impressive for a person of your age.” And another encounter, ‘He looked at me through the rain, which was pleating his face. His eyes were bloodshot and water was dripping off his nose. “Sonny, I’m here to thank you again. The last time you saved my daughter, and now I guess you’ve saved my tired old ass.” He stopped talking and screwed his face up like he was searching for the right words. “Sonny, I forgot where I came from. I was raised in a place that makes yours look like a king’s estate.” He waved the paper towards our house. “I come up hard and I didn’t want to look back and I didn’t want my family to know. That’s why I’m who I’ve been. But it’s all changed for me now.”
Change is a major theme in this splendid novel, and the manner in which Jim Lindsay reveals it is mesmerizing. Friends, family, challenges, errors, habits, accidents, loss – all of these elements mutate us and we become people. Jim Lindsay has captured that as well as any other writer. His is a remarkable achievement.
October 25, 2018
The Little Bastards are back and better than ever! I am always eager about sequels but also hesitant considering how often they go sour, but I’m glad to say that Jim Lindsay has not let me down with Swerve. As gripping and entertaining as the first book, Swerve had me from page one. It is both a continuation of the first and a novel which can stand on its own, making it perfect for both existing fans of Lindsay’s work and newbies who just happen to have stumbled across this book.
After narrowly saving her from a brutal death on the train tracks, Sonny is coming to realize the severity of his feelings for Marylyn, and these feelings are clearly reciprocated. A romance between them seems inevitable, but life can never go that smoothly. When Marylyn’s father, a rich banker named J.R. Swanson, sees the mutual attraction between his daughter and Sonny, he works quickly to put an end to it before anything can really begin. Life goes on for the heartbroken Little Bastard, but Marylyn is never far from his mind. Can a boy from the wrong side of the tracks ever be with a girl from the upper side of town? Or will Sonny be condemned to admiring her from afar for the rest of their lives? How far will he have to go in order to change the banker’s mind about him? Is it even possible?
Lindsay has painted a complex picture of Sonny’s young adult life, from his first time with a girl to the first marriage within their close-knit group of friends. Unlike many coming-of-age stories with a romance element, the love story is not the sole focus of this novel. I found it refreshing that it actually pays as much—if not more—attention to the everyday aspects of Sonny’s life as it does to his affections for Marylyn. This book shows you can care deeply for someone and even think about them constantly without losing your own identity, a lesson which I think adults as well as teenagers would do well to learn.
Swerve really takes readers back in time. Everything from the socio-economic attitudes and structures to the favorite hang-outs and pastimes just scream 1950s, especially rural 1950s. One aspect, however, is timeless: the humor. As he did with the first book, Lindsay sprinkles Swerve with healthy doses of humor, sometimes even making me chuckle out loud. The humor never outweighs the action or emotional elements, making this book perfectly balanced and great both for people who prefer more humor and those who prefer more emotion. Just be warned, a tragic event from the first book does affect the characters in this novel—be ready to tear up!
All in all, Swerve is every bit as good as its predecessor. It’s raw, colloquial storytelling that portrays main characters which grow not only older but also more mature and into better people. The ending is, in some way, a bit cliché, but I still think it fits the rest of the novel very well. It’s a very entertaining read and I think that anyone who’s a fan of coming-of-age stories or historical fiction will want to snag a copy. Just remember to read the first book beforehand—it’s definitely worth your time!
After narrowly saving her from a brutal death on the train tracks, Sonny is coming to realize the severity of his feelings for Marylyn, and these feelings are clearly reciprocated. A romance between them seems inevitable, but life can never go that smoothly. When Marylyn’s father, a rich banker named J.R. Swanson, sees the mutual attraction between his daughter and Sonny, he works quickly to put an end to it before anything can really begin. Life goes on for the heartbroken Little Bastard, but Marylyn is never far from his mind. Can a boy from the wrong side of the tracks ever be with a girl from the upper side of town? Or will Sonny be condemned to admiring her from afar for the rest of their lives? How far will he have to go in order to change the banker’s mind about him? Is it even possible?
Lindsay has painted a complex picture of Sonny’s young adult life, from his first time with a girl to the first marriage within their close-knit group of friends. Unlike many coming-of-age stories with a romance element, the love story is not the sole focus of this novel. I found it refreshing that it actually pays as much—if not more—attention to the everyday aspects of Sonny’s life as it does to his affections for Marylyn. This book shows you can care deeply for someone and even think about them constantly without losing your own identity, a lesson which I think adults as well as teenagers would do well to learn.
Swerve really takes readers back in time. Everything from the socio-economic attitudes and structures to the favorite hang-outs and pastimes just scream 1950s, especially rural 1950s. One aspect, however, is timeless: the humor. As he did with the first book, Lindsay sprinkles Swerve with healthy doses of humor, sometimes even making me chuckle out loud. The humor never outweighs the action or emotional elements, making this book perfectly balanced and great both for people who prefer more humor and those who prefer more emotion. Just be warned, a tragic event from the first book does affect the characters in this novel—be ready to tear up!
All in all, Swerve is every bit as good as its predecessor. It’s raw, colloquial storytelling that portrays main characters which grow not only older but also more mature and into better people. The ending is, in some way, a bit cliché, but I still think it fits the rest of the novel very well. It’s a very entertaining read and I think that anyone who’s a fan of coming-of-age stories or historical fiction will want to snag a copy. Just remember to read the first book beforehand—it’s definitely worth your time!
March 9, 2020
I was completely underwhelmed by this book. The first one in the series, while not great, was good and showed a lot of potential. But this one failed badly. It was too full of testosterone, silly grammar (adding "like" to various words, such as careful-like), and the most ridiculous ending ever. In truly heroic fashion, this young 18-19 year old boy manages to get the girl while winning over her formerly hateful father; beating his dreaded rival in a drag race; solving a mystery at work; and catching the criminal in a high speed 50 mile chase. I can't believe the book has gotten such high reviews from what appears to be full grown adults; at best this should be a Young Adult book for boys up to about 14, and not a well-written one at that.
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