What do you think?
Rate this book
Adrenaline Junkie
Adrenaline Junkie is more than a renowned, multi-award-winning author entertaining with his life history. Les Edgerton understands that backstory matters. It influences the present. So he journeyed through his past seeking answers for why he was the way he was. Seeking answers for his thrill-seeking, devil-may-care, often self-destructive, behaviors. Seeking a sense of personal peace.
Why was he compelled to be the best he could be in all his endeavors—legal or otherwise. What drove him to excel, then flee success, only to strive for supremacy in another field?
Adrenaline Junkie holds the answers. With nothing held back. With his life-saving humor, an indomitable spirit, and a fierce courage to expose the ugly and painful. Like the tough, raw, vulnerable characters Les writes about in his short stories and novels, he exposes us to a man fighting against family, society, and his own sense of injustice. Fighting for a moment—regardless of how fleeting—to feel in control of his life. And, as uncomfortable at times as Les’s life adventure may be for us to witness, we come away grateful he took us with him.
So settle back. Meet a real-life, twenty-first-century Renaissance man. A real-life adrenaline junkie.
Praise for ADRENALINE JUNKIE:
“Adrenaline Junkie is a raw and harrowing memoir that brilliantly combines great sensitivity with brutal honesty. Les Edgerton is never afraid to reveal his vulnerability—and culpability—as he takes us on a head-spinning ride through the bizarre and terrifying experiences in a life that was often defined by violence. The result is a breathtaking page-turner that will keep readers hooked from page one and will never let them go.” —Lisa Lieberman Doctor, former Warner Bros. prodco president, president of Robin Williams prodco, Blue Wolf Productions
“Filled with stories of knifings, armed robberies, brutal prison fights, and Charles Manson (yes, that Charles Manson!), Edgerton proves that life can be stranger (and certainly more violent) than fiction. But Edgerton isn’t just a guy with a tough story to tell. He’s a poet who startles you with sentences both stark and darkly beautiful. An astonishing accomplishment.” —Jon Bassoff, author of Corrosion
“Adrenaline Junkie is the compelling, beautifully written story of an extraordinary man who has lived on both sides of the tracks. Les Edgerton achieves a sort of sainthood among sinners, an apotheosis of rebellion and force, much like Harcamone at Fontevrault, or a hero in a Johnny Cash song, a huge, Promethean work of major significance and scale.” —Richard Godwin, critically acclaimed author
“Edgerton's prose hits with the force of a hammer—as does his recollection of an America, both deeply flawed and wonderful, that is now more important than ever to keep in our sights. Adrenaline Junkie makes sense of one man's life while showing us all new aspects of our own.” —Jenny Milchman, USA Today bestselling and Mary Higgins Clark Award-winning author of Cover of Snow and Wicked River
“No one can accuse Les of being a ‘crime tourist’. He’s lived the life, done the bird, and now he’s written the book. Adrenaline Junkie should be on any prospective (or established) crime writer’s list. An entertaining, darkly-rendered tale of one man’s adventures in the very belly of the beast.” —Tony Black, author of Her Cold Eyes
“Sometimes shocking, often poignant, occasionally distasteful, frequently funny, and always brutally honest, Adrenaline Junkie tells the story of one man’s harrowing yet ultimately successful quest for redemption. Written with razor-sharp clarity, Edgerton’s memoir is a triumph.” —Robert Rotstein, author of We, the Jury
Why was he compelled to be the best he could be in all his endeavors—legal or otherwise. What drove him to excel, then flee success, only to strive for supremacy in another field?
Adrenaline Junkie holds the answers. With nothing held back. With his life-saving humor, an indomitable spirit, and a fierce courage to expose the ugly and painful. Like the tough, raw, vulnerable characters Les writes about in his short stories and novels, he exposes us to a man fighting against family, society, and his own sense of injustice. Fighting for a moment—regardless of how fleeting—to feel in control of his life. And, as uncomfortable at times as Les’s life adventure may be for us to witness, we come away grateful he took us with him.
So settle back. Meet a real-life, twenty-first-century Renaissance man. A real-life adrenaline junkie.
Praise for ADRENALINE JUNKIE:
“Adrenaline Junkie is a raw and harrowing memoir that brilliantly combines great sensitivity with brutal honesty. Les Edgerton is never afraid to reveal his vulnerability—and culpability—as he takes us on a head-spinning ride through the bizarre and terrifying experiences in a life that was often defined by violence. The result is a breathtaking page-turner that will keep readers hooked from page one and will never let them go.” —Lisa Lieberman Doctor, former Warner Bros. prodco president, president of Robin Williams prodco, Blue Wolf Productions
“Filled with stories of knifings, armed robberies, brutal prison fights, and Charles Manson (yes, that Charles Manson!), Edgerton proves that life can be stranger (and certainly more violent) than fiction. But Edgerton isn’t just a guy with a tough story to tell. He’s a poet who startles you with sentences both stark and darkly beautiful. An astonishing accomplishment.” —Jon Bassoff, author of Corrosion
“Adrenaline Junkie is the compelling, beautifully written story of an extraordinary man who has lived on both sides of the tracks. Les Edgerton achieves a sort of sainthood among sinners, an apotheosis of rebellion and force, much like Harcamone at Fontevrault, or a hero in a Johnny Cash song, a huge, Promethean work of major significance and scale.” —Richard Godwin, critically acclaimed author
“Edgerton's prose hits with the force of a hammer—as does his recollection of an America, both deeply flawed and wonderful, that is now more important than ever to keep in our sights. Adrenaline Junkie makes sense of one man's life while showing us all new aspects of our own.” —Jenny Milchman, USA Today bestselling and Mary Higgins Clark Award-winning author of Cover of Snow and Wicked River
“No one can accuse Les of being a ‘crime tourist’. He’s lived the life, done the bird, and now he’s written the book. Adrenaline Junkie should be on any prospective (or established) crime writer’s list. An entertaining, darkly-rendered tale of one man’s adventures in the very belly of the beast.” —Tony Black, author of Her Cold Eyes
“Sometimes shocking, often poignant, occasionally distasteful, frequently funny, and always brutally honest, Adrenaline Junkie tells the story of one man’s harrowing yet ultimately successful quest for redemption. Written with razor-sharp clarity, Edgerton’s memoir is a triumph.” —Robert Rotstein, author of We, the Jury
344 pages, Paperback
Published July 15, 2018
4 people are currently reading
17 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 13, 2018
Ever get tired of living in the real world of everyday life with its unending grind and tedium? Ever want to just say the h... with it and cut loose? Les Edgerton has lived the life most guys just fantasize about. In Adrenaline Junkie, a painfully honest book, Les lays it all bare, the good, the bad and the ugly of a life of rampant hedonism, mercifully redeemed in the end by the love of a good woman.
July 5, 2019
Les Edgerton's memoir Adrenaline Junkie is a breathtaking character study, filled with vivid incidents nearly beyond belief with excitement of both glee and strange frights. The action is only upstaged by Edgerton's self-reflections, my favorite parts.
It is also fascinating to read about his career as a master hairdresser, a skill learned in prison.
Edgerton has much to confess. He has laid out misdeeds in love and law in harrowing detail punctuated by a wry and comic view of it all. It is shocking he survived his life to write about it. Most remarkable is his transformation to what he always could have been but for the hard knocks--a family man with the courage and skill to write with honesty about a dark beauty of a life.
It is also fascinating to read about his career as a master hairdresser, a skill learned in prison.
Edgerton has much to confess. He has laid out misdeeds in love and law in harrowing detail punctuated by a wry and comic view of it all. It is shocking he survived his life to write about it. Most remarkable is his transformation to what he always could have been but for the hard knocks--a family man with the courage and skill to write with honesty about a dark beauty of a life.
February 22, 2020
I have a love hate relationship with Adrenaline Junkie. I’m a conservative person by nature, so this had me tense the entire time. I was able to live vicariously through Les as he takes readers through his crazy antics. Things I would never be daring enough to do, I got to experience through him. Les takes you on a ride of a lifetime. His writing is honest and unadulterated. His risky, outlaw personality shines through in his writing, and I couldn’t get enough. I kept turning the page to see what crazy situation he would get himself into next. Ready for an adventure? Read Adrenaline Junkie!
January 30, 2019
Hear our review of the book: https://bookedpodcast.podbean.com/e/4...
Check out our interview with the author!: https://bookedpodcast.podbean.com/e/4...
Check out our interview with the author!: https://bookedpodcast.podbean.com/e/4...
April 2, 2020
Les Edgerton has a story to tell and it's not based on celebrity or fame. It is instead fuelled by a self willed freedom, an Outlaw spirit and a whole lot of sex, drugs and some prison.
A rough childhood, adventures in the Navy, incarceration, hairdresser supremo, a whole lot of women, drugs, mafia, prostitution, crazy killer women, family and maybe redemption. What's not to like ?
All done with the technical grace and verve of a master of storytelling.
A rough childhood, adventures in the Navy, incarceration, hairdresser supremo, a whole lot of women, drugs, mafia, prostitution, crazy killer women, family and maybe redemption. What's not to like ?
All done with the technical grace and verve of a master of storytelling.
February 6, 2019
The results of childhood issues leads to a life of crime prison booze women and redemption by the hand of a simple act of kindness.
And a total surprise that the author discovers of those childhood issues!
A TRUE ADRENALINE RUSH!
Ron Hampton a high school buddy!
And a total surprise that the author discovers of those childhood issues!
A TRUE ADRENALINE RUSH!
Ron Hampton a high school buddy!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews