Reviewed By: Carl Brookins - RAM
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James Sallis
Class/Genre: Mystery Hard Boiled Noir
Poisoned Pen Press, September 2005, Hardcover, $19.95, 157 pages
Here's a man who can write, this James Sallis. Why he isn't perennially on the best-seller list is a mystery in itself. Maybe not. This novel is short, intense, laconic and spare with language. It features a man who you might not want living next door. He epitomizes the anti-hero in our modern society. DRIVE is a kind of anti-novel. The man's name is, well they call him Driver. Not THE driver, just, Driver. That's what he does for a living. He drives stunt cars in Hollywood.
It's not a full-time occupation, so he also drives for people who rob banks and other establishments where there are frequently large amounts of cash to be scooped up. The book is set in Arizona and California, of course. And it features a classical noir protagonist who never really had a chance, given his background and the people he falls in with.
Driver has a conscience and he has a certain ethical creed. When he drives for a heist, that's it. He acquires the vehicle, plans escape routes, delivers the bad guys and takes them away after the job. But he doesn't participate in the planning and he doesn't know who is being robbed. He's a tightly focused very bright and very experienced specialist who is constantly learning, mostly from others' mistakes.
The story begins with a rush and doesn't let up. Ever. Sallis grabs you on page one and never lets you go. Chapter One, first sentence. "Much later, as he sat with his back against an inside wall of a Motel 6 just north of Phoenix, watching the pool of blood lap toward him, Driver would wonder whether he had made a terrible mistake." Take a ride with a wonderful writer. You won't be disappointed.
Congratulations to Poisoned Pen Press for its willingness to go against the currents and publish fine literature that doesn't quite fit the mold.
Carl Brookins - RAM
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Carl Brookins - RAM
Please visit Carl's website at http://www.carlbrookins.com/
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