Jordan Harper: She Rides Shotgun

I'm late joining the crowd praising Jordan Harper's first novel, She Rides Shotgun. It came out already in 2017 (okay, less than two years ago, which to my mind means it's a new book), but I managed to get it only last Christmas (it was a present from me to me). True, I read it very fast once I started it. She Rides Shotgun is an excellent crime novel, which really deserved the Edgar for the best debut it got.

She Rides Shotgun has been compared to Charles Portis's True Grit, a marvellous anti-Western Western from the late 1960's. True, Portis's novel is narrated by the 14-year female lead herself, and She Rides Shotgun is divided between chapters in which the main focalizer (and not the narrator) is either 11-year old Polly McClusky or his ex-con father  Park, who is out to save her ass from the neo-nazis that already killed her mother.

The premise is already intriguing. Add to that Harper's narrative skills and his lines of occasional poetry, and you have a winner. Add to that a copious amount of shuddering violence, and you have a double-winner. And mind you, there's never a hint of sexual abuse toward Polly, though lesser writers might have veered into that direction. I didn't know if the prelude with the bad sheriff of a Hicksville was necessary, but it got the fear of him into my heart.

You've all probably read about Dan Mallory already. I have his Woman in the Window as by A. J. Finn sitting on a shelf, but I can forget it and read She Rides Shotgun again instead. (But really, the New Yorker piece on Mallory is amazing.)

Urban Waite: The Terror of Living

This debut novel by the 28-year old writer made its way, rather surprisingly, into Finnish. It's a very good crime novel, reminiscent of work by Cormac McCarthy (especially No Country for Old Men) and Robert Stone, at times perhaps by Elmore and Peter Leonard. Urban Waite isn't going for comedy, though, like the Leonards at times do.

The Terror of Living is a sad novel about oldish criminals and ex-cons. There's also a young marshal, who's trying to make past wrongs right and catch the dope peddlers. There's also the Vietnamese mafia and a serial killer who's sent to find the lost drug loot. There are some very ugly moments, but the over-all effect is melancholic and lonely. Waite's people are lost in remote landscapes and trying to grasp each other and failing to do so. Comes quite highly recommended.

The Finnish title is Pelon rajalla (On the Border of Fear or some such). Thanks very much for Karisto for publishing the translation! I'm a bit afraid the book will be lost amidst all the Scandinavian megabores and other superthrillers.

David Corbett's Do They Know I'm Running?

I've been reading David Corbett's articulate and interesting posts on the Rara-Avis e-mail list for some time now and many people on the list have recommended his books, so I thought I'd give one a try. Do They Know I'm Running? is a very serious crime novel, almost more like a mainstream novel (he's being compared to Graham Greene in the back copy), and it touches very serious issues with painstaking details and social criticism.

The book is set in Central America and the story involves hijacking a possible Muslim terrorist into the USA. This is being done with the help of some Salvadorans who are anxious to make a better living up north. The global politics and the Mexican drug lords step into the game and the result is ugly.

As I said, the book is serious. It's almost too serious. It's also a bit too long and there are too many characters, I at least lost track. Well, I started this when I was sick... I also had some trouble getting accustomed to Corbett's literary, somewhat spastic style, but there were many moments of greatness and some beautiful prose. Some of the action scenes were very good too. Corbett manages also to show how even the baddest of the people are usually victims and results of the circumstances. Recommended, but not for fans of more pulpish stuff.