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DRIVE
by James Sallis
Poisoned Pen Press, September 2005
120 pages
$19.95
ISBN: 1590581814


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Driver: that's his name and that's his life. He lives to drive, whether it be as a stuntman in Hollywood movies or as a getaway driver for the criminal element. It doesn't make any difference to him -- the driving is what is important to him.

In the stunt job, he revels in performing brilliantly and coming up with scenes that go far beyond what the director envisions. In the role of getaway driver, all he cares about is getting away. He doesn't have any interest whatsoever in planning the job or doing anything more than the task assigned to him.

But there comes a day when he can no longer keep his distance. He's become the target of some very bad people because of a heist in Phoenix that went wrong. And then he finds himself in a motel room with three dead people; after that, the story focuses on his own personal getaway.

Driver is an interesting character who is mostly a loner who wants nothing more than to do what he loves. But when he's double-crossed, he turns into a man with a different mission who won't give up until revenge is exacted. He's the classic hardboiled hero. He may operate outside of the law but proves to be more morally attuned than most of the so-called good people around him.

In truth, DRIVE is a novella rather than a full-blown novel. However, that doesn't diminish its impact. It's a tightly written book that doesn't let down on the excitement. The only issue I had with the book is that some of the sequencing in the narrative didn't quite work, and there was a section that the editor missed which appeared in the book twice. However, it was a treat to read a work that was spare and lean, unlike many of the overblown books on the market today.

Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, November 2005

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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