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lalelo8's review against another edition
4.0
This is the perfect book to devour in one sitting.
At first, I found Safe slightly difficult to follow but I put this down to not being familiar with the environment in which it's set. However, as I kept reading I was sucked into the gritty underworld of LA gang culture. I was pleasantly surprised to find it was far more than just a "heist novel", instead taking me on a roller-coaster of emotions. There are plenty of twists in the tale and some you do not see coming.
There are only a couple of minor things which stopped me from giving it 5 stars. The chapter structure is snappy to keep the pace, but this meant I couldn't just pick up the book whenever I had a spare few mins - it looks me that long to figure out which perspective I was in. I would have preferred longer chapters or something to remind me who I was following when starting a new chapter which followed the same protagonist. Therefore, I would recommend picking this up when you have time the finish it in as few sittings as possible.
At first, I found Safe slightly difficult to follow but I put this down to not being familiar with the environment in which it's set. However, as I kept reading I was sucked into the gritty underworld of LA gang culture. I was pleasantly surprised to find it was far more than just a "heist novel", instead taking me on a roller-coaster of emotions. There are plenty of twists in the tale and some you do not see coming.
There are only a couple of minor things which stopped me from giving it 5 stars. The chapter structure is snappy to keep the pace, but this meant I couldn't just pick up the book whenever I had a spare few mins - it looks me that long to figure out which perspective I was in. I would have preferred longer chapters or something to remind me who I was following when starting a new chapter which followed the same protagonist. Therefore, I would recommend picking this up when you have time the finish it in as few sittings as possible.
awwcripes's review against another edition
4.0
slow in the middle but great ending. interesting to read about changing gang tactics and lifestyles---everything I know about gangs I learned from the movie Colors, lol.
quietdomino's review against another edition
"Heat"-style alternate narration between criminal and....less-criminal, turns out staying on just one side of the law is complicated. Plusses for setting and characterization + consciousness of mortgage crisis; minuses for characterization that is excessively mix-tape-based and shallowness of consciousness of mortgage crisis, plus overall length. It's a little saggy for a thriller.
docpacey's review against another edition
3.0
Quick and easy thriller about a safecracker in LA. One last job, etc.
usbsticky's review against another edition
2.0
2 star = it was ok by GoodRead's 5 star system. This is a neutral rating.
It started off ok for me but I got irritated by the first person staccato delivery. First person narratives aren't a deal killer for me but somehow the narrators feel like they are on something. In a way, it doesn't really matter how the author gets the story across but the protagonists aren't doing a good job of it. In one sense, you can say it's realistic because I really get a feel of the narrators but I just didn't like them and they both felt the same to me. If this was a real encounter, I would just nod politely as they're telling me the story, then try and get away as quickly as possible. To summarize: it's ok to get your narrator to tell the story but get them to tell the story in a fairly clear manner and not be too whiny. There is a good plot in there, but it's lost by poor delivery.
I got this book as a free ARC.
It started off ok for me but I got irritated by the first person staccato delivery. First person narratives aren't a deal killer for me but somehow the narrators feel like they are on something. In a way, it doesn't really matter how the author gets the story across but the protagonists aren't doing a good job of it. In one sense, you can say it's realistic because I really get a feel of the narrators but I just didn't like them and they both felt the same to me. If this was a real encounter, I would just nod politely as they're telling me the story, then try and get away as quickly as possible. To summarize: it's ok to get your narrator to tell the story but get them to tell the story in a fairly clear manner and not be too whiny. There is a good plot in there, but it's lost by poor delivery.
I got this book as a free ARC.
slangston10's review against another edition
4.0
hard to believe parts of it but I fell in love with the characters and loved the book.
thebooktrail88's review against another edition
4.0
Visit the locations in the novel
Perhaps one of the grittiest and most raw novels I’ve read in a long while. I certainly felt that spending so much time with a reformed drug runner turned double agent left me feeling exhausted..in a good way. There’s plenty of drama here but good, raw honesty in the way the characters are portrayed and even down to how they speak and to each other in particular.
This is not the LA the tourist board would have you believe. It’s the mean streets of the drugs gangs and those where there is a large Mexican and hispanic population. The areas are those of the ‘projects’ where the poverty and social deprivation is everywhere, but it’s also where the heart and the humour of a people often lives too.
It all feels very real and very threatening but it fast paced. Not the heist novel it’s billed to be though – I think it’s more than that. A raw honest look at the underbelly of the city – but not for the fainthearted!
raykluender's review against another edition
3.0
I love Gattis' voice and it comes through in this sentimental thriller. At the end of the day, this one paled in comparison to All Involved (which was a full 5-star tell-all-my-friends book). It too often devolved into exposition (the Nayarit cartels are entirely uninvolved but we get 3 explanations of their business model) and the characters' motivations were not so believable. Nevertheless, looking forward to Gattis' new book coming out later this year and will read it.