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ericthec's review against another edition
4.0
This probably gets put in the mystery genre but the crime does not happen until half way through and the trip is entertaining. A good audiobook with excellent narration. Great characters and good humor is how.
mcf's review against another edition
5.0
This is a hell of a book. Shaw tells a thrilling, hilarious story, but it's one that's built upon a foundation of real feelings, and between the beatings and the laughter and the deaths, it explores big questions, like what it means to be a friend, and how we know when we're grown up. Powerful and immensely impressive.
sandin954's review against another edition
5.0
Very enjoyable debut novel. I thought the plotting was impressive, loved the characters, and thought there was just the right amount of both humor and violence.
dantastic's review against another edition
4.0
When he finds out his father has terminal cancer, Jimmy Veeder returns home for the first time in over a decade. His father has one last request: one last visit with a bar girl named Yolanda. Little does Jimmy know the shitstorm his is about to unleash...
Since [b:Plaster City|18932044|Plaster City|Johnny Shaw|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1385315071s/18932044.jpg|26439027] was part of the Kindle First program this month, I thought it was high time I read Johnny Shaw's first Jimmy Veeder novel, Dove Season, and I'm very glad I did.
Dove Season is a crime tale that feels like something Joe Lansdale would cook up after a night of bad Mexican food. It takes place in the poor communities on the California/Mexico border. Jimmy Veeder is a conflicted Slacker who returns home to spend what remaining time his father has left with the old man. Who knew crossing the border to track down a hooker would stir up so much trouble?
Shaw's dialogue reminds me of Joe Lansdale's; full of black humor and sounding authentically rural. I lost count of all the quotable lines. Jimmy and his best friend Bobby Maves drink and wisecrack their way through the Mexican underworld, getting their asses handed to them repeatedly.
The humor is tempered with some brutality and surprising plot twists. I'm not going to spoil anything but this is certainly a book where the main character doesn't leave the story in a mass of unicorns and rainbows.
The relationships between Jimmy and his friends and the depiction of small town rural life were what separated this story from other crime books for me. The way Bobby and the Buckley's helped Jimmy blunder through everything was awesome.
I guess it's harder than I thought to articulate all the things I liked about this book. Here's a line that I found particularly hilarious: "I feel like I just walked into a tampon ad. I love the shit out of her but it's time we put on our man pants."
4.5 out of 5 stars. Bring on Plaster City!
Since [b:Plaster City|18932044|Plaster City|Johnny Shaw|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1385315071s/18932044.jpg|26439027] was part of the Kindle First program this month, I thought it was high time I read Johnny Shaw's first Jimmy Veeder novel, Dove Season, and I'm very glad I did.
Dove Season is a crime tale that feels like something Joe Lansdale would cook up after a night of bad Mexican food. It takes place in the poor communities on the California/Mexico border. Jimmy Veeder is a conflicted Slacker who returns home to spend what remaining time his father has left with the old man. Who knew crossing the border to track down a hooker would stir up so much trouble?
Shaw's dialogue reminds me of Joe Lansdale's; full of black humor and sounding authentically rural. I lost count of all the quotable lines. Jimmy and his best friend Bobby Maves drink and wisecrack their way through the Mexican underworld, getting their asses handed to them repeatedly.
The humor is tempered with some brutality and surprising plot twists. I'm not going to spoil anything but this is certainly a book where the main character doesn't leave the story in a mass of unicorns and rainbows.
The relationships between Jimmy and his friends and the depiction of small town rural life were what separated this story from other crime books for me. The way Bobby and the Buckley's helped Jimmy blunder through everything was awesome.
I guess it's harder than I thought to articulate all the things I liked about this book. Here's a line that I found particularly hilarious: "I feel like I just walked into a tampon ad. I love the shit out of her but it's time we put on our man pants."
4.5 out of 5 stars. Bring on Plaster City!
wyrmdog's review against another edition
3.0
So I picked this up after getting hold of the sequel, Plaster City. Thought I'd get to know the characters first.
This book is definitely not in my normal vein. Thrillers are one thing but noir has always eluded me on some level. I like capable heroes more than accidental ones, but Shaw does a good job of making the violence, the fear, the little moments of confusion, all stand out. While it doesn't quite feel lived in, it does feel genuine. Sure one can say that the author has an intimate familiarity with his setting and perhaps even his subjects and as such that should be a given, but not all authors can do that even with a built-in authenticity of experience.
My favorite scene was the drunken seduction: the staging, the description, the resolution...it was well-handled on all fronts and even seemed true to the bumbling, lovable clod of a protagonist, arguing his morality against his baser urges.
Always true to its suppositions, Dove Season still fell a little short of being really great. To its credit though, it came off as something that could really have happened the way it was depicted and that seems rare for a thriller of any stripe. To have been great to me, it might have had to step over that line and in most respects, I'm glad it didn't.
This book is definitely not in my normal vein. Thrillers are one thing but noir has always eluded me on some level. I like capable heroes more than accidental ones, but Shaw does a good job of making the violence, the fear, the little moments of confusion, all stand out. While it doesn't quite feel lived in, it does feel genuine. Sure one can say that the author has an intimate familiarity with his setting and perhaps even his subjects and as such that should be a given, but not all authors can do that even with a built-in authenticity of experience.
My favorite scene was the drunken seduction: the staging, the description, the resolution...it was well-handled on all fronts and even seemed true to the bumbling, lovable clod of a protagonist, arguing his morality against his baser urges.
Always true to its suppositions, Dove Season still fell a little short of being really great. To its credit though, it came off as something that could really have happened the way it was depicted and that seems rare for a thriller of any stripe. To have been great to me, it might have had to step over that line and in most respects, I'm glad it didn't.
sjj169's review against another edition
4.0
Jimmy Veeder finds out that his dad Jack is dying from cancer, so he heads home to Imperial Valley to spend time with him before he goes. Jack wants an odd request from Jimmy though. He wants a prostitute. Not just any prostitute but one named Yolanda.
Jimmy and his buddy Bobby Maves head off to find her.
It's never simple when these two are involved though. Trouble will find them no matter what they are doing.
Violence is widespread because Bobby and Jimmy seem to be pros at getting their asses kicked. They never let that stop them though. As soon as they get beat down they jump right back up for that next beat down.
Then throw in the sidekicks of Buck Buck and Snout. (We need a book with those two)
Buck Buck and Snout pulled up next to us and got out. Snout gave me a big wave and a smile. Buck Buck farted loudly and then laughed. I loved those idiots.
When I had gone to ask them to join me, the entire conversation had gone like this:
Me: "Fellas, (Spoiler line-but bad guy stuff inserted here) *I didn't want to spoil anything so I changed this line*
Them: "Let's go get him."
Me: "It could be dangerous."
Them: Laughter
It's hard for me to convey just how good Johnny Shaw's books are. They are written so well that I want to quote the whole book, but then I don't want too because I want everyone to read them. My sad is that there are so few of his books available. I don't know what it's going to take to get him to write faster. Maybe if we send Kemper and Dan over to Shaw's house to wash his car he might have more time to write? They are the one's that alerted me to these books so I'm volunteering them. I want more.
A day with a Johnny Shaw book is a good day.
Jimmy and his buddy Bobby Maves head off to find her.
It's never simple when these two are involved though. Trouble will find them no matter what they are doing.
Violence is widespread because Bobby and Jimmy seem to be pros at getting their asses kicked. They never let that stop them though. As soon as they get beat down they jump right back up for that next beat down.
Then throw in the sidekicks of Buck Buck and Snout. (We need a book with those two)
Buck Buck and Snout pulled up next to us and got out. Snout gave me a big wave and a smile. Buck Buck farted loudly and then laughed. I loved those idiots.
When I had gone to ask them to join me, the entire conversation had gone like this:
Me: "Fellas, (Spoiler line-but bad guy stuff inserted here) *I didn't want to spoil anything so I changed this line*
Them: "Let's go get him."
Me: "It could be dangerous."
Them: Laughter
It's hard for me to convey just how good Johnny Shaw's books are. They are written so well that I want to quote the whole book, but then I don't want too because I want everyone to read them. My sad is that there are so few of his books available. I don't know what it's going to take to get him to write faster. Maybe if we send Kemper and Dan over to Shaw's house to wash his car he might have more time to write? They are the one's that alerted me to these books so I'm volunteering them. I want more.
A day with a Johnny Shaw book is a good day.
mmadamson's review against another edition
5.0
One part actually brought tears to my eyes... rare storytelling that can do that. I even called someone very close to me and read it to them over the phone, this one part. Loved it.
gawronma's review against another edition
3.0
It was an OK read. I didn't find really bad nor did find it a great read. Will be interesting to hear the reaction from the Reader's Group.