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shawntowner's review against another edition
1.0
A novel with a brilliantly pithy first chapter ("Fuck you.") that quickly goes downhill. The plot, an ex-mercenary pot dealer must deal with the kidnapping of his friend by a Mexican drug cartel, is timely and intriguing, but the author's prose is ridiculously awful. It's the writing of a unhip man trying desperately to sound hip. A person isn't missing, he's 404. A guy doesn't have a bad attitude, he has a 'baditude.' Unfortunately, the entire novel is written in this kind of pseduo-slang tripe.
corrompido's review against another edition
1.0
It is probably wrong for me to review this book as I only read 5 pages. I will say that I liked the first page... the next 4 were so bad that I gave up. Fully willing to believe that a great book exists in the remaining ~300 pages, but I couldn't handle all of the "cute" abbreviations used in the first few pages and decided it was not worth my time.
mariannika's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this one. It was fast-paced and thrilling.
wilygecko's review against another edition
5.0
So much better than the movie and the movie was good. Love his writing style and sense of humor even on such a tough topic. Recommend!
martyfried's review against another edition
4.0
A very unique book, if nothing else. At 289 chapters, you might think it would be long, but it was fairly short; some chapters were only one or two words, but they often are incomplete sentences, continued in the next chapter, so they aren't very good places to stop reading. I think they're just arbitrary breaks added on impulses. Or maybe it's just a style, which is almost a stream of consciousness style.
The story is both brutal and humorous. Lots of unexplained references and terms that some people might not know, although I knew most of them. If you're politically correct, you probably will find lots of places to cringe, but it was probably necessary for the story and style.
To me, a big lesson in the story is that if you live outside the law, you need to be more than just honest - you need to realize that when things go wrong, you never know what it might take to make them right, if possible. When the laws aren't written down, anything can happen. And in this book, they do. Or maybe the lesson is simply if you break the law, don't do it in a way that will attract too much attention.
The story is both brutal and humorous. Lots of unexplained references and terms that some people might not know, although I knew most of them. If you're politically correct, you probably will find lots of places to cringe, but it was probably necessary for the story and style.
To me, a big lesson in the story is that if you live outside the law, you need to be more than just honest - you need to realize that when things go wrong, you never know what it might take to make them right, if possible. When the laws aren't written down, anything can happen. And in this book, they do. Or maybe the lesson is simply if you break the law, don't do it in a way that will attract too much attention.
memeontherocks's review against another edition
4.0
It's a quick read....fun. You don't really need to use your brain too much which is what I needed. The movie comes out soon but I have to say that I don't see Blake Lively playing the lead but she could surprise me.
People are troubled by the "white people=good, mexicans=bad" but in my opinion nobody comes out looking that great. Besides just because something is based in fact that may be detrimental to a group of people, does that mean no one can ever say anything about it? Good or bad?
People are troubled by the "white people=good, mexicans=bad" but in my opinion nobody comes out looking that great. Besides just because something is based in fact that may be detrimental to a group of people, does that mean no one can ever say anything about it? Good or bad?
richvar's review against another edition
4.0
Jó kis kikapcsolódás így lábadozás idejére. Pörgős, ugyanakkor érdekes betekintés nyújt a dél-kaliforniai/mexikói drogbandák világába. Jó film lesz belőle az biztos.
bunnyovani's review against another edition
5.0
Damn, this was a great book. Gritty, brutal and very fast pace. I loved it, loved rooting Ben,Chon & O, and actually loved how it ended. I can't imagine another alternative that would have made sense.
enseazzzo's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed the book, it offered a unique delivery as well as a unique plot. It is great overall however the relationship between O, Chon and Ben is one many might find "too much", however I believed that the relationship was a moving factor in the plot. The book includes a lot of references to current and historical events as well as indirect mentions of other classic pieces of literature, which were refreshing and greatly appreciated. Overall it was an enjoyable read - warning you get hooked, once you start.