Rating: 5/5
Review:
A minor masterpiece
James Sallis is an outstanding writer in this genre and Drive is a
minor masterpiece, in my view.
Like all Sallis’s
novels, this is brief (under 200 pages), spare and superbly written.
The protagonist, known only as Driver, is a superb driver who works
in movies and also as a getaway driver for select criminals. When a
job goes bad he is forced into retaliatory measures as the victims of
the heist come after him.
Sallis never wastes
a word. He creates a bleak, harsh world with the occasional flash of
humanity which makes it all the more stark by contrast. There is
some cutting back and forth in time as we get some of Driver’s
history, but the narrative drive (sorry) is extremely strong and I
found it utterly involving.
This is a brilliant,
haunting book which gripped me from the first and never let go.
Very, very warmly recommended.
No comments:
Post a Comment