Customer Reviews

Bangers

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Naturally being the writer of Bangers I'm biased. But I don't think DaRealReturn, whoever that is, gave the book a fair shake. I would urge any potential reader to go to my website, www.gdphillips.com, and read an excerpt of Bangers for yourself.

Thank you.

Gary Phillips

If you like your cops dirty and your crime dirtier, this book is for you. One of Phillips darker books - more in the vein of the Jook than his others - Bangers is a real page turner. The characters leap of the page. You can tell Gary knows LA and the book is littered with real locations. I can't say enough about this book. I have read most everything Gary has done, and this is the book I give to people as an introduction to his work. Check it out. As Gary himself said below he has a chapter you can read at his web site http://gdphillips.com/bangers.htm

Don't bother with the other review on this page. That guy must have read a different book...seriously.

Fantastic read. Yes, might be too dark for a beach or subway/commute, but wonderful for a rainy afternoon, in the lounge chair!

Who was it would put Gary Phillips' stuff under a Gary Hardwick book? Wow. Harwick, the guy who brought you cerberal stuff like "The Brothers" and "Deliver us from Eva" (without giving Willie Shakespeare a footnote?)? Were I an African American (my wife is, however, and she backs me up), I'd roll my eyes at that one!!!

First off the bat - I only found out about Garry Phillips following the hype surrounding his latest re-release by Switchblade `The Jook', which by all accounts looks totally kick-ass. So naturally being the curious cat I am, I went on a hunt to check out his other novels and came across `Bangers'.

I like books where the protagonist is tainted, not one of those squeaky-clean run of the min types you find in police procedurals by the more popular authors of our time (Patterson, Cornwell etc.) which is why `Bangers' by Garry Phillips did it for me - in more ways than one; oh let me count the ways:

BANG - Book is about a bunch of not so moral cops who are part of an elite street-sweeping group 'TRASH' going about their business by any means possible (utilising the services of LA's streetwalkers - and not just for snitching, beating down crooks for cash and information, and dapping into a little extra-curricular activity by way of drugs and guns).

BANG BANG - the setting is typically dark though some of the most memorable scenes are portrayed in daylight (run down `hoods from LA to Mexico and back again). Phillips knows how to set the mood.

BANG BANG BANG - Gangs, cops and dames all hold equal footing in the overall scheme of the story allowing the reader a view through a multi demesnial window into a world most of us wouldn't know is out there.

Sure, there's violence (beat-downs, murder), sex (enough to satisfy the more perverse reader), back-stabbing (from every conceivable angle) and engaging characters (check the relationships between the TRASH team and their significant others/siblings) but the thing that impressed me most, was the fast paced, action packed scenes and noticeable lack of filler content.

If you're looking for a gritty urban book with a touch of noir and hard-boiled then this is the book for you.

When I read the synopsis of this book, I was expecting something similar to Gary Hardwick's books. But, what I got were a lot of characters, a muddled-at-best plot, and a totally boring read. Gary Phillips had way too many characters in this book and trying to keep up with them felt like a job made for a police officer, NOT a reader. This is my first AND last book by Gary Phillips.