Customer Reviews

Down on Ponce

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

As a native of Atlanta, now living in Austin TX, I often pick up "Down On Ponce" just to remind me of my home town. For those of you that have never had the opportunity to live in Atlanta, it is hard to explain the humor and reality of "Ponce" that Fred Willard has captured in his book. Unfortunately, there are far to many "novelties" and true to life characters that live, survive, reside, and make Ponce de Leon the adventure that it is. If fans of "Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil" enjoyed the factual tale of the darkside of Savannah, you will not want to miss the fictional adventures of "Down on Ponce". As another fan expressed, I also hope that Mr. Willard continues the saga of the characters that entertained us in "Down On Ponce". After finishing this book, (which, by the way I read while still living in Atlanta), I recognized several landmarks, possible inspirations, and definate realisms that take place on a daily basis down on Ponce. I also felt as though I had just been given a personal tour of what really happens after dark in the city "to busy to hate". I hope that word will spread, and the curosity of the minions in Atlanta will pick up, and finally, have the opportunity to read a novel that accurately depicts the under belly of the International City of the South. Trust me y'all, if you want great adventure, page turning mystery and rib splitting humor, don't miss this read.

While some in Atlanta thought that a World Series championship or hosting the Olympics was what it took for the city to make it into the big time, a few of us knew the truth: As Parker did for Boston and Burke did for New Orleans, a writer must arise who could give the city its Spenser or Streak.

Fred Willard has given Sam Fuller to Atlanta, and this southern city is in the big time at last.

I have no idea whether Mr. Willard intends a series of Fuller stories, but I truly hope he continues writing set in and around Atlanta. Those who have lived in Atlanta will feel themselves walking around it as they read this great story. Indeed, Willard will take them where they may not have dared go in their flesh. His evocation of Ponce (forget your high school Spanish and say it "Pahnce", with no stressed syllable) brings not only the sights and sounds but the smells and tastes of this gritty part of the city to life as no-one else has ever dared.

Willard's characters are as true to their locale as his scene-setting narrative is. These are people you probably wouldn't take home, but you might have sat at a bar with, watching poetry-spouting, beer can-crushing strippers at work.

Wild, weird and warped, "Down on Ponce" is a story that arises naturally from its setting, from exploding houseboats to the mansions of Atlanta to tortilla joints on Ponce. The reader would suspect that Fred Willard had drug himself through these scenes one too many times had he not survived to write about it this way, proving himself the master of Cracker Noir.

Sam, a man with numerous aliases, knew it was time to leave town when his life seemed to free zone drop into utter chaos. It starts when James Shirley, a friend of an unnamed friend, asks Sam Fuller (the alias of the moment) to kill his wife, Anne Marie. Divorce is out of the question. Sam visits Anne Marie to warn her about James even as he keeps the $30,000 retainer fee. Sam decides to leave town and start over in Atlanta.

In Atlanta, Sam meets a new group of friends, who hope to begin a successful life as criminals. The motley crew plan to steal cash from a group that leads the South in laundering illegal money. However, this wannabe felony team is not a who's who on committing the perfect crime. Though he has joined the team, Sam wonders whether he has jumped into the fire just to escape the frying pan.

DOWN ON Ponce is a strange but ultimately fascinating and intriguing mystery novel that highlights the shadier side of the peach tree. The lovable characters are as eccentric a group as anyone has placed in a novel in several years and the gritty story line is extremely fascinating and mesmerizing. Hopefully, this is the first of many Sam novels by Fred Willard, who makes Elmore Leonard look like the writer of a British cozy.

Harriet Klausner

DOWN ON PONCE grabbed me from page one and did not let go until the end. The characters are, well, different. Not your usual set of bad guys, or should I say, losers? Actually, they aren't really without-reason-bad, just pay-back-bad.
These guys and the characters they run into will have you laughing while saying OUCH!
The plot runs fast and twisty and the end is as one would hope for. As one would dream for. But if violence, even with laughs, isn't your game, well, better luck elsewhere.

Few books are so funny I actually laugh out loud at them, but Willard's deft touch with character made me guffaw several times while reading "Down on Ponce." The satire of Atlanta's criminal class is affectionate and the absurd but brisk plot keeps you turning the pages. The ending is completely preposterous but you'll be having too much fun to care. (People without senses of humor -- like the gentleman who thought the blurb saying "Willard writes good" was straight -- should stay away, however, as should people who don't realize that criminals tend to not be very nice people.)

I don't know Atlanta, but Fred Willard sure does. I have lived in other large cities and they all have similar neighborhoods, so no mater where you're from you can relate to this satirical mystery. A hard-boiled mystery with lots of humor. The first laugh-out-loud line was on the very first page and it only got better from there! Read it in one sitting (all night long) and enjoyed every page. Highly recommended!

I found this book by accident in a used book store. a very pleasant surprise! A book populated with all bad guys. But, it's just fiction and for fun. This book is like Andrew Vachss with a smile. Noir, with a night light burning in the darkness. Pick up a copy and have a good time.

I made it all the way to chapter 13 of Down on Ponce. But there was only so much romanticification of cynism and picking and gouging at the scabs of a society woefully in need of positive recuperation for me to continue another page. I couldn't relate to any of the characters at all. Their lives spinning in underpowered autistic inertial spins was nauseating. The "grit" seemed contrived to draw me in, but reminded me of the faux cynic hardcase ambiance used as a dimly glowing subterranean lure found in so much of Hollywood fare lately (which is typically what I'm trying to avoid in my reading). The societal us/them split embossed throughout the story seems contrived, too black and white given the spewing relativism of the characters. The "enemy" is too conveniently defined and pidgeonholed while the closest things to protagonists believe in nothing at all. I imagine Willard might have screenplay material here, but more in the Pulp Fiction vein than the Shawshank Redemption vein.

On the other hand, the word-smithing was superb, and the descriptiveness was vivid while being very concise. Willard is clearly a very skilled writer and Down on Ponce is a very respectable display of talent. But I am not his audience.

This is the first crime novel I've ever read with a ripe sense of humor, a richly constructed maniac of a main character, and a real depth to the landscape. No self-righteous heros. No generic urban setting. No postmodern bitterness -- but a sort of dogged glee in a total infusion of low-down behavior. _Down on Ponce_ is funny and wry, full of freaks, packed with plot, a real page-turner.

Buy it. Read it. Memorize lines from it. Use them on your boss. Gain respect. Become feared. Command a higher salary. Retire in style.

Mr. Willard has certainly hit the nail on the head in this comical tale of the seediest section of Atlanta. As a former resident of that city (now living in NYC) I felt wonderfully reminiscent reading about some very familiar Atlanta landmarks and the all too plausible events that take place there. I believe this is Willard's first novel, and he's off to a wonderful start.