Customer Reviews

The Drift

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

 

 

Book Title: The Drift
Reviewed by: LottaHoney
Amazon Rating: 5
APOOO Rating: 5

A Tour de Force of A Novel! A Sublime Page-Turner!

There is a rich American tradition of riding the rails. Even I, as a child, had adventurous dreams of running away on a railway and experiencing moonlit campfires and starry-night talks with hobos. John Ridley's The Drift illustrates the flip of the coin and the underbelly of drugs and terror on the turf of today's freight train riding hobos.

Charles Harmon, an upper-middle class Black tax lawyer, resides in Sunny California. Charles is a possessor of the American dream replete with a BMW in the driveway, a palatial suburban home, a gardener, Cayman Island vacations, and a beautiful wife with a new-born baby harboring a crystal blue, 3rd eye in his cheek - disturbing images that his slowly deteriorating, demented mind envisions. He abandons all of the accouterments of the American dream for the beckoning call of The Drift...the magnetic pull of The Drift...the sensation of The Drift, the gentle lull and roll of the trains on the tracks.

The protagonist, Charles Harmon, descends into an underworld of train-hopping hobos with tags such as Frypan Jack and Slow Motion Shorty. Charles discovers, "Freedom. Freedom is what the rails are for". Charles dies and experiences a rebirth as Brain Nigger Charlie and is indoctrinated into the world of steel corridors learning to `catch-out' and ride the rails.

Old and tired Chocolate Walt becomes the mentor to Brain Nigger Charlie and his newly acquired friends - the fierce and loyal George Plimpton and his potent and clinging lady friends, Lady K and Lady E.

The novel's plot heightens as Chocolate Walt engages Brain Nigger Charlie to ride the High Line in search of his wayward, runaway niece Corina Leslie.

The High Line is inhabited and controlled by the Pacific Northwest FTRA - Freight Train Riders of America or the original "F*$^ the Reagan Administration" - a vicious gang of psychopathic, racist, drug-trafficking, train-hopping hobos that have commandeered the freight train of America leaving a trail of corpses in its wake.

Brain Nigger Charlie attempts to redeem himself by valiantly searching for his friend's niece, Corina Leslie. As his search begins, amid many hits and misses, this novel takes you on a roller coaster ride with multiple bends, unexpected twists, and curves. As you succulently savor each page, the suspense is earth shaking, glass breaking, and unsettling... a wonderful and incredible tour de force of images with exact and precise descriptive images.

You are sure to begin a train ride on the Freight Trains of American into Pure Terror - in the capable hands of John Ridley.

Reviewed by LottaHoney
APOOO BookClub

John Ridley has range. He wrote the story for the movie Three Kings [the George Clooney role was originally written as a black man], wrote the movie Undercover Brother, and writes for the NBC show Third Watch.

When it comes to his novels, Ridley describes himself as a follower of Dashiell Hammett and Damon Runyan. He is a credit to his masters. This action-packed book evokes the edgy bleak spirit of all the great black-and-white film noir movies, but without a single cliche and with a fresh take. Its dark humor, absolutely modern characters, and visceral violence reminded me of Pulp Fiction.

Beneath its ironically comic, beat-inspired narrative tone, The Drift manages to trace a fallen man's shot at personal redemption. This is a powerful, streamlined tale that hits you like one of the locomotives it describes. You'll read it in as few sittings as you possibly can.

This was the first Ridley novel I've tried, and definitely will NOT be the last. I've never found a book so wildly entertaining while dealing with a host of serious societal issues. Ridley is a major talent, and The Drift is a brutal, cold gem.

John Ridley has always been an original voice in crime fiction, but this time he outdoes himself. From the introduction of the real George Plimpton on the first page to its stunning conclusion, THE DRIFT is unlike anything Ridley or, for that matter, any other crime writer I've ever read, has produced. The book is suspenseful, touching, bizarre and, at times, quite funny. If there were a sixth star in this rating system, that's what I'd give THE DRIFT.

THE DRIFT is another stellar effort from John Ridley. With "Conversation with the Mann" just coming out a few months ago, I was suprised to see THE DRIFT so soon. The pleasant suprise continued with the first pages of THE DRIFT -- John Ridley is among the best and is getting better! From the book description one gets an idea of what the story is about so a synopsis is not needed here, but accolades are. The journey is fast paced, thought provoking, and very dark. So dark in fact that it may turn off some more mainstream readers, however, it is worth every discomfort and upon further thought, the book's darkness and violence does inflict a deeper mental impact (the imagery stays with you) and thankfully, there are moments of humor to lift us out of the mire. I hope John Ridley remains this prolific and we'll be reading him for years to come. A must read.

Wooden George Plimpton, alluring Elle Macpherson, ill-named Mathais Smikle and Brain Nigger Charlie (a name to put the politically correct off immediately, but you soon learn how he got the name and why he wears it, so you accept it as he does). These are a few of the characters you'll meet in a book of great story-telling and fine writing.

Among other reviews here, I liked John Bowes succinct "bleak and unique" description and I held the opposite view of Mi-Mi's disappointment with the ending -- I thought it fit the mindset of the man perfectly.

I'll spare you any more rhetoric -- just read any of the fine comments in the four- and five-star reviews of this book. Reading John Ridley's prose is like watching a tightrope walker over a gorge. You are slightly breathless hoping he maintains that steady, mesmerizing line of progress and delicate balance throughout the entire journey. Ridley definitely does, making The Drift a harrowing, exhiliarating experience for the reader.

America didn't always have a problem with obesity. I've read a few treatises that hold that this country's love affair with elastic waistlines began in the late 1800s, about the time that a cheap method of refining sugar was discovered and bakers started sticking it into everything, from the obvious (breads, cakes, pies) to the not-so-obvious (cole slaw, barbecue sauce). Yep, most of us have one gigantic sweet tooth, and it extends beyond our food appetite. We like our truth with a little bit of sugar, too --- to make it go down easier. That's why a book like THE DRIFT is going to be a little hard for some of its audience to take. This isn't cherry-flavored NyQuil cough syrup; no, it's more like mopwater-flavored Buckley's. And Buckley's, as our neighbors to the North know, works.

John Ridley's writing is as gritty as the last 10 miles of a 50 mile one lane rut. If you're expecting a nice little politically correct diatribe from the nice-looking black man, forget it. This guy is gonna rock your world and turn it upside down with unvarnished truth. The violence is ugly, the sexuality is primitive, and the anger and despair is pervasive. It's not that you won't be able to stop reading THE DRIFT --- you're going to have to look away in spots. No, you're going to have to grip it with both hands to keep it from rearing up and smacking you a few times where it will do the most good. You'll lose, by the way.

THE DRIFT isn't so much about a black tax attorney named Charles Harmon as it is about Brain Nigger Charlie, the guy Harmon becomes. Harmon is leading a nice existence earned through his labors as a tax attorney when he begins experimenting with street drugs. His life takes a downward turn, and in less time than it takes to tell about it, he is out of a job, minus a wife and out on the streets. Don't say it doesn't happen. By the time the smoke clears and the dust settles he is Brain Nigger Charlie, riding the boxcars from Point A to Point B, running from his memories and running from himself, learning the desperate and ugly rules of survival while feeding his drug addiction any way he can.

Charlie's rotten apple cart of a life is upset when he is asked to find the teenage niece of the man who becomes his railroad mentor. Charlie doesn't believe that the runaway girl is still alive but, feeling the obligation, begins searching for her along the tracks leading from Iowa to Seattle, Washington. Charlie soon finds that others are looking for her as well, and soon finds himself caught between the law and a well-organized group of drug dealers who have found the destitute denizens of the railroad yards to be the perfect mules for running drugs throughout the country.

Charlie doesn't find that he can't trust anybody --- he already knew that. No one can trust Charlie, either. His rough code, honed to a sharp edge by self-preservation, leaves room for love of no one but himself. And he hates himself.

But he hates other people more.

Any romantic notions you might have held about hobos, trains, and drifters will be permanently, irrevocably eradicated after you read THE DRIFT. It works out okay, though. Charlie brings the girl back home, she finishes school and becomes a doctor, and Charlie sobers up, reunites with his wife, and goes back to his law firm where he is greeted with open arms and an offer to double his salary. But that isn't what happens. No, not hardly. You won't be able to read THE DRIFT without waking up in the middle of the night and wondering if it could all happen to you. And you'll know, deep in your heart of hearts, that it could.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

You'd be hard pressed to find a book that is more visceral, thoughtful, insightful and emotional. That this book will be polarizing to some doesn't diminish its strength. In fact, it enhances it. While it is certainly Hard Boiled fiction, good luck finding anything quite like it - an former middle class black, now a hobo, riding the rails. It's a stunner. And Ridley's a hell of a writer.

A friend lent me the book. Read it, loved it, ordered a copy 'cause I thought I owed it to the author. It's that good. I'm curious: a couple of reviewers gave it bad marks and apparently haven't read it. Clearly hattters, but this is the kind of book that'll rock you if you're not ready. Should have a warning label: for the intellectually hearty only!

I liked this book a lot, it gave me a whole new perspective on the homeless guys who would come into the library where I worked (Olympia Washington was a hub on the Pacific Coast rail lines) without being overly sentimental like, say, "Neverwhere". You got to love a hard-boiled mystery story where the lead character is not only insane and homeless but also a Ketamine and Ecstasy addict. A reviewer on NPR compared it to The Lord of the Rings, where this unlikely hero is on an epic journey into a land of pure evil, with Spokane Washington taking the place of Mordor.

I stumbled across this book in audio format while looking for something to occupy my mind during a long drive. What an amazing tour de force! Ridley's writing is crisp and evocative. In the darkest moments, he throws us a flash of sudden, ironic humor. Although he's following a long noir tradition, the plot line is fresh and original. "Brain Nigger Charlie" is convincing as a tortured soul descended from the middle class to the depths of hell. Without hitting the reader over the head, Ridley forces us to think deeply about alienation, responsibility, and the fragility of social class. The novel is only for those who can tolerate extreme violence, but Ridley - who also authored the screenplay for the funny and original Undercover Brother - is a fresh voice and I'm definitely going to be looking for more by him.