Drive [Paperback]

James Sallis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 8, 2007

Much later, as he sat with his back against an inside wall of a Motel 6 just north of Phoenix, watching the pool of blood lap towards him, Driver would wonder if he'd made a terrible mistake. Later, of course, there'd be no doubt. But for now Driver is, as they say, in the moment. And the moment includes this blood lapping towards him, the pressure of dawn's late light at windows and door, traffic sounds from the interstate nearby, the sound of someone weeping in the next room...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. I drive. That's what I do. All I do." So declares the enigmatic Driver in this masterfully convoluted neo-noir, which ranges from the dive bars and flyblown motels of Los Angeles to seedy strip malls dotting the Arizona desert. A stunt driver for movies, Driver finds more excitement as a wheelman during robberies, but when a heist goes sour, a contract is put on his head and his survival skills burn up the pavement. Author of the popular six-novel series set in New Orleans featuring detective Lew Griffin (The Long-Legged Fly, etc.) and such stand-alone crime novels as Cypress Grove, Sallis won't disappoint fans who enjoy his usual quirky literary stylings. Reading a crime paperback, Driver covers "a few more lines till he fetched up on the word desuetude. What the hell kind of word was that?" Lines such as "Time went by, which is what time does, what it is" provide the perfect existential touch. In this short novel, expanded from his story in Dennis McMillan's monumental anthology Measures of Poison, Sallis gives us his most tightly written mystery to date, worthy of comparison to the compact, exciting oeuvre of French noir giant Jean-Patrick Manchette.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Bookmarks Magazine

Critics agree that James Sallis, author of the Lew Griffin mystery series, "may be one of the best mystery writers that most readers have never heard of" (Knight Ridder Tribune). In Drive, he combines murder, treachery, and payback in a sinister plot resembling 1940s pulp fiction and film noir. Told through a complex, cinematic narrative that weaves back and forth through time and place, the story explores Driver’s near-existential moral foundations while revisiting its root cause: his hardscrabble, troubled childhood. Dark and gripping, Drive packs a powerful punch.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: No Exit Press; New Ed edition (February 8, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1842431145
• ISBN-13: 978-1842431146
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,235,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every word counts, February 28, 2006

By 

The Pro From Dover (Los Angeles, Ca.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drive (Hardcover)

Every word counts in this "sunshine noir" by noted mystery writer James Sallis. Drive is that rare thing, the proverbial novel you cannot put down. Yet, Sallis never cheats by loading up on worn plot devices. Instead, this slim volume pares the story down to its barest essestials, just plot and character, stripped of artifice. And drive. Yes, the story hurtles along, moving fast, but always under control. Do you think you have seen it all with noir? If you think so, then you owe it to yourself to pick up Drive. Sallis uses some familiar devices, but the story he tells and the character he tells it through, the "Driver," are new. Drive will keep you hanging until the last sentence. That's drive enough for anyone.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent hardboiled crime thriller, September 17, 2005

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Drive (Hardcover)

Los Angeles based Drive lives up to his name day and night. During the day he works in films as an action drive while at night he drives the getaway car in criminal activities. His current evening job has Drive working a heist just north of Phoenix. As he sits in the vehicle waiting for his teammates, The New Guy who cooked up the job and hired Drive, Dave Strong who aptly provides muscle, and Blanche, who offers the sexy distraction, he notices another car sitting in the nearby alley, mirroring what Drive is doing.

Shots are fired; Blanche races into Drive's car with the money; urging him to take off. Drive leaves with the other vehicle on his back; he gets rid of the tail by cleverly using the police to stop the other car. However that night at the motel, the thugs from the other car arrive shooting at Drive and Blanche leaving her and the two adversaries dead; Drive has a ton of money, but first must clean up the double cross if he is to use it without someone trying to murder him.

DRIVE is a throwback tale to the Noirs of the late 1940s and 1950s starring a tough individual who steps over the legal line, but only so far until the double-cross and attempts on his life turn him into a retaliatory machine. The story line is action-packed with a strong support cast that provides a look at the support Hollywood role of a driver as well as a first class criminal tale. Fans will want to hitch a ride with James Sallis as he provides an excellent hardboiled crime thriller.

Harriet Klausner

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a marvelously dark read!, September 10, 2005

By 

woodstock_ap "woodstock_ap" (Denver, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drive (Hardcover)

Readers who delight in noir have a treat in store.

This short novel moves back and forth in both time and place, following a few weeks in the life of Driver - a character who provides no other name. He has a double career - first as a stunt driver for the LA film industry, self trained and among the best in the highly skilled group of specialists. And in the evenings and between film jobs he drives for thieves and con men. But that is all he does - drive. No burglary, no guns, no other participation.

A moonlighting venture goes wrong and sends Driver in search of those who double crossed him. In spare prose, important people in Driver's past and present life are clearly drawn and believable, some presented only as traces from Driver's memory. Although fragmentary, these brief references provide perfect motivation for Driver's actions as he moves toward his moments of revenge. He is a man not always on the right side of the law, or even of a just society, yet in Sallis' hands he becomes a man worthy of respect.