Customer Reviews

Everybody Smokes in Hell

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Ridley's novel is savagely funny and delightfully gritty, a quick and nasty romp with a cast of characters not even a mother could love. A sexy but deadly femme fatale. Gansta drug lords. Weasle-like record producers. Just basically folks you're NOT going to have over for Thanksgiving dinner. EVERYBODY SMOKES IN HELL is a bloody, hilarious, raw smack in the face.

But one of the novel's flaws stems from the side-show qualities of its characters. Freakshows might generally intrigue us, but they don't usually offer us anyone to cheer for. A clearly sympathetic protagonist (even a gritty one with a dark side) would have stuck another star onto the rating -- really, I'd say I'd give this novel 3.9 stars instead of four, but that wasn't an option.

Still, Ridley is one of the small but growing group of writers who are raising noir violence to new and exciting levels.

NOBODY does America like John Ridley. These are not the sugared down moral tales they're feeding you on prime time. Nor are the characters well adjusted homeowners, working in airconditioned offices during the heat of the day. These are wicked, wicked tales, happening in savage places, where one bad move leads to another. But John RIdley's writing saves it from being just another bleak trip to the underside. BRILLIANT WRITING. Alternately vicious and dazzling, Americans will recognize the landscape. Will know it best as home sweet home.

(Tip of the day, John: The Coen brothers should be making the movies.)

Fast-paced, humorous, pleasantly nasty, brilliantly plotted, yet unconvincing. The characters seemed contrived and unevenly developed. One character near the end of the book, a female casino worker in Las Vegas, seemed to appear out of nowhere; I was never sure who she was or what she was doing in the book. I found myself skimming some sections of interior monologue/exposition. The street language seemed overdone. Overall, the book could have used some more editing, but I don't want to give the wrong impression with all this. The plotting was absolutely brilliant and I would recommend the book to anyone who likes black humor with their red meat crime fiction.

Has there been a filmmaker who has been more imitated in the last decade than Quentin Tarantino? His use of language, his gift for plotting, and his knack for memorable characters (in the movies PULP FICTION, RESERVOIR DOGS and JACKIE BROWN) have inspired more bad movies and novels since George Lucas unleashed STAR WARS on the world.

Now, I am not trying to knock the credible talent that John Ridley has. And perhaps it's unfair to complain of imitation. After all, it is a form of flattery. Tarantino himself admits the variety of sources and inspirations for his movies, including the novels of Elmore Leonard and Jim Thompson. But that said, EVERYBODY SMOKES IN HELL is a novel that cries out for Tarantino to adapt it for the screen. It is a movie of desperate people doing desperate things, of thugs and molls, gangsters and hitmen, and generally unpleasant people. In fact, Tarantino might not attempt an adaptation purely for the reason that it is too similar to his earlier works (I found the tone and plot of EVERYBODY SMOKES to be remarkably similar to Tarantino's script for TRUE ROMANCE).

The plot is thus: Paris Scott, a convenience store clerk in L.A., happens across the only recorded copy of a recently deceased rock star's magnum opus (shades of Kurt Cobain?). He decides to cash in on this windfall, but due to a bizarre set of coincidences, combined with his own ineptitude, finds himself running away to Vegas, with a pile of corpses in his wake.

This is a well-written piece of modern pulp. Ridley has created some memorable characters, each of whom is given just enough of a history for the reader to empathize with their plights. And, truth be told, in the space of three pages, Ridley creates the most grotesquely funny suicide scene I can remember reading. While some may deride the cinematic feel to the presentation (short chapters, quick cuts between scenes, vivid use of imagery), it works to the narrative's strength. Ridley presents us with characters raised on exactly the type of pop culture EVERYBODY SMOKES is itself a part of. Why shouldn't the writing style have the same goal?

But EVERYBODY SMOKES, as enjoyable as it is, can't hold its head up all the way to the end. There are too many intertwining threads to be wrapped up in a neat little package. The ending feels rushed, and while it may work on the movie screen, a novel is supposed to be capable of more depth than is on view here. The final outcome is, if not disappointing, than disjointed. I don't mean to imply that happy endings are better. But EVERYBODY SMOKES, after setting up Paris so well, gives the reader a resolution that feels unsatisfying, incomplete. There is the introduction of several new characters towards the end that seem to exist for no useful purpose. And Paris' actions at the end are completely at odds with what happened before, and not believeable after all we've been told.

EVERYBODY SMOKES IN HELL is definitely worth reading. It holds your attention from the first page to the last. It is often so good, you wish it were better as a whole.

The story is less a cohesive story with a definite beginning, middle and end than a wild, disorganized chase across the desert. But not only does that style not detract from the fun of the book, it goes along with what there is of the plot: everyone stooping to all kinds of selfishness and sin to get what hey want, only to have it kick them where it hurts most (or shot, or have their throat slit, or choke on a pile of manure as the case may be).
The characters are a fun gallery of villains and not-quite-heroes, from psychotic dancing assassin Brice to certifiable loser Paris, the locations a glorious assortment of the worst of two "glamorous" cities, and the violence widespread, bloody, and claiming practically the whole cast. If this sounds like a fun way to spend an afternoon, then buy the book. If, however, you take your reading seriously and refuse the read something that isn't a bestseller, from Oprah's book club, or just takes itself entirely too seriously, then I suggest you leave this page now.

I have been an avid mystery reader since I picked up my first in 1976 and this came close to being the best that I have ever read. The characters, their dialogue, the plot, the author's story telling style, his descriptions were fantastic, but the story fell flat at the end. (I will not give anything away here). As I was reading it and realized how close to the end I was getting, I began to wonder how it was to be wrapped up and perhaps my book was missing 25 pages.... however in the last page and a half the book comes to it's sudden conclusion. The pace of the book was well executed and the characters grew and took me along with them and then like hitting a brick wall, it is over! It is one of those types of books that ends but doesn't quite. I sure don't think it calls for a sequel, but it appeared to me that the author got tired of writing, didn't know how to end it, so quickly found a way to. Very unsatisfying. Like eating a delicious dessert and finding a cockroach in your last bite. The ending here spoiled everything that came before it. I was ready to pick up another one of the author's works right away, but now I am going to wait for a while. Well worth the read, but the end may dissapoint some.

Everyday some new piece of crime fiction comes out that's almost indistinguishable from novels already sitting on bookstore shelves. It seems like a lot of the time, mysteries and suspense are written for the lowest common denominator - easy language, a plot that's just engaging enough to keep a reader moving, a few stereotypical characters that readers feel comfortable with, etc. Ridley's Everybody Smokes In Hell, however, provides a refreshing voice in crime fiction.

The plot isn't much to write home about. Down and out youth in L.A. stumbles into a bad situation and finds himself on the run from all kinds of nasty folks. The way this plot is executed is amazing. The characters Ridley comes up with are unique and colorful, each with unique motivations subtly sketched by the author. Dialogue is fresh and crisp, presented the way people talk, not just an author's bland translation. Action is quick and descriptions show no restraint. Often funny, sometimes heartbreaking, the story is an exceptional one. Fiction's lucky to have an author like Ridley. It's a reminder that there's more than cookie-cutter mysteries out there.

I am a big fan of crime novels and this is by far one of the best I've read in recent years. Ridley takes a character that was briefly in one of his previous novels, "Love Is A Racket", and builds a compelling story around him. His description of LA is dead-on accurate and, as a resident of the area myself, you can tell by his frank discourse of the good and the bad that he has spent a lot of time here.

The most amazing part of the book though is his dialog and his characterizations. His dialog is spot-on, using modern slang as well as anyone out there. Think a Tarantino film in written form, nothing seems forced and everything is used for the purpose of advancing plot or giving us insight into the minds of the main characters. His characters also feel very three dimensional, not just some cookie cutter cutouts of real people. Ridley also balances the humor in the book with the violence and the suspense quite well.

The only complaint I would have with the book is its brevity, but that doesn't diminish from the book's brilliance nor its enjoyableness. Actually, its short length encouraged me to re-read the book again a couple months after I finished it initially. This book will suck you in and you'll be sorry when you're spit out again at the end. I give it my highest recommendation. A great summer read.

What if the devil ruled the world and you could watch him at play. That's what it's like reading this novel. I've never had so much fun reading about bad things happening to bad people. Frankly, I don't think I've ever had this much fun reading a noir novel before. The amazing thing is that Ridley takes the kinds of characters we've seen before and puts a whole new spin on them. The story keeps going and going right up until - AND THEN PAST - the end. Is there something wrong with me to love this kind of book so much?

more of a cautionary tale than a novel. a confluence of thuggery with a one beat rap tone.survival of marginal miscreants on a steady diet of nihilism,violence,misogyny,materialism and drugs in a decaying society. nathaniel west with a ghetto blaster.