Customer Reviews

The Ultimate Rush

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Oh my god, what a ride! The genius of what "Joe Quirk" has done is all the more amazing when you consider the fact that this book actually got published. I was beginning to think it was impossible to find a book by a contemporary author about characters other than the disillusioned middle and upper classes. As far as I know there has never been a book about this particular iteration of the nihilist fringe element in our society. The author doesn't let up on those of us who are unschooled in the jargon of "badass" bladers, skate boarders, etc. and I couldn't have been happier. READ it for its originality and for the love the author put into it even if you don't think you have anything in common with people with blue hair and pierced bodies. It has been a revelation. I could go on and on, this book excites me so, but I'll just try to chill and wait for Mr. Quirk's next book.

If you are the type of person who doesn't like books that are not "realistic", then you shouldn't read this book, as the whole thing is really over the top. However, if you enjoy a ballistic plot, highly original characters and lots of fun and laughs along the way, then you should definitely read it. Chet is just an "ordinary" guy who gets accidentaly mixed up in a life and death struggle against the Cineese mafia, putting himself and his friends at risk. What follows is some fast and furious action that is fun but borders an the absurd at times. Eventually the battle moves to cyberspace, and another foe - MP Phred joins the mix. Somewhere along the line the plot gets muddled with too many bad guys and too much going on, but plows forward on sheer adrenalin. The characters are very original and there are lots of funny exchanges between them throughout. The writing style is very fresh and enthusiastic adding to the fun. So yes, it does have its flaws, many courtesy of its over-enthusiasum but it is also that same enthusiasum that makes for an exciting, fun, original experience.

Haha...first lemme point out, I find my review title funny. Wow, I crack myself up. Anyhoo...this book, The Ultimate Rush, my friend Alicia and I read it and wow, did it give us something to gawk at or what. I'm still passing it around my circle of friends as well, who would all comment well on it. We find ourselves now using clever lines flourished from the author Joe Quirk's head, and refer to it even as the "Bible" on some occasions, considering we follow up on it for quirky lines and thanks to Ho, fashion statements. Not only has this book opened my eyes to more comedic and real-time thoughts, thanks to sarcastic lead character Chet Griffen, a hacker turned ex hacker turned blader boy hacker with some serious issues when it comes down to love life, making rent, and choosing television channels with his roommate and disabled buddy Denny. Not ONLY do things get worse when his lesbian friend Ho breaks up with her girl, and Chet realizes that he's got the hots for her, but also when this simple messenger guy becomes the hunted by the hunter, which not surprisingly turns out to be the Chinese mafia! I dunno about you, but this is simply one paragraph, and already I'm feeling the need to re-read the book for the hundredth time. Anyway, pick up the book...I got it for cheap because the boneheads that call themselves book critics can't tell the difference between shat and THE SHAT (I'll make it past tense so my review will be read), so spare a few bucks and give this excellent bundle of paper and ink a try, and trust me: You'll soon be left feeling the average Joe's ultimate rush.

Haha...I did it again. Go me. And go READERS and pick up the book already!

Okay, let's just accept the fact that, well, there are no facts in this book. Joe Quirk has admitted that he knows nothing about either inline skating or computer hacking and his writing backs him up on this. His mistakes are laughable, from his dearth of knowledge about the laws of physics to the fiberglass wheels he places on the bottoms of his character's skates (which would shatter under punishment of riding San Francisco's hills) to the impossible computer programs his characters write to his complete botch-up of the retail distribution methods of crack cocaine.

But you have to decide why you are reading this book. Is it to gain factual information regarding the underground life of messengers? I propose not. Is it to experience a realistic trip through cyberspace? I hope not. Or is it to take a breathtaking journey through the fictional San Francisco in Joe Quirk's mind? If that's your goal, then you will not be disappointed.

Upon reading the first three pages of "The Ultimate Rush", I was feeling likeI had been punched in the stomach. I was breathless, tense and shaking, as though I had shared Chet Griffin's ride to the Mission from on high. I have not read anything that gripping or funny since the first three pages of Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash".

Sadly, or perhaps fortunately, Quirk cannot maintain the adrenaline rush of his opening chapter (I say fortunately, because I would not have survived the novel at that opening pace), but he does settle into a rather nice little thriller, one that is chilling, amusing and exciting and just plain fun. I kept reading deep into the night, hoping to regain that cherry high of the opening. I wasn't disappointed.

Quirk's characters are fully realized and alive, albeit from a world most of us will never visit. His girlfriend, Ho, skategrrrrrl supreme and punk rocking lesbian, is fabulous and his next door neighbor, a wheelchair-bound hacker, is funny and resourceful.

As has been mentioned before, the plot is ludicrous: Chet is hired to transport illegal data via skates down San Francisco's dangerous hills. The crooks to whom he delivers eventually turn on and attempt to murder him. He decides to turn the tables by turning rival gangs and crooked cops on one another in an amazing climactic battle. That's all.

If you like witty, page-turning, heartstopping novels, give this one a try. You probably won't be disappointed.

It's just killing me that Joe Quirk never finished his next book. I WANT MORE!!!!!!!!!! I could easily become addicted to his unique brand of quirky (Ha!)writing.This adrenaline injected, irreverant, ballsy, I-know-I'm-a-screw-up-but-that-never-stopped-me-before, FUNNY, wild ride of a book was just what the doctor ordered. I've had it with serial killers, down on their luck lawyers, submarine commanders, crooked politicians, imaginary beasts, and pissed off chicks and their stalker ex-boyfriends. I just had a great time, forgot my troubles, laughed out loud a whole lot, and wished it wasn't over when it was. Reminds me of the sixties. ( The last sentence, not the book.) All that for a few pennies. Wow!

This book's a total fantasy about the underground World. The writer doesn't have a clue of what hacking or phreaking really is. Stereotypes. If you want to have some fun, this book is worth, and nothing else: Lot's of slangs, fast paced and predictive. Don't take all those 5-star ratings.

Pretty slight. The writing is basically amateurish, the plot totally predictable if you've ever seen a movie. Cartoon Chinese villains -- yuck.

Well, by now you got the idea, the plot. What I liked was the precision of the adjectives, the honesty of the sexual tension, the grit of the crashes, the nastiness of the dialogue, the enjoyment of life on the edge, the adrenaline rush, the sugar highs, and the believable denouement. Fiberglass schmiberglass.

Everyone in my house read it like it was icecream on a hot day. I am handing it around to my friends here in Berkeley. Yes, I know Joe Quirk, argue with him frequently, think he's a classic writer, constantly picking your brain, absorbing new ideas all over the place.

Enjoy yourself. It's a great read, but make a space. It could interrupt your work day.

The ultimate rush is really a page turner. for a couple years this one is the first that made me feel riding a roller coaster while reading, no chance to put the book away once started.
I can`t wait to read the next book of this awesome writer.

I have read Mr. Quirk's first novel and am eager for more. The book soothed my nerves and helped pass some time stuck in the airport. I found the book so fast paced and enjoyable that I didn't notice that I had spent hours in an airport waiting to go home. Without the help of Mr. Quirk I might have slipped into the anger and insanity of the travellers around me. I was taken in right from the start and followed the twisted web until it abruptly spit me out at home.