Everybody Smokes in Hell

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.)

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 never thought I could be entertained, let alone find interest in scuzzy people leading scuzzy lives, but the characters in this book are so vivid, so twisted - AND FUNNY - you end up reading as fast as you can turn the pages. It's a very creative collection of people the writer's brought together, and he does a GREAT job of juggling them. For someone who doesn't normally read this kind of book, I couldn't put it down!

Just wild. I don't know if the guy who wrote it was on drugs, or what, but this is one chainsaw of a book. Once it starts, IT DOES NOT LET UP. And the end was TOUGH as a preacher with brass knuckles. The author pulls no punches. Not a little girl's book, that's for sure, but one helluva read.

Ridley's "the man" when it comes to noir thrillers. Cooler and smarter than his own "Stray Dogs", funnier and faster than "Love is a Racket", "Everybody Smokes in Hell" proves that he's a novelist with Jordan-esque moves when it comes to storytelling.