Hard-Core ... Not For Everyone But Really Good!

First things first, this is not a book for the faint-hearted or the easily offended. I listened to it on audio when I was walking my dogs and there were times when I felt myself blushing from what I was listening to … ON MY HEADPHONES! I kept thinking “If people only knew what I was listening to now, they’d be shocked.” This is some hard-core, graphic writing … and hearing it read out loud makes it seem even more so. (By the way, Michael Kramer has the perfect voice for the material … with a kind of WTF/seen it all, done it all attitude.) The basic story deals with a love triangle between two pot dealers and their girl and what happens when they run awry of a Mexican drug cartel and the girl gets kidnapped. The writing—despite its bluntness and graphic descriptions—was good and often very funny. But this is by no means a “feel good” book. And if people in SoCal are really like the characters in this book, then I’m staying the hell away.

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28 people found this helpful

Way Too Graphic for this Old Guy

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No I would not recomend this book to anyone. The graphic sex is way beyond my comfort level. I would not want my friends to know I listened to this book.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Savages?

Nothing that I remember more than the very crude dialect.

What three words best describe Michael Kramer’s voice?

Not Winslow's best choice.

Was Savages worth the listening time?

No

Any additional comments?

I like to be fair about cretiques of someones work, but I guess I just too old to enjoy language that insults me and my values.

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24 people found this helpful

I loved it

I see most people found this book a bit trite, but living in San Diego, I felt a connection to this story. I know these people. The story took place in places I see every day. I particularly liked the narration too. He took some liberties, where other narrations tend to be pretty dry. However, the narrator betrayed himself by screwing up some of the spanish names that a real californian would never screw up, ie: Cajone is not pronounced with a j sound. There were several of these. If you are from the east coast, I can see why you wouldnt connect to this book. When I hear narrative about mexican drug gangs operating in the neighborhoods where I live, it does become more exciting. I immediately went out to read his other stories set in San Diego, Frankie Machine and Dawn Patrol, and liked those books too.

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18 people found this helpful

Some people just don't know when to make a jump.

You have to stay with this story as it develops. At first, I was put off by the life style and characters of the southern California setting. But the story develops and the players take shape. You gotta love an ending like this one.

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17 people found this helpful

A crazy ride!

I thoroughly enjoyed this wacky, violent story about drug dealers. The characters are not people I would ever call likeable, but I was sucked in to their unique world and actually found myself pulling for these guys.

An ex-soldier/mercenary-type of guy teams up with an over privileged humanitarian-type of guy to produce top quality marijuana bred from seeds brought back from Afghanistan. When they find themselves being taken over by the Baja Cartel, Ben and Chon attempt to find a way out. But then “O,” the woman in their life, gets kidnapped and things really start to get crazy.

The Highly stylized narrative worked for me too. One word chapters could be viewed as tacky and a sign of a bad writer trying too hard but there is substance to Mr. Winslow’s style. It works. The narrator also succeeds in portraying the smug, hipster attitude required of the story. The fast pace and quirky stops and pauses are done perfectly.

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16 people found this helpful

Prose like a shotgun

"There is nothing so small that it does not save its life if it has the courage to defend itself against those who would lay hand on it." - Brasidas of Sparta, quoted by Plutarch.

Perhaps, one star for the story, one star for Don Winslow (I really, really liked The Cartel, The Power of the Dog, and The Winter of Frankie Machine), one star for its boldness, etc., but I'd almost like to remove a star for the awful sex writing. I'll leave it at 3-stars because almost no one can write about sex well, but if you are going to wade into threesomes with two guys and a gal, well, you better have your pound-prose (nasty-narrative, shag-slang, bone-brogue?).

Granted, we can't all be Joyce, Chopin, or Lawrence, but ugh.

Anyway, this might just be a book that is made better by Oliver Stone. Dear GOD, did I just write that? I don't know. It feels like there is a place near the border where even Cormac McCarthy shouldn't write about drugs and sex (see The Counselor: A Screenplay).

Anyway, if you haven't read any Don Winslow, I would go read his better books first.

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15 people found this helpful

Action for no reason

I too read great reviews about this book, but it was much more like an episode of crime drama that a novel. The character development wasn't very good. They were shallow, had unbelievable motivations and were frankly unlikeable. When characters are like this, I don't get invested. I don't really care what happens to them. It did learn a lot about marijuana and drug trafficking, which was interesting but the details didn't move the plot along. I did like the authors style and the edge in the dialogue. For entertainment value, I gave it three stars but I won't be running to get more of Winslow's work based on this book.

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15 people found this helpful

amazing writing

this book is an ode to style. Not to say that substance is lacking although the characters are not particularly credible. But oh the style. In the same vein perhaps as James Ellroy and almost in the same league. That's high praise...

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14 people found this helpful

Difficult Start But Then Loads of Fun

I love most Don Winslow's novels. I tried this one and put it down because I couldn't get into it at first. The reason is the author was trying to be "hip" with his use of language and writing style. For example he has many short chapters with some having only one word in them.

A year after ordering it I tried it again and this time hung in there till the words and story grew on me. Eventually I was hooked and had another great ride on one of Mr. Winslow's fun thrillers with lovable characters.

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12 people found this helpful

Underwhelmed

This book has been really well reviewed and I was anxious to hear it. I typically enjoy Winslow, but someone has convinced him he is a lot more clever than he is. Predictable plot with characters that you could care less about - but the worst part is Winslow's insistence on trying to make clever barbs about people, places and events that fall flat and after awhile just become annoying. Check out Winslow if you haven't, but skip this one.

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12 people found this helpful