Eleven-year-old Polly McClusky is shy, too old for the teddy bear she carries with her everywhere, when she is unexpectedly reunited with her father, Nate, fresh out of jail and driving a stolen car. He takes her from the front of her school into a world of robbery, violence, and the constant threat of death. And he does it to save her life.
Nate made dangerous enemies in prison–a gang called Aryan Steel has put out a bounty on his head, counting on its members on the outside to finish him off. They’ve already murdered his ex-wife, Polly’s mother. And Polly is their next target.
Nate and Polly’s lives soon become a series of narrow misses, of evading the bad guys and the police, of sleepless nights in motels. Out on the lam, Polly is forced to grow up early: with barely any time to mourn her mother, she must learn how to take a punch and pull off a drug-house heist. She finds herself transforming from a shy little girl into a true fighter. Nate, in turn, learns what it’s like to love fiercely and unconditionally–a love he’s never quite felt before. But can their powerful bond transcend the dangerous existence he’s carved out for them? Will they ever be able to live an honest life, free of fear?
Whenever it’s feasible, I think my preference is to start with an author’s first book & then move forward through their work. This is definitely not a hard & fast rule for me, but it is something I’ll consider, especially if the author only has a few books published.
But I ended up getting really geeky about reading crime titles from Mulholland Books these last couple years, which is why I started with Jordan Harper’s most recent book, EVERYBODY KNOWS, and kept his debut novel, SHE RIDES SHOTGUN on my TBR.
This is a book that I have seen such intense love for, primarily from the author S. A. Cosby, who seems to take every opportunity he can find to hype this book up (I’m actually currently listening to Cosby’s KING OF ASHES on audio, and there’s a reference to the characters from SHE RIDES SHOTGUN, ostensibly putting the two books in the same “world”, how fucking cool!)
And yeah, holy sweet goddamn. This is an utter masterpiece, a book that I just could not wait to get back to each night. I felt like this story was made for me & I would for sure put this up there with some of the very best crime fiction I’ve ever read. As strong a novel as EVERYBODY KNOWS was, SHE RIDES SHOTGUN is in a class all its own.
If you read enough of my reviews you’ll know what a complete sucker I am for the Lone Wolf and Cub trope & SHE RIDES SHOTGUN embraces that as much as any crime novel I’ve come across.
One day, Nate McClusky does something totally unexpected: he picks his eleven-year-old daughter, Polly, up at school. Seems like a pretty normal thing, except Nate has been locked up in prison and has had essentially no contact with Polly over the years. She’s sort of terrified to see him & excited at the same time.
Nate makes it clear to Polly: they are in trouble. Nate made some powerful enemies while in prison, in the form of the Aryan Steel gang. They’ve put what’s called a greenlight out on Nate, Polly, and Polly’s mother, effectively marking them all for death.
In fact, Polly’s mom & her husband have already been violently killed. Nate & Polly need to hit the road to stay ahead of the members of Aryan Steel & stay alive.
Nate teaches Polly how to protect herself. How to fight. How to steal. How to survive.
Oof, the bond that develops between Polly & Nate just captured my whole heart. Because it’s a slow, awkward, and at times, hilarious process. Polly is always toting around a teddy bear that she thinks she’s maybe a bit old for, but clearly it brings her a lot of comfort. She also uses the bear to kind of break tension & execute some delightfully inappropriate humor.
This was one of those books where the writing was just so fucking captivating to me. Like these words sustained me in a way. I fell for this book, so hard. Polly & Nate’s story put me in a chokehold (I say this because they practice chokeholds a lot in this book, YOU HAVE TO TRAIN!) and did not let go. I was trying like hell to finish this book in time to see the recently-released movie adaptation, but it was a blink-and-you’d-miss-it theatrical run, and well. I blinked. But I’m hoping/assuming it’ll be available digital in the next few weeks, because I’m dying to see it!
This was one of my favorite crime fiction books I’ve read all year, or hell, any year. Jordan Harper is such a phenomenal writer & I’m so excited to read more of his work! His next book is called A VIOLENT MASTERPIECE and the synopsis is one of the wildest things I’ve ever read. Apparently the book is only 320 pages which seems impossible when you read the fucking bananas synopsis! Can’t wait for it though!
EDIT: I was able to watch “She Rides Shotgun” the other night & it was FANTASTIC! Such an unbelievably emotional performance by Ana Sophia Heger as Polly. Plenty of changes were made to the story (which is always ok!) but the heart of it was the same. Just an incredible crime movie that will probably fly a little under the radar, so seek it out if you can!
Grimdark Dad 