Just Finished Reading: Dodgers by Bill Beverly (FP: 2016) [318pp] 

It wasn’t his fault, he knew that. Even his uncle didn’t blame him, at least not publicly. But East was still responsible. It was his crew after all on watch that day – the day of the police raid. It was him, and his team, who was supposed to give the occupants of the shooting gallery advanced warning and he’d failed. So, it wasn’t really an option to turn down the job being ‘offered’ by his uncle to get back in his good graces. He still had a bad feeling about it though, especially when he heard the conditions. He was told to arrive without his cell phone, his credit cards or anything that could identify him. That didn’t sound good. When the rest of the team arrived, his bad feelings became certainties. The so-called adult, the leader at least in name, was an idiot who couldn’t keep it in his pants. The smart kid was at least smart, although maybe too smart for this job. But the worst of it was the ‘hitter’ – East's younger brother who had zero common sense and a borderline death wish. Driving across the country from LA to Wisconsin was going to challenge East in ways he could barely articulate. But as the miles passed East began to question everything he thought he believed about his life and himself. One way or another this road trip was going to change everything – if he lived to tell the tale. 

I picked this up around 5 years ago because of the bleakness of the cover. As usual the feeling of this being ‘different’ than the usual crime thriller intrigued me enough to buy it. A few months ago I added it to a pile of Award Winners and here we are. To be honest I loved this from almost the very first page. The writing is almost beautiful even when describing otherwise mundane events. But as always it is the characterisation – especially of East himself – that sold me here. Growing up in poverty in a section of LA known as ‘The Boxes’, East has a bad future already planned out for him. His mother has ‘checked out’ of both of their lives and his younger brother is essentially feral. Only his uncle is really looking out for him in the sense that he’s guiding him through the early stages of a life in the gangs. But the road trip – with the object of killing a potential witness – opens up the possibility of another life, indeed of a life that contains possibilities. At first East has no idea of what is happening to him. The others in the van can’t see it being too involved already in gang life. But slowly, as they move closer to their objective, East has an Apiphany. A world of possibilities opens up before him in an America he can barely comprehend. The only question for East is what will he do about it. 

This was one of those books where I had absolutely no idea where it was going (short of Wisconsin!) but I was totally intrigued to find out. With a simple plot (and some very simple people!) the author managed to weave a story that was part coming of age, part road trip and part road to Damascus conversion story. It was, without a doubt, quite brilliant. Full of interesting (and very flawed) characters, wonderfully realised scenery and cultural vignettes it was a real delight and clearly deserved its multiple awards and nominations. Certainly one of the best books so far this year. Highly recommended.        

Awards: 

Winner of the LA TIMES Book Prize of 2017 for Best Mystery/Thriller 

Winner of the CWA Goldsboro Gold Dagger 2016 for Best Crime Novel of the Year 

Winner of the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger 2016 for Best Debut Crime Novel 

Winner of the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award 

Finalist for the PEN/Heminghway Award 2017 for Debut Fiction 

Longlisted for Andrew Carnegie Medal 2017 for Excellence in Fiction 

Nominated for the Edgar Award 2017 for Best First Novel