Safe
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
From the acclaimed author of All Involved and Kung Fu
Set in LA against the backdrop of the 2008 financial crash, this is the story of Rudy Reyes (a.k.a. Glasses), a gangster-turned-double-agent who wants out of the high-stakes high-risk life criminal life, and Ricky Mendoza, Junior (a.k.a. Ghost), a DEA safe-cracker with terminal cancer who's got nothing to lose. When Ghost goes rogue and steals thousands of dollars from a safe that belongs to Rooster, an LA crime lord who happens to be Glasses' boss, he endangers a deal Glasses had with a DEA official. As Ghost sets out to steal as much money as he can get his hands on - all with the plan to give it to those hit hardest by the crash - and Rooster gets ever closer to catching him, Glasses tries desperately to keep his plans on track.
Fast-paced and gritty, Ryan Gattis's Safe is both a moving and human morality tale and an utterly immersive and heart-stoppingly suspenseful thriller.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
One man's decision to steal confiscated drug money propels this engrossing crime novel set in L.A. from Gattis (All Involved). When recovering drug addict Ricky "Ghost" Mendoza, a safecracker working with the DEA, gets called in for a job one Sunday, he decides afterward to take some of the recovered money a stash belonging to drug lord Rooster and use it to anonymously help friends pay off debts. Ghost's cancer is back, so this is his last chance at redemption for the sins of his previous life. The certainty of death turns Ghost into a fearless vigilante committed to stealing even more, regardless of the risks. Meanwhile, Rooster orders his second-in-command, Rudolfo "Glasses" Reyes, to retrieve the money and catch the thief. Unknown to his crew, Glasses is working with the DEA, supplying information in return for his family's safety. Glasses must follow Rooster's orders without risking his deal with the DEA or revealing his betrayal. Gattis's refreshingly smart characters doggedly try to do the right thing in this satisfying if unrealistically upbeat tale about the drug world.
Customer Reviews
Safety catch
3.5 stars
Author
American. Writes mostly about Latino gang-related issues in LA. All Involved (2015), which is set in the aftermath of the Rodney King bashing in 1992, is a tough but worthwhile read.
Plot
It’s September 2008; Lehmann Brothers is going under. Mortgage default is rife. Ricky Mendoza (aka Ghost) is an ex-addict locksmith who does contract work for the DEA cracking the safes they find on drug raids. He was treated for cancer as an adolescent and it’s back. He gets involved with a black female bank manager whose husband is fighting in the Middle East, and wants to save poor people from losing their homes. To that end, Ricky heists drug money from one of the safes he opens for the DEA: the Dog as it is known (See Don Winslow’s The Power of The Dog). Meanwhile, Rudy Reyes (aka Glasses) works for the gang Ricky ripped off and is tasked with getting the money back. There’s mortgage stress in his family and, unbeknown to his boss, Glasses is also an informer for the DEA. What could possibly go wrong?
Characters
Ghost and Glasses are keenly drawn and compelling, although the Robin Hood story line wasn’t convincing. Ghost reminisces a lot about Rose, his ex-GF from back in the day, whom he met at the cancer clinic and who died of relapsed Hodgkin’s. There’s plenty of cancer about because his former boss, the guy he was apprenticed to, lost a family member to leukaemia.
Narrative
Alternating first person from the POVs of the two protagonists. The action takes place over 48 hours.
Prose
Fast paced, spare, heavy use of vernacular, but a tad too much reminiscing over Rose for my liking.
Bottom line
A tough read at times, but well worth the effort. As mentioned, the Robin Hood thing didn’t ring true for me. All Involved was better.