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.
