Stay Ugly

“I’m a sucker for a good man-just-out-of-prison meets junkie-on-the-run yarn like the rest of ya. But what makes Daniel Vlasaty’s Stay Ugly pack such a potent punch is its heart. And this isn’t ‘heart of champion’ or ‘tenderhearted,’ or even ‘at his heart he’s a good guy’ sentiment. Eric (AKA Ugly) isn’t a good guy. He doesn’t have some sacred street code he’s ready to die for. Frankly he isn’t going anywhere but six feet under. Just a question of when. That he knows someday he’ll go down and not get up again doesn’t faze him. All that matters is that until that day, he’ll take his punches and get back up and keep doing the best he can in a fight we all lose in the end. And that, my friends, is the stuff of poetry and legends.” —Joe Clifford, author of Junkie Love and the Jay Porter Thriller Series

“A brutal, unfiltered telegram direct from the underground, burning with a voice and vitality that is wholly Vlasaty.” —Tom Pitts, author of Hustle and Coldwater