The Ultimate Rush

Rating:
Summary: When is the next book on the way?
Review: I have read Mr. Quirk's first novel and am eager for more. The book soothed my nerves and helped pass some time stuck in the airport. I found the book so fast paced and enjoyable that I didn't notice that I had spent hours in an airport waiting to go home. Without the help of Mr. Quirk I might have slipped into the anger and insanity of the travellers around me. I was taken in right from the start and followed the twisted web until it abruptly spit me out at home.

Rating:
Summary: When is the next book on the way?
Review: I have read Mr. Quirk's first novel and am eager for more. The book soothed my nerves and helped pass some time stuck in the airport. I found the book so fast paced and enjoyable that I didn't notice that I had spent hours in an airport waiting to go home. Without the help of Mr. Quirk I might have slipped into the anger and insanity of the travellers around me. I was taken in right from the start and followed the twisted web until it abruptly spit me out at home.

Rating:
Summary: It's so much more than you think.
Review: I have read The Ultimate Rush several times, and I think everybody is loving it for the wrong reasons. This may sound crazy, but I am terrified that The Ultimate Rush will be consigned to the list of summer bestselling beach reads, and not recognized as the remarkable literary achievement that it so obviously is. To me it is almost a tragedy that such an interesting and layered novel should be written with such forward momentum that most of my book group readers sound like they experience it merely as a page turner. Everybody is talking about thepop culture references to the Incredible Hulk and Scooby Doo, but in Quirk's refences I also see Beowulf, the Iliad, Kafka, Nietche, Freud of course, Dante, as well as George Lucas and Looney Tunes. (Yes, I am an English teacher.) This hip book is fascinating because Joe Quirk wrote it at every level. The novel reminds me of Mozart's surface simplicity that hides intense interior complexity. On the surface are hey-dud! e lingo and penis jokes, but beneath the blatant commerciality is real literary quality. It's not just "the languge." It's in the interactions, the growth, the incredibly complex system of symbols underlying everything, the interior struggles, the levels of stark reality he underlays beneath the action fantasy surface. Chet and Denny and Ho are classical characters modernized and trapped in super hero costumes. The gangsters, on the other hand, are completely subsumed in their comic book identies-- even their real names are stolen from them and replaced with Star Trek names. Chet is constantly fighting against yet is seduced by "the machine," which is represented in the computer, the snake, the corporte industry that owns Chet, oppresses him, and yet whose power he lusts for. Chet recognizes that his enemies are inside him, that his real enemy is the hacker's lust to dehumanize himself for the power of mechanization. This is all like Sauron's Ring in Tolke! in, King Arthur's Excalibur, Luke Skywalker's Light Saber. ! Frodo must battle not to become Gollum. King Arthur battles not to become his evil progeny. Luke's battle is not become his father Darth Vadar. Chet's battle is not to become a cartoon. It's all there. The three tattoos, the three pets, the three main characters, the three bad guys, the rollerblades and skateboards and wheelchair-- even the remote controls and computer codes and phones are all injected with mythical power. The dog, the snake, the bus, the sun, mirrors, the fly, the underworlds, MP Phred, even the names, especially Griffin and Pixie-- these are not just static symbols. Chet's changing relationship to them traces the dynamic flow of his interior world. Almost every paragraph is laden with rich veins of meaning that continually crop up through the narrative. And the dying dog in Ho's arms (pg 323 of British edition) is a stunning references to Michelangelos "Pieta," with the disabled Denny looking on "like a shepherd." It's a striki! ng assertion of what Quirk believes is sacred, and what is crucified. The madonna is a punk girl called Ho, Jesus is a dog with a wound in his side who has just sacrificed himself for their sins, and a man with cerebral palsy is their trusty attendant. The spirit of Bobby, Chet's crack addict brother, hovers like the Holy Spirit. They are all "scissored inside a white triangle of light" as if Quirk is carving a slice of light out of a pie of darkness, or "scissoring" off a page corner and laying it before us. The crucified dog is the innocent selfless love in the characters, as Quirk makes plainly clear. And thrillers are filled with violence, but Quirk makes getting shot into the modern crucifixion-- "crucified by a thousand flying nails." We've all read exciting action scenes, but profound action scenes?

Rating:
Summary: Painfully cliche, but breathtakingly exciting
Review: I must admit when I first opened this book, I scoffed at the ridiculously stereotypical and inaccurate portrayal of bike messengers. Not to mention the painfully overdone "California-speak"dialogue that looks like it was written by a grandpa trying too hard to be hip to the younger generation. I mean, honestly, nobody really talks like the characters in this book (I hope!). But as much as I laughed and shook my head while I was reading this, I found myself pulled in by the thrilling action and the romantic sub-plot. I fell in love with Ho, too! There are so many twists and turns that had me literally breathless at times. And it's pretty damn funny, too. Not a 'great' book in terms of literary critique, but fascinating and very fun.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Book Ever
Review: I would have to say the The Ultimate Rush is the best book thatI have ever read, and I have read A LOT of books. The characters are great, San Fran is an awesome setting and anything about computer hacking and the mafia is great! YOU can not miss this book!

Rating:
Summary: This is a novel to be EXPERIENCED.
Review: If I were to recommend only one novel, this would be that book. For me, this novel contains a tremendous message. Some of his characters suggest real-life personalities. Mel Corlini, a former candidate for mayor, has a sister named Gina. In the 1970's there was a mayor Alioto who was about as lovable as Mel; Alioto's daughter is not prominent in SF politics, and I need not tell you what her first name is. Also Wozniak and Heitfreund reference real-life characters. Joe Quirk has rearranged the geography of SF to fit his concept of reality. I would guess this is his way of telling us right from the start we are in a parrallel SF universe. Joe Quirk has taken the marginalized in society and made them into protagonists we admire. As to what real-life "punks", "boarders", and "hackers" are like, I have no idea. They're outlaws, that's the essence. OUTLAWS. The SF of Ho and Chet is a world where the muddle-heads run loose, and decent people are pushed into outlawry, as in the days of Robin Hood. And as occasionally happens in real life, the outlaws who succeed are invited to join the corrupt power brokers. Quirk's novel presents a twisted society which corrupts those who join it. Even the idealistic Denny, basically a very dedicated and courageous person, is not immune. Chet and Ho chose not to join, and things don't go too great for them, but they are not currupted, and they have a very good relationship with each other. Just about everything Chet and Ho do is shocking. In one scene Chet is hoping to hear details of lesbian sex. And when we actually see them have sex ... oh boy. And yet, what we see is a very caring relationship develop between two very strange people who treat each other with respect. In this world of dysfuncitonal families, they create a viable alternative relationship that the corrupt power-brokers could never be capable of. That is the novel, mind-expanding, and set in a real place with a major street intentionally left out. It was chosen for publication by an editor willing to make a courageous decision. There's hope! Or is there? Will Joe Quirk's book really make a difference? Probably not. Many will read it, enjoy it, and go back to the same old thing.

Rating:
Summary: Quite the rush
Review: If you are the type of person who doesn't like books that are not "realistic", then you shouldn't read this book, as the whole thing is really over the top. However, if you enjoy a ballistic plot, highly original characters and lots of fun and laughs along the way, then you should definitely read it. Chet is just an "ordinary" guy who gets accidentaly mixed up in a life and death struggle against the Cineese mafia, putting himself and his friends at risk. What follows is some fast and furious action that is fun but borders an the absurd at times. Eventually the battle moves to cyberspace, and another foe - MP Phred joins the mix. Somewhere along the line the plot gets muddled with too many bad guys and too much going on, but plows forward on sheer adrenalin. The characters are very original and there are lots of funny exchanges between them throughout. The writing style is very fresh and enthusiastic adding to the fun. So yes, it does have its flaws, many courtesy of its over-enthusiasum but it is also that same enthusiasum that makes for an exciting, fun, original experience.

Rating:
Summary: Spritely pyrotechnic cartwheels of language. Wowza.
Review: It was my understanding that you could not make both a dense and a fast-moving novel. Quirk has done it. The language is gorgeous, packed, and muscular. Yet it moves like quicksilver. The characters, at fist glance being comic book characters, quickly become depthful and complex. Each of them is engaged in an intense interior struggle for self-definition. Chet is physically driven, apolitical, plagued with guilt and limited by his machismo. Denny is physically disabled, politically driven, super confident, yet limited by other people's perceptions of his disability. Ho is artistically driven, child caring, trans-gender, and fears the mechanization that Chet and Denny adore. Read Quirk's interview on the ultimaterush.com Web Site and you will be amazed to find the author without his Chet Griffin mask, and you will see that he is not merely an energetic mass market writer but a serious artist who is deeply aware of the literary issues at the turn of this millenium. ! I am extremely interested to see what his sophomore effort brings. One thing I know, it won't be predictable.

Rating:
Summary: An entertaining book with a fast paced delivery.
Review: Joe Quirk did a great job in writing this thrilling adventure in today's youthfull environment. Will pass it on to friends for them to read. Should not offend anyone. Early high school or above. Waitng to see what else this author can deliver.

Rating:
Summary: A real poet, unfortunately not a novelist
Review: Joe Quirk would make an excellent poet, his lines are excellently quotable, real art. The story is slow and not quite believable. The characters are shallow. He obviously isn't a messenger and never has been or even been close friends with one. He does capture the spirit though. The story is strictly b-grade. Some of the lines are pure art. It took me a year to work my way through this book (i average about 2 days) but I'm glad I did. Advice to Joe; write about what you know. If Joe Quirk does that he could be the next Tom Clancy. Otherwise, skaters, bladers and bike messengers will enjoy parts of this one; otherwise not recommended for general reading. Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to his sequel. Ross Gauld, Publisher, humidity, Houston's bike courier 'zine