Rating: 
Summary: SO GOOD I "GOT IT" TWICE
Review: A friend lent me the book. Read it, loved it, ordered a copy 'cause I thought I owed it to the author. It's that good. I'm curious: a couple of reviewers gave it bad marks and apparently haven't read it. Clearly hattters, but this is the kind of book that'll rock you if you're not ready. Should have a warning label: for the intellectually hearty only!
Rating:
Summary: Noir at its bleakest and best
Review: John Ridley has range. He wrote the story for the movie Three Kings [the George Clooney role was originally written as a black man], wrote the movie Undercover Brother, and writes for the NBC show Third Watch. When it comes to his novels, Ridley describes himself as a follower of Dashiell Hammett and Damon Runyan. He is a credit to his masters. This action-packed book evokes the edgy bleak spirit of all the great black-and-white film noir movies, but without a single cliche and with a fresh take. Its dark humor, absolutely modern characters, and visceral violence reminded me of Pulp Fiction. Beneath its ironically comic, beat-inspired narrative tone, The Drift manages to trace a fallen man's shot at personal redemption. This is a powerful, streamlined tale that hits you like one of the locomotives it describes. You'll read it in as few sittings as you possibly can. This was the first Ridley novel I've tried, and definitely will NOT be the last. I've never found a book so wildly entertaining while dealing with a host of serious societal issues. Ridley is a major talent, and The Drift is a brutal, cold gem.
Rating: 
Summary: Ride the rails
Review: Not many books have a hobo as a hero, this does. Bleak and unique, you will be introduced to a view not seen before.
Rating: 
Summary: Simplistic and sophmoric
Review: Not one idea deeper than a mud puddle in August, not one theme more lasting than the dew. A novel to make Harlequin romance readers weep for their relative depth and complexity.
Rating:
Summary: The Darkside in Us All
Review: The Drift had very little to do with the rails and everything to do with the directions we take in life and the fingerprints we leave behind. It is said that some of us are a paycheck away from being homeless. After reading, John Ridley's latest book I conclude insanity is one issue away from humanity with a little political help. Riding the rails of life, I gather is a metaphor for the government we live in. That same government/life Charlie wanted to escape. The bureaucracy that [attacked] and tormented him until he found a protector; he affectionately named George Plimpton which he kept close. Born as Charles Harmon he incarnated himself as Brain Nigger Charlie. Brain Nigger feels indebted to Chocolate Walt, when he asks Brain to find his niece. Without a second thought, Brain leaves for his journey. A journey in which he finds more then he bargains for. John Ridley did a superb job of impregnating us with a different theory regarding the government and riding the rails. This book is truly a must read by all.
Rating:
Summary: You gotta read this one.
Review: THE DRIFT is another stellar effort from John Ridley. With "Conversation with the Mann" just coming out a few months ago, I was suprised to see THE DRIFT so soon. The pleasant suprise continued with the first pages of THE DRIFT -- John Ridley is among the best and is getting better! From the book description one gets an idea of what the story is about so a synopsis is not needed here, but accolades are. The journey is fast paced, thought provoking, and very dark. So dark in fact that it may turn off some more mainstream readers, however, it is worth every discomfort and upon further thought, the book's darkness and violence does inflict a deeper mental impact (the imagery stays with you) and thankfully, there are moments of humor to lift us out of the mire. I hope John Ridley remains this prolific and we'll be reading him for years to come. A must read.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Start, Great Middle, Lousy Finish
Review: The Drift started out wonderful. It has charachters you can relate to, you sympathize with, get involved with. They evolve the deeper you get into the book. I even took a liking to his stick that became his "right hand man" so to speak. But the ending sucked!!! To have gone all that way, risked life and limb, laid up in hospital three times, just for his friend to respond the way he did when Charlie told him his neice was dead and he killed her....I almost screamed. No wonder he lived on the rails...you'd have to be crazy to do all of that.
Rating:
Summary: Good Start, Great Middle, Lousy Finish
Review: The Drift started out wonderful. It has charachters you can relate to, you sympathize with, get involved with. They evolve the deeper you get into the book. I even took a liking to his stick that became his "right hand man" so to speak. But the ending sucked!!! To have gone all that way, risked life and limb, laid up in hospital three times, just for his friend to respond the way he did when Charlie told him his neice was dead and he killed her....I almost screamed. No wonder he lived on the rails...you'd have to be crazy to do all of that.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent -- a wonderful performance
Review: Wooden George Plimpton, alluring Elle Macpherson, ill-named Mathais Smikle and Brain Nigger Charlie (a name to put the politically correct off immediately, but you soon learn how he got the name and why he wears it, so you accept it as he does). These are a few of the characters you'll meet in a book of great story-telling and fine writing.
Among other reviews here, I liked John Bowes succinct "bleak and unique" description and I held the opposite view of Mi-Mi's disappointment with the ending -- I thought it fit the mindset of the man perfectly.
I'll spare you any more rhetoric -- just read any of the fine comments in the four- and five-star reviews of this book. Reading John Ridley's prose is like watching a tightrope walker over a gorge. You are slightly breathless hoping he maintains that steady, mesmerizing line of progress and delicate balance throughout the entire journey. Ridley definitely does, making The Drift a harrowing, exhiliarating experience for the reader.
Rating:
Summary: A "BEST" READ
Review: You'd be hard pressed to find a book that is more visceral, thoughtful, insightful and emotional. That this book will be polarizing to some doesn't diminish its strength. In fact, it enhances it. While it is certainly Hard Boiled fiction, good luck finding anything quite like it - an former middle class black, now a hobo, riding the rails. It's a stunner. And Ridley's a hell of a writer.
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