Rating: 
Summary: Great Fun, Even For Yankees!
Review: I found this book by accident in a used book store. a very pleasant surprise! A book populated with all bad guys. But, it's just fiction and for fun. This book is like Andrew Vachss with a smile. Noir, with a night light burning in the darkness. Pick up a copy and have a good time.
Rating: 
Summary: I Love The Cover!!!
Review: I had a chance to see an advance copy of this attractive book at one of Rosemary Daniell's Zona Rosa meetings and I have to say the cover is quite fetching.
There is a lovely pixelated effect applied to the artwork. Willard tells me it was an accident and some effort was required to duplicate it again. I plan to buy a copy of this as soon as it is released
Rating: 
Summary: The "Fairmont" Motel? Willard should be ashamed!
Review: I happen to have grown up "down on Ponce" and live there today. Thus I was excited to read this book, hoping Willard would really pick up on some of the famous characters in this neighborhood, the way Berendt did in _Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil_. For example, I was hoping Willard would write about the infamous Blondie the way Berendt wrote about the Lady Chablis. Not that I expected Willard to COPY Berendt's approach, but Berendt truly wrote the stronger book, in my opinion. The first chapter captivated me with a great plot twist right from the start. But once the story got going, I realized that, even though the characters are unique and interesting and the story line is pretty good (it fizzles out as you go, though), it really wouldn't make any difference if Willard set it on Ponce or in some other city. He wasn't descriptive enough--when reading it, I could not always visualize where the characters were. And changing the name of the Clermont Motel to the "Fairmont" was just ridiculous. The other problem with this book is the poor editing and proofreading. Publishing a book with mispelled words and grammatical errors throughout the non-dialogue text is an embarrassment! If you're looking for a good book about quirky, offbeat characters in a quirky, offbeat setting, _Midnight_ is a far better read and more worth your while.
Rating:
Summary: The "Fairmont" Motel? Willard should be ashamed!
Review: I happen to have grown up "down on Ponce" and live there today. Thus I was excited to read this book, hoping Willard would really pick up on some of the famous characters in this neighborhood, the way Berendt did in _Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil_. For example, I was hoping Willard would write about the infamous Blondie the way Berendt wrote about the Lady Chablis. Not that I expected Willard to COPY Berendt's approach, but Berendt truly wrote the stronger book, in my opinion. The first chapter captivated me with a great plot twist right from the start. But once the story got going, I realized that, even though the characters are unique and interesting and the story line is pretty good (it fizzles out as you go, though), it really wouldn't make any difference if Willard set it on Ponce or in some other city. He wasn't descriptive enough--when reading it, I could not always visualize where the characters were. And changing the name of the Clermont Motel to the "Fairmont" was just ridiculous. The other problem with this book is the poor editing and proofreading. Publishing a book with mispelled words and grammatical errors throughout the non-dialogue text is an embarrassment! If you're looking for a good book about quirky, offbeat characters in a quirky, offbeat setting, _Midnight_ is a far better read and more worth your while.
Rating:
Summary: An excellant read!
Review: I was able to fortunate enough to obtain an early release of Fred Willards first book. I was delighted. I happen to read alot of crime fiction and would put Down on Ponce among the best. The characters are clearly defined and are easy to like or hate.The book is also very funny in an off beat sort af way, a little like C.Hiason. The story is easy to follow with a few suprises. A Definate Page Turner
Rating: 
Summary: Great book for Michael Moore fans
Review: In the first few chapters, a rich Republican asks the hero to kill his wife, a Republican politician induces a solitary orgasm while watching anti-abortion wackos throw fetuses at a 15-year-old girl, and (presumably) Republican businessmen refuse to tip their waitresses. I stopped reading after the narrator has a dream in which everyone in America turns into cockroaches the day after Ronald Reagan is elected. I've read and enjoyed many books where conservatives are cast as the villains, but this isn't a novel - it's a dehumanizing and contempt-filled screed. But that's just my reaction. If you enjoy books by Michael Moore or Al Franken (and many people do), you'll probably love this.
Rating:
Summary: A former Atlantan says "right on target"
Review: Mr. Willard has certainly hit the nail on the head in this comical tale of the seediest section of Atlanta. As a former resident of that city (now living in NYC) I felt wonderfully reminiscent reading about some very familiar Atlanta landmarks and the all too plausible events that take place there. I believe this is Willard's first novel, and he's off to a wonderful start.
Rating:
Summary: Not one character to like in this book
Review: Mr. Willard's constant use of foul language suggests the mind of a twelve year old who has just learned the meaning of a few naughty words. The characters in this book are unlikeable at best, and certainly not anyone that I have enjoyed spending time with as a reader. Mr. Willard gives an excellent description of street people, and chooses the lowest of the low-lifes to inhabit his world. As someone who spent eight years working in my city's version of "Ponce", I can say without a doubt, there is nothing redeemable about this book or it's characters. I like to read books about people I would like to know. I would go out of my way to avoid these disgusting, useless, and beyond the fringe of society characters.
Rating:
Summary: A real winner!!!!!!
Review: Sam, a man with numerous aliases, knew it was time to leave town when his life seemed to free zone drop into utter chaos. It starts when James Shirley, a friend of an unnamed friend, asks Sam Fuller (the alias of the moment) to kill his wife, Anne Marie. Divorce is out of the question. Sam visits Anne Marie to warn her about James even as he keeps the $30,000 retainer fee. Sam decides to leave town and start over in Atlanta. In Atlanta, Sam meets a new group of friends, who hope to begin a successful life as criminals. The motley crew plan to steal cash from a group that leads the South in laundering illegal money. However, this wannabe felony team is not a who's who on committing the perfect crime. Though he has joined the team, Sam wonders whether he has jumped into the fire just to escape the frying pan. DOWN ON Ponce is a strange but ultimately fascinating and intriguing mystery novel that highlights the shadier side of the peach tree. The lovable characters are as eccentric a group as anyone has placed in a novel in several years and the gritty story line is extremely fascinating and mesmerizing. Hopefully, this is the first of many Sam novels by Fred Willard, who makes Elmore Leonard look like the writer of a British cozy. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Not your typical crime novel...
Review: This is the first crime novel I've ever read with a ripe sense of humor, a richly constructed maniac of a main character, and a real depth to the landscape. No self-righteous heros. No generic urban setting. No postmodern bitterness -- but a sort of dogged glee in a total infusion of low-down behavior. _Down on Ponce_ is funny and wry, full of freaks, packed with plot, a real page-turner. Buy it. Read it. Memorize lines from it. Use them on your boss. Gain respect. Become feared. Command a higher salary. Retire in style.
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