Rating: 
Summary: Excellent writing, flawed story, extreme violence
Review: Pete Dexter paints a vivid picture of life for Afro-Americans in 1950s L.A., but he doesn't have the plot to go with it. The story of Train, an Afro-American golf caddie, is excellently told. The other two characters are less well-rounded. Is Packard really a police sergeant? He seems to work only part-time, if that. I couldn't get a real reading on him. And Norah. The description of what happens to her is almost too awful to read. I feel that Dexter invented her as a pivot to connect Packard and Train. I think the plot lost steam as Packard began taking Train to play golf for money. Dexter tried to tie it all up in the end, but the novel lost its focus in my opinion. Who is the lead character afterall? I finished the book feeling up in the air about what I am supposed to think. As for Train, why is he so tied to Plural? I guess he'll just go on as best he can. The descriptions of him and his dog tugged at my heart. Being inside Train's head is a wonderful experience. But readers who want a more well rounded Dexter book should go for his novel "Paris Trout." That is a real winner.
Rating: 
Summary: Noir-ish psycho thriller about racism in 50s America
Review: Pete Dexter's latest novel "Train" is a sure fire winner that simply reaffirms Dexter's incontrovertible status as one of today's great contemporary writers of American fiction. "Train" is a distinctively noir-ish psychological thriller that doesn't pull any punches in examining the spectacle of open-faced racism in 50s America and its tragic social consequences.
Lionel "Train" Walk has a talent he can't show because he's black and accepted on the golf course only as a caddie who treads quietly behind his tote. He understands the social rules of the times only too well, ie, that in order to survive, someone like him needs to keep his head down and avoid trouble at all cost. But trouble has a way of following him around, first when he faces off a nasty situation with his boss who steals money left by a client for the widow of a fellow caddie who dies on duty, then when he finds himself in a mysteriously unresolved confrontation with his would-be stepfather one night, and finally when Packard Miller adopts him as his protégé on the golfing circuit, things start to spiral out of control.
When Packard Miller, the enigmatic and emotionally challenged police sergeant, gets involved with Norah Rose, a rape victim and sole survivor of a yacht hijacking and then marries her, the murder-cum-rape investigation takes a queasy turn, surely a commentary on the irrelevance of reasoning in the face of retaliation against racism. Miller, as it turns out, discovers too late that he cannot hide from himself, so even as he pulls poor scarred Norah into the future with her back to the past, his own unresolved nature resurfaces to haunt him with shocking and horrific results.
Dexter's narrative technique is nothing short of brilliant. His storytelling is also as evocative and atmospheric as you'd expect a noir-ish thriller to be. Even his minor characters, like susan - yes, Susan with a small s - the mincing tease and young photographer wife of failed property developer Mr Cooper, is a revelation. The passage describing the "explosive" effect she had on young Train gives new meaning to eroticism in prose. There can't also be a more powerful indictment of racism than in Plural's decline from hiring out his head and suffering permanent brain damage from it.
If I'm allowed two small criticisms, I'd say that Packard's character is underwritten and in need of further elaboration. The last few chapters also seem to lack momentum, so when the big payoff arrives, it misses - by a small margin - the sweet spot as the story grinds to a halt.
That said, "Train" is a dazzling triumph and one of the best novels I have read all year.
Rating:
Summary: "The world is a hungry place, man¿"
Review: Pete Dexter's noir fiction brings California in the 1950s to dark and sinister life, as he presents two grim, but ironically humorous plots. Miller Packard, a police sergeant with an eye for easy cash, is a man who enjoys high stakes golf games and does not hesitate to associate with questionable playing partners and opponents when he's "on his game." Packard is called to investigate a brutal double murder and rape aboard a boat in Newport Beach, a crime which echoes throughout the novel when he becomes involved with the young widow of the murdered man. Alternating with the story of Packard, his investigations, and his love life is the story of Lionel Walk, known as Train, an 18-year-old black caddy at the exclusive Brookline Country Club. Conscientious and anxious to do a good job, Train is at the mercy of the world, a young man with a good heart who never seems to catch a break, and Dexter is particularly effective in bringing him to life. Although Dexter remains faithful to the third person narrative, he tailors his language and points of view to the specific plots he is developing. The action at the golf courses involving Train's life is told from a caddy's-eye view and is described in a deceptively plain-spoken and ungrammatical style. The story line involving Packard is related in more grammatical terms, though Packard is earthy and often uncritical in his observations. The club members' rampant bigotry, casual cruelty, disrespect, and complete disregard for the feelings of the all-black caddy staff and grounds crew are reflected in scenes involving both Train and Packard, with vividly realized dialogue which stings and insults. Golfers will enjoy the lively accounts of games in which money changes hands, along with colorful descriptions of dress, mannerisms, and players' temperaments. A very fat player in pastel golf pants is described as having thighs that look like "children hiding in the curtains" when he walks. Exaggeration, absurdity, irony, and black humor fill every page. At times exciting, suspenseful, and darkly humorous, this novel is also brutal, violent, and pessimistic. Though Train and Packard both profit when their lives come together, no reader will be surprised by the outcome. As the author has made abundantly clear, the world is a "hungry place...and whatever kind of thing you is, there's something out there that likes to eat it." Despite the fine writing, lively dialogue, unique descriptions, and oddball characters, some readers may be put off by this bleak view of life and human nature. Mary Whipple
Rating:
Summary: Long Descent Into Hell
Review: Peter Dexter's Train is being marketed as a suspense thriller, and that might explain some of the reviews that are appearing here. Although the book is centered around a premise that would only appear in that genre, Train is a mystery thriller without any mystery. Instead, it is about the way characters are affected by situations that are way beyond their means and understanding. Train is a seventeen year old black boy who knows nothing but hardship. Growing up in a time of racial inequity, Train faces the very same prejudice every day. He works as a caddy at a golf course, getting nothing but a few bucks a week. When two of the caddies working at the same golf course brutally attack a woman, killing her husband in the process, Train is fired from his job and left on the street. As the story progresses, the novel follows Train as he finds a new job on another golf course. The novel also follows the woman who was brutally attacked and who falls in love with the cop who saved her, and the cop who only lives one way: on the edge. Great characters entertwine in this complex narrative that never ceases to impress. Dexter's writing is often funny (some of his every-day observations made me laugh out loud quite a few times, especially one concerning eggs and chicken), and often dark. Dexter uses elegant prose while telling the story of the rich woman, and slang and bad grammar when telling Train's story, which only adds to the characters's complexity. Dexter uses characters that are broken beyond repair to tell an otherwise simple story. Train is the kind of innocent, naive character who is just awaiting his awakening. He goes through life accepting what he sees without really questioning anything. He encounters these various characters (also including a blind man and slew of rich golf players) with indifference. When he finally finds a way to escape the life he leads - golf - Train realizes that there is much more for him out in the world. Only, he can't reach the greatness awaiting him because of racial issues. Train is the kind of novel Elmore Leonard would have written in the early part of his career, only with better characters and better writing. I enjoyed reading every single word printed in this novel, and can't wait to give it another shot.
Rating:
Summary: ALOT TO THINK ABOUT
Review: Racism is central to this story; but, so is venality, and loss of hope. Human communication is missing. The central figure is trapped in this wasted landscape; he is searching for someone, or something to touch, but he is doomed to disappointment. The " Titanic " effect is everywhere. Violence erupts without warning, or reason. Train is stoical throughout,but at the end, having tasted success on the golf course,( and as a person ), he must accept the step back into non entity. It is a bitter recognition. However, he does not shirk his responsibility to his blind friend,Plural; even at great cost to himself. On the other hand, Packard, a white cop, has never been able to move outside himself; and in the final analysis, pays the price. I found this a thought provoking story, told with great skill.
It was my first Pete Dexter. Next, I will try "Paris Trout"
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't work
Review: The author tries to pull together a varied cast of characters,
and from various periods of our history, and it doesn't
seem to work.
There is much brutality presented, and old-time racism is at
the heart of much of the writing, but this book doesn't make
it very interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Racism is a Losing Proposition
Review: This is a tough book to like. None of the characters are all that redeeming yet I recommend this book because of its insights on the destructive results of racism and discrimination. Dexter has an important perspective on the subject which tends to show how everyone loses. He also tends to imply that as destructive as racism is, we are all vulnerable to being sucked into it. The main character in this book is a caddy names Lionel "Train" Walk who is truly a great golfer and eventually is befriended by a policeman/hustler Miller Packard. Being a black caddy in Los Angeles a number of decades ago was not a pleasant experience. During the book, Lionel will be wrongly arrested and will have problems keeping a job. The one job he eventually lands is in playing golf for high stakes with Miller Packard who funds the entire enterprise while relying on Train's abilities. Packard's experience with racism is exacerbated by the experience of his girlfriend, a social activist whose husband is brutally murdered. Throughout the book, the characters will encounter a number of challenging events that often force them to reconsider their stands on race and relationships. The only constant in the book is a dark and bleak outlook along with Lionel's stellar golfing. As a whole, the book will not leave you with a warm feeling about humanity but will cause you to think long and hard about an important subject. The only annoyance is there seems to be a few plot threads that are left hanging in the end. Still, worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Racism is a Losing Proposition
Review: This is a tough book to like. None of the characters are all that redeeming yet I recommend this book because of its insights on the destructive results of racism and discrimination. Dexter has an important perspective on the subject which tends to show how everyone loses. He also tends to imply that as destructive as racism is, we are all vulnerable to being sucked into it. The main character in this book is a caddy names Lionel "Train" Walk who is truly a great golfer and eventually is befriended by a policeman/hustler Miller Packard. Being a black caddy in Los Angeles a number of decades ago was not a pleasant experience. During the book, Lionel will be wrongly arrested and will have problems keeping a job. The one job he eventually lands is in playing golf for high stakes with Miller Packard who funds the entire enterprise while relying on Train's abilities. Packard's experience with racism is exacerbated by the experience of his girlfriend, a social activist whose husband is brutally murdered. Throughout the book, the characters will encounter a number of challenging events that often force them to reconsider their stands on race and relationships. The only constant in the book is a dark and bleak outlook along with Lionel's stellar golfing. As a whole, the book will not leave you with a warm feeling about humanity but will cause you to think long and hard about an important subject. The only annoyance is there seems to be a few plot threads that are left hanging in the end. Still, worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Really 4 and 1/2 stars.
Review: This was my first encounter with Pete Dexter's writing, and it certainly makes me want to find his other works. This novel avoids the cliches and easy answers that many books dealing with race seem to embrace, and that makes it a welcome change from other works. It is 1950's era Los Angeles, and the three main characters are headed for a kind of awkward collision through the course of its pages. There's a mysterious detective (who doesn't do much detecting, oddly), an heiress who is the victim of a horrific attack, and the title character who caddies and eventually golfs his way into a kind of respectability. Dexter's brilliance resides in his ability to describe concisely both the characters and the scene, building his plot through seemingly small events to a logical conclusion. This book will appeal to people familiar with film noir and its trappings, but it will also resonate with anyone interested in the recent past and the plight of African-Americans and those who have exploited race issues for their own ends. Parts made me angry, and other parts gave me a real sense of how Train saw the world. Any time a writer can open a world for me, I feel better when finishing his work. Although it's not a feel good kind of book, Train did give me a fresh perspective on the recent past.
Rating:
Summary: I hope Pete's not running out of gas..
Review: You can read the synopsis of this novel in any of the above reviews. The bottom line is, this book isn't up to Dexter's talent. I think the people who gave this book 4 and 5 stars are big Dexter fans (as am I), however, they're being way too generous on this bomb. Read The Paperboy, then read Paris Trout. After that, you'll know how great Dexter is when he's on his game.
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