Crystal Meth Cowboys

Rating:
Summary: Gritty Cop Drama
Review: "Officer Bell raised his baton over his head and, using all the leverage of a long arm on a tall body, RANG the crown of the naked man's skull like a ball peen hammer on a ten penny nail." - - from Crystal Meth Cowboys

Authenticity is vital for any good cop story. Too many novels written about police officers and how they do what they do read like the author's only expertise comes from watching reruns of the television show "Law & Order." Not so with John Knoerle's excellent "Crystal Meth Cowboys," a gritty thriller written with the kind of detail that could only come from having spent time riding around in a squad car. It is a quirky, hard-boiled novel in the tradition of Elmore Leonard, filed with moments of graphic violence, but also warmth and humor.

As the story begins, we meet rookie patrolman Wes Lyedecker during his first night working the streets of Wislow, California. His partner, Officer Thomas Bell, is the most colorful cop on the force, a man with a sharp wit and a natural instinct for trouble. The two men bond quickly after a routine disturbance call brings them face-to-face with a wildly deranged suspect overdosing on methamphetamine. Alerted by this deadly confrontation to a surge in the local supply of the drug, Bell begins to suspect that a meth lab is operating in the area. When he and the young Lyedecker investigate, they start to unravel a deadly conspiracy.

Knoerle gets all of the details just right, especially the descriptions of law enforcement procedures and nomenclature. He gives his police characters realistically colorful dialog, including an amusing bit in which the experienced Bell bewilders the neophyte Lyedecker with a barrage of unexplained acronyms. The two protagonists are quirky and unique, especially Officer Bell, yet the story is not all about life on the job. In the background are a romantic subplot and a mayoral election that the two officers become intimately involved in.

"Crystal Meth Cowboys" is the first of what should be many successful novels for Mr. Knoerle. A relatively short book (204 pages in paperback form), it's a must read for anyone who enjoys police stories with a strong dose of realism.

A Futures Magazine Book Review

Rating:
Summary: A brutal & shocking novel of drug use and reckless violence
Review: Crystal Meth Cowboys is a brutal and shocking novel of drug use and reckless violence. Candid, direct language and explicit description mark this savage yet darkly compelling tale. The prevalence of deadly drugs makes for a chilling core theme. Not just another police procedural, John Knoerle is here documented as an outstandingly gifted writer with a keen and wicked since of humor, a superbly crafted storyteller timing, and distinctive originality.

Rating:
Summary: Knoerle Gets It Done! Brilliant!
Review: John Knoerle has written a novel that's right up there with the very best of Carl Hiassen, Elmore Leonard and Michael Connelly. This is a crime novel that has humor, velocity and a neo-noir realism that takes your breath away. This guy can flat-out WRITE. A pleasure from first page to last. Discover him before he's on the cover of People Magazine (and if anyone in Hollywood is reading this, here's your next big movie -- The ironic grit of "Pulp Fiction" and the pace (and the setting) of a Roadrunner cartoon.

Rating:
Summary: Crystal Meth: A Vivid Technicolor Masterpiece
Review: Prepare to have your senses supercharged, your awareness stretched 'till it either hurts or crosses that invisible barrier into ecstasy. Knoerle uses the entire prose canvas without turning the whole affair into a seff-idulgent jazz freeflow, orchestrating character, space and time so brilliantly that the senses are excited to near overwhelm, like the drug bearing the title, but without any of the side effects. Proof that a good story isn't in the drama, conflict, plot points or suspense-and yes, Crystal Meth Cowboys has all of this-but in how it is told, the manner in which metaphor is diffused from "molecules contracting inside a tea kettle," as Wes and the Mayor-elect pause to consider the absurdity of what they are doing, both from an intimate and existential framework, and its lasting impact on our own consciousness. To this end, Knoerle is more than an author. He's a brave catalyst to our own enlightenment-whether we love him or will forever curse his name for this is another matter-but in either case, it's a rare achievement for a writer of fiction. Indeed, what all great writers set out to do.

Rating:
Summary: Read This
Review: Taking a chance on a new author often disappoints--this one doesn't. In the cop drama genre, this book is fast paced and funny at times, sad at others. I kept wanting to sit down and read to find out where the story was going and what was going to happen to the two main charcters, Wes and Bell. The story didn't rely on predictability and kept me surprised. It is gritty in language and imagery but it worked well for me.

Rating:
Summary: Read This
Review: Taking a chance on a new author often disappoints--this one doesn't. In the cop drama genre, this book is fast paced and funny at times, sad at others. I kept wanting to sit down and read to find out where the story was going and what was going to happen to the two main charcters, Wes and Bell. The story didn't rely on predictability and kept me surprised. It is gritty in language and imagery but it worked well for me.

Rating:
Summary: An authentic discovery.
Review: This is why I take chances with new authors-- once in a great while, I find someone whose first book clearly shows the ability to produce a rich and satisfying body of work. John Knoerle is on the path. He has the elegant phrases of Dennis Lehane, the wicked political and social anarchy and dark humor of Carl Hiaasen and the mousetrap construction of Thomas Perry. Crystal Meth Cowboys is K.C. Constantine meets Jimmy Breslin-- The Gang Who Couldn't Shoot Straight does, and they've got badges.