Love Is a Racket

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Summary: Funny and moving noir
Review: "Truth: Whenever there are two people sharing space there's somebody trying to pull something on someone else. The plans aren't always big and grand, and the scam isn't always strictly illegal, but everybody's got a racket." -- Love is a Racket

It starts with the sound of broken fingers and lauches into a darkly funny attack on free health care, letting us know immediately that Love is a Racket by John Ridley (the author of Stray Dogs, which was turned into Oliver Stone's U-Turn) is no lighthearted romp.

Ridley quickly shows us that his protagonist Jeffty (the owner of those broken fingers) is a real loser. He can't even seem to sell drugs properly and he drives a GM Corvair. As he tells it, "In L.A., you are what you drive. Me? I'm unsafe at any speed" (citing the famous book by social activist Ralph Nader). When he attends a double feature of films starring Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews (Laura and Where the Sidewalk Ends), he paints himself instantly with a negative brush as he describes his co-patrons. "Losers all," he says, then adds, "I fit in quite cozily."

In the midst of trying to pay back a steadily-increasing debt to Haitian bookie Dumas, our loser -- er ... hero -- gets a visitor that looks like a n easy payday. His friend, Nellis, with whom he shared a life-changing event for both of them -- turns out to be a sure hand at zen poker: he can tell who at a poker table has (or will have) the winning hand; if it's not him, he folds. Jeffty sees in Nellis a way out of his predicament and they head on the road to Vegas.

Most of Love is a Racket consists of Jeffty looking for myriad ways out of this hole he has dug for himself, with Dumas continually getting angrier and using increasingly more violent methods of persuasion. Making him a failed screenwriter was a smart move, because it not only gives him a broken dream to lament, but also makes him instantly sympathetic and makes the articulate prose of this sad sack realistic. Mainstream readers can follow the plot and musings with getting distracted by slang or dialect. It also makes him seem smarter than the average person and his creative methods for getting out of trouble more entertaining.

And Love is a Racket is definitely entertaining. The autobiographical aspects of the book make it fascinating on another level, but it is on its own a satisfying and moving read, especially after the entry of what amounts to a loser's love interest in vagabond Mona. (I learned from Lawrence Block's Grifter's Game to steer clear of women named Mona.) They have a fascinating conversation about Frank Sinatra films, the kind that only happens in fiction (and usually that written by Elmore Leonard). Ridley also shows some of Leonard's skill in his ability to milk humor out of even the most shocking and disturbing events, the likes of which continually seem to happen to Jeffty.

The ending gets a little crazy as Ridley attempts to wrap up several plot points simultaneously within thirty pages, but the majority of Love is a Racket is a remarkable variation on modern noir that fans of the genre (and especially of the new paperback imprint Hard Case Crime) would enjoy.

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Summary: It's Depressing that Someone Who Writes So Well...
Review: hmm... what does a man do after scooping some dudes brain and skull bits off of his floor with a spoon? Read this excellent book and find out! The Hollywood that everybody sees, and pretends not to, is vividly, and excellently portrayed in this gritty noir excersise. The protagonost is the classic underdog in which all of us can relate to. It is through his eyes, that a story of crushed dreams, and one last chance at redemption unfolds. This novel is dark, but VERY funny. A hard trick that Mr. Ridley pulls off deftly. Youll love this book!

Rating:
Summary: love is a racket
Review: i have read 208 pages and i am bored with this book. i don't think i can finish it.

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Summary: Another Stepping Stone to Greatness
Review: I read John Ridley's first novel, 'Stray Dogs' and was pleased. Beyond that, however, it didn't blow me away. It was nasty, compact and smartly written, but in the end I deemed it merely servicable. Thank God I picked up his sophmore effort to show me exactly how much Ridley has grown as a writer. Love is a Racket is smarter, funnier, edgier, more densely plotted and filled with a cast of deeply written characters. Plus, the ending was brilliant; both unexpected, and, if you think about it, the only way the whole thing could have ended up. All great writers get better with age; it's part of the evolution of their craft. With a second book this good, I can't wait for the release of Mr. Ridley's next book, 'We All Smoke in Hell.'

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Summary: What a Great Racket!!!
Review: It would be too easy to say that Ridley puts Jim Thompson's characters in the sub-basement of Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles. There are echoes of both masters in this book, but mostly in the sense that the people and places are made real by Ridley's skill. The pace is brisk, and the dialog sparkles. If there is one quibble, it is with one (unnecessary) sentence that telegraphs the ending, but this doesn't detract from the entertainment the book provides. It may not be great literature, but it is great fun.

Rating:
Summary: Yeah it's good -- but not that good!
Review: John Ridley gets better with every book I read. I look forward to his novels with baited breath. I read Stray dogs (it became the movie Uturn, I believe) anyway The book was soo much better than the movie and then Love is a racket blew me away with the action and the things that can happen when you least expect it and then Everyone smokes in hell came out and I liked that even more, if he keeps it up he will be the only author I like enough to buy hardcover! if you like Quentin Tarantino movies you will like John Ridley's books even more. He is one of the best thriller/action fiction writers of his time.

Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite authors, he has done it again
Review: John Ridley gets better with every book I read. I look forward to his novels with baited breath. I read Stray dogs (it became the movie Uturn, I believe) anyway The book was soo much better than the movie and then Love is a racket blew me away with the action and the things that can happen when you least expect it and then Everyone smokes in hell came out and I liked that even more, if he keeps it up he will be the only author I like enough to buy hardcover! if you like Quentin Tarantino movies you will like John Ridley's books even more. He is one of the best thriller/action fiction writers of his time.

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Summary: the joke's on you
Review: John Ridley's new novel put's him right up there in the company of America's greatest crime writers. His first novel, "Stray Dogs", was a smart, nasty little noir, all full of twists and turns that kept Ridley and his book at least one step ahead of the reader, but in "Love is a Racket" he tells a great story and he creates some of the most memorable characters you'll meet in any recent fiction. He's also got a wonderfully sly sense of humor . This is a novel where someone's always the brunt of a con or a good joke, the reader included. (Yep, and when you've been fooled by a master -- and Ridley is a master -- it's surprising how good it feels.) Read "Love is a Racket" and you'll be reminded that Elmore Leonard's just a pit stop on the way to better stuff.

Rating:
Summary: Beyond brilliant.
Review: No author I've ever read writes with as much passion as John Ridley. Love Is A Racket is one of the great American novels of the 20th century and beyond... Each and every character (ranging from depraved to downright vile) is so well developed, you feel for all of them. John Ridley is without a doubt, the best crime noir author (if not the best author period) around right now. Top of the line.

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Summary: The Best description of Broken Fingers ever
Review: This is a very gritty novel with little hope, but Ridley's writing talent captures you. The writer's ability to describe feelings that most us have had but could never convey to others gives the book a sense of truth that sets it apart.

Not for the squeamish, but a very worthwhile read.