Wild Horses

Rating:
Summary: Best book of the year (so far, of course)
Review: Best Book of the Year...so far. I read and rank about 90 novels a year and finished Wild Horses at about 4:00 a.m. today. It is the best novel I've read this year out of 24 to date, placing ahead of frontrunners Be Cool (Elmore Leonard), Hush Money (Robert B. Parker), The Lonely Hearts Club (Ethan Black), and Mistaken Identity (Lisa Scottoline), enjoyable books all. I would guess that most authors dislike being compared to others, however I can pay Hodge no higher compliment than to say that reading Wild Horses was like reading Carl Hiaasen meets Dan Jenkins meets James W. Hall. I might even throw in a little John D. MacDonald. Hodge's dialogue, characterizations, and themes are outstanding and his usage borders on the poetic. Although I thought his plot a little slow in developing, the ending kept me up until well past my bedtime. I've not read previous Hodge works, but I loved every page of this book and look forward to his next.

Rating:
Summary: Good stuff.
Review: Brian Hodge, Wild Horses (Morrow, 1999)

Brian Hodge spent the early half of the nineties being one of the most weirdly original writers of horror fiction of our time. (Impossible to travel through, say Nightlife without saying "where does he GET this stuff?" at least once. Trust me.) So when this-a mainstream (gasp) novel that, from the description, sounds equally reminiscent of John Ridley's Stray Dogs and Doug Winter's Run-hit the shelves, I was a bit leery of it. I have watched other horror authors attempt this transformation and fail miserably. (Exceptions are to be made for such authors as Kathe Koja and Lucius Shepard, who were writing literature to begin with.)

Hodge does the job, and he does it well. His main character is day-care worker Allison Willoughby, who finds out her boyfriend, Boyd, is cheating on her. After a confrontation with Boyd and the ex-showgirl lover, Allison gets ready to move out. Before she does, she cleans out Boyd's laptop. What Allison doesn't know is that one of the things she erased was a file with the information necessary to get seven hundred thousand dollars stored in an offshore account which Boyd and the lover have been skimming from the casino in which Boyd is a dealer. Allison's headed back to her childhood home to settle some old ghosts, blissfully unaware that both Boyd and his new girlfriend, and the lover and her sadistic husband, are after her.

As far as the wonderful world of the crime/suspense thriller goes, if you're looking for a quick way to turn your brain off, get a few good one-liners, and have yourself a merry old time, you need look no further than Wild Horses. Fast-paced, straightforward, sharp, and funny, there is a good deal here to be enjoyed. A few folks who are unfamiliar with Hodge's earlier work in the horror genre might find themselves wincing a time or two at some of his more loving descriptions of damage caused by various characters, but overall you shouldn't have a problem with it. (Just keep reading. He'll stop after a paragraph or so. Honest.)

My only real problem with the book is that every once in a while a two-dimensional character pops up whose sole purpose in the novel is to advance the plot. But they are few, and while they're not far between they disappear pretty quickly once you're into the second half. (Again, keep reading. He'll stop after a chapter or so.) It's certainly not enough to keep you from picking it up if you're looking for a good, action-packed thriller. Fans of Winter and Ridley will definitely want to give this one a look. *** ½

Rating:
Summary: Wow! If you don't dig this, you don't dig good writing!
Review: Hodge has been a favorite of mine for a year or so--ever since I got hold of some of his "horror" novels (The Darker Saints, Prototype, and Nightlife). But here, with a character-driven "crime" book, he goes even beyond the storytelling talent he displayed in those books. Allison is one of the most endearing and sympathetic female characters to come along in a while. I couldn't put the book down because I was rooting for her so hard. The most interesting thing, however, is the way that Hodge makes all of the other characters--Boyd Dobbins (aka Peter Wackermann), Gunther, and even Madeline--sympathetic, even though they are devious, deviant, slimy folks. Hodge likes both saints and sinners. There's something to like about these people beyond their "bad guy" personas. All of Hodge's characters--Doug Powell, Krystal, Thomas St. John--are so real, so vivid, that this book puts him at the top of the "crime" list with Elmore Leonard and "Big" Jim Thompson. But it's more than a crime novel, it's a novel about life, gambling, a big sum of money, Crystal Drano, and just moving on.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating characters, Great story!
Review: This is my first time reading Brian Hodge and I will be definitely be looking for more of his books. I found Wild Horses to be a fast paced, exciting book with some really memorable characters. Even if some of them did stray from the usual likable types, I found them interesting and human despite some of their deeds.Wild Horses caught my interest from the first page and didn't disappoint in the end.

I have put Mr. Hodge on my Buy List and will do so with his next book, sight-unseen.

Rating:
Summary: Ooooh! Give me more!
Review: Tough without being gratuitous. Edgy without being dark and disturbing. Gritty and fun at the same time. Off the wall, quirky, but believable. Not ever predictable. Fly by the seat of your pants action. Add Elmore Leonard with a little Joe R Lansdale, throw in a pinch of Robert Crais, and you have this book. Doesn't mean I'll buy everything Brian Hodge has ever written, sight unseen, but I wouldn't sweat it much. An excellent break from the endless serial killer drivel everyone's putting out these days. Highly recommended!