Edward Bunker (1933–2005)

Decisamente cinico e nichilista, da leggere in momenti di tranquillità... Lo stile è vivido e immediato, e il racconto è graffiante, urticante, dà fastidio, in questo sta la sua forza.

Raised within the confines of a system that has done nothing but provide him with pain, Alex Hamilton's frustration and anger are completely natural--and inherently dangerous.
Since his parents split up, Alex has been constantly running from foster homes and institutions, yearning to be with his father, a broken man who cannot give his son the home he desperately needs. The only constant in Alex's life is no-good, criminally-minded peers, who are all too ready to plant illegal ideas in an show more intelligent mind. Bunker writes, "His unique potential would develop into unique destructiveness." show less

This was a fabulous book about a fabulous man. He was quite literally a genius and way above his years in mentality as a child, hence his super rebellious nature. As he puts it, he was dealt a bad hand, and the rest of his life he simply tried to make the best of it.

The book is a scathing look at the US penal (and judicial) system from someone who lived it a huge portion of his life. It also demonstrates just how much the system fails for those formerly convicted, who have done their time show more and paid the price, but then are disallowed from going back into society. You can't get a job with a record, you just can't. Minimum wage crap jobs is all that's open, and even those aren't always! It's a wretched situation.

Anyhow, aside of providing a look at the dismal situation of an American convict, we also, obviously, get a very good look the man writing about it all. And he's someone I wish I could have known. Incredibly intelligent, witty, bold, a bit rash, lots of fun... I'd, sadly, not heard of him before. But after learning all about him, and seeing how well he wrote while doing it, I am quite anxious now to go read his novels. show less

A visceral- hard hitting crime fiction novel; from a man who practically grew up in the California penal system (Mr. Bunker was a thief and drug dealer, who spent more than 20 years behind bars before being released for the last time in 1975) In this book, Mr. Bunker has no time for florid/pretty prose. He gets to the meat and potatoes from the get-go (No pussyfooting, just the way me likes)

The main protagonists are: Troy Cameron and his two amigos; Diesel Carson and Gerald ‘Mad Dog’ show more McCain, whom after being release from the poky; are on a freight train to mayhem. Their plan is to only hit other criminals such as pimps, and drug dealers, because what are they gonna do? Call the cops?

Their first hit goes somewhat smoothly, the second one, however becomes complicated because their assignment is to kidnap a child from a former associate of a powerful Mexican kingpin. Amid all of this there’s an elephant farting in the room, because one of the protagonist is nothing more than a drug-addled, blood thirsty, cold blooded killer, who has innocent blood on his hands—a passage in the book which I found upsetting—but that’s what great art does; it’s supposed to move you one way or another, but move you nonetheless.

Five out of Five Stars for this dark, violent and unsettling novel.

Edward Bunker, writer and actor, born December 31 1933; died July 19 2005 RIP. show less