She Rides Shotgun
Back Cover Description:
Eleven-year-old Polly McClusky is shy, too old for the teddy bear she carries with her everywhere, when she is unexpectedly reunited with her father, Nate, fresh out of jail and driving a stolen car. He takes her from the front of her school into a world of robbery, violence, and the constant threat of death. And he does it to save her life.
Nate made dangerous enemies in prison—a gang called Aryan Steel has put out a bounty on his head, counting on its members on the outside to finish him off. They’ve already murdered his ex-wife, Polly’s mother. And Polly is their next target.
Nate and Polly’s lives soon become a series of narrow misses, of evading the bad guys and the police, of sleepless nights in motels. Out on the lam, Polly is forced to grow up early: with barely any time to mourn her mother, she must learn how to take a punch and pull off a drug-house heist. She finds herself transforming from a shy little girl into a true fighter. Nate, in turn, learns what it’s like to love fiercely and unconditionally—a love he’s never quite felt before. But can their powerful bond transcend the dangerous existence he’s carved out for them? Will they ever be able to live an honest life, free of fear?
She Rides Shotgun is a gripping and emotionally wrenching novel that upends even our most long-held expectations about heroes, villains, and victims. Nate takes Polly to save her life, but in the end, it may very well be Polly who saves him.
Preview: Dark, Brutal, but emotionally compelling, She Rides Shotgun is about two people on the run, a father who’s never been a father, and a girl leaving childhood for good.
What I liked:
The emotional core of the story is Polly and Nate’s relationship, and it is absolutely engaging, raw, and powerful. Nate, a just-released ex-con, never wavers in his love for and protection of Polly. His actions may or may not be the wisest, but there is no doubt that he loves his daughter and will move heaven and earth to protect her. He emotionally conflicted between going it alone and wanting to keep Polly by his side as they approach dangerous situations.
From the first description of Polly with “gunfighter eyes,” it’s clear that Polly wants to learn how to fight, wants to learn her father’s ways, and become as strong as him. She is a powerhouse, a force to be reckoned with, and she won’t back down from a fight (whether her father always wants her by his side, though, is another matter). She wants to fight; she wants it badly.
Polly also has a teddy bear that she knows isn’t real, but pretends it is reacting and making gestures throughout the entire book, and giving it thoughts as well, to the point that it’s almost easy to see the bear as the third character in this story. What starts out a little strange at first becomes such an important element that you feel for the inanimate bear just like Polly does.
While we mostly read chapters from Polly and Nate’s POV, two other supporting characters have major roles. John Park is an FBI agent who is hot on the case searching for Nate and Polly, and Park begins to realize there’s a lot more to the story about Nate and Polly than the one he was told. He has integrity, and this isn’t just an arrest to him; he won’t stop until the truth, the real truth, is revealed.
Charlotte is another supporting character who is caught in the crossfire between being a support to Aryan Steel and becoming more and more involved with Nate and Polly as the danger rises. Ayran Steel depends on her to help outside the prison, not realizing the damage she’s creating until Nate and Polly get involved. In some ways, an ordinary woman who slowly stops the life that was given to her.
The narrative starts exactly when it should (after a very short intro with Aryan Steel’s boss in the prison sending the hit on Nate, Polly, and Polly’s mom), with Polly waiting for her mom after school, and it’s not her mom who shows up but her dad. She gets in the car, despite being scared, and the story takes off.
The chapters are short and quick, thus it’s easy to gobble up chapters, rushing towards the conclusion. The atmosphere of dirty hotel rooms, vast deserts, and gas station meals brings a realism to the action-packed and emotional story.
What I didn’t like: (Spoilers)
The villains morph from Ayran Steel gang members to corrupt cops in the second half, but there was a part of me that would have liked an ending where the gang was at the forefront throughout the story instead of being background villains at the climax.
There are two early scenes involving bodily functions that I felt were unnecessary and distracting. I guess it was meant to add some realism, but for me, it just got in the way of my enjoyment of the story.
This is a personal preference, but I don’t think cursing is essential to tell any story. The level of cursing, even from Polly, is constant and unrelenting. In the same way, the violence, though understandable, leans more toward graphic and brutal in some scenes than I would like.
Overall Review: This is the type of book you can’t quite recommend and can’t quite not recommend. Powerful, yet profane, compelling yet violent, well-written yet brutal and dark, I am glad I read it, but it is not for the faint of heart at all. If you know what you’re going to expect, it will be a thrilling read, but be ready for the brutality.
Rating: R for language throughout, violence throughout (some graphic), depictions of bodily functions, discussion and depiction of drug use, and descriptions of some men making meth wearing aprons and nothing else.
