The Shotgun Rule: A Novel
by Charlie Huston
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Book Summary Information
Author: Charlie HustonEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-01-13
ISBN: 0345481364
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Reviews of The Shotgun Rule: A Novel
Book Review: Charlie Huston's best paperback to date!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Okay, guys, listen up. If you enjoyed Stephen King's The Body (a.k.a. Stand By Me), or Robert R. McCammon's A Boy's Life, or even A Fine Dark Line by Joe R. Lansdale, then fasten your seat belts and put on your protective headgear because Charlie Houston's The Shotgun Rule is like being blown out of a cannon at eighty miles an hour. Think of the other stories, and then add some crystal meth to the mix to really get you wired and zigzagging around, and you can get a general idea of the trip ahead.
Meet Andy and George Whelan. Andy's the younger of the two and a real nerdy genius, who has already skipped two school grades because of his high I.Q. and now finds that he's caught up with his brother. George, like the majority of older brothers, resents having Andy around all the time. It's like he's an unwanted appendage. Still, George being a somewhat good guy, puts up with it most of the time, especially when he's with his other two friends, Hector (the only Chicano in the small group), and Paul, who has a quick temper and constantly needs to prove himself, even it gets him killed in the process.
The four kids aren't really bad. They're just prone to getting into trouble by stealing and lying and running off at the mouth. Such is the case when one of the Arroyo brothers steals Andy's bicycle and the four kids decide to confront the older and definitely much meaner boys to get the bike back. A vicious fight takes place and the police are called out to the Arroyo's home. When one of the Arroyo brothers makes the mistake of stepping outside the house with a gun in his hand, the cops shoot him and arrest all three of the trouble-making brothers. This gives Paul, George, Andy, and Hector (they'd taken off before the police arrived) the chance to get the stolen bike back and to steal anything of value in the house. Paul, unfortunately, finds a bag of meth, and keeps the secret to himself. This leads to a hair-raising incident when the man in charge (the Geezer) of the Arroyo's meth lab decides that he wants the bag of meth back. That's when all hell breaks loose and everyone involved suddenly find on the receiving end of being beaten up or shot or tortured or even killed. The four kids are going to find out just how quickly life can shift from good times to bad times because of one stupid mistake made in the heat of the moment.
The Shotgun Rule by Charlie Huston definitely lifts this author up to a much higher caliber of writing than his previous books (the "Hank Thompson" and the "Joe Pitt" series), which isn't to say that his other novels aren't good. They are! The Shotgun Rule, however, demonstrates the author's unique ability to write a story that's utterly addictive and in your face with a sharp, detailed look at the life of four kids in the early Eighties and how their lives are turned upside down by a quick decision that has horrible repercussions. Huston also knows how to choose his words with a careful leanness that cuts away the fat and leaves nothing but the bare essentials to tantalize the reader from each page to the next. He gives the reader a vivid description of all the players so that one can actually visualize in their mind exactly what the characters look like, reminding him of real people that have been seen. Whenever the Geezer was playing his scenes in the book, I kept seeing the late, great character actor, Robert Prosky, in the role. John Travolta would be perfect as Bob Whelan, the father of George and Andy, who's secret past of drugs and violence comes back to stock his children and to complete the circle that was started so many years before. Last, Mr. Huston captures the atmosphere of the Eighties in such a way that the reader is transported back in time to a period when society began to realize that there are no right answers and that one has to follow his own set of rules and code of honor in order to survive the evil that's thrown at him on a day-to-day basis.
Clearly, The Shotgun Rule is a tough, violent read that will have you craving for more of Charlie Huston's writing and will hopefully enlarge the author's fan base to something more suitable for this extremely talented writer.
Summary of The Shotgun Rule: A Novel
Blood spilled on the asphalt of this town long years gone has left a stain, and it?s spreading. Not that a thing like that matters to teenagers like George, Hector, Paul, and Andy. It?s summer 1983 in a northern California suburb, and these working-class kids have been killing time the usual ways: ducking their parents, tinkering with their bikes, and racing around town getting high and boosting their neighbors? meds. Just another typical summer break in the burbs. Till Andy?s bike is stolen by the town?s legendary petty hoods, the Arroyo brothers. When the boys break into the Arroyos? place in search of the bike, they stumble across the brothers? private industry: a crank lab. Being the kind of kids who rarely know better, they do what comes naturally: they take a stash of crank to sell for quick cash. But doing so they unleash hidden rivalries and crimes, and the dark and secret past of their town and their families.Literature & Fiction Books
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