I saw The Outsiders meets Sons of Anrachy and I was instantly intrigued.
The descriptive writing in this book was great! There’s a lot of grittiness, violence, and betrayal in this coming of age story. You get to see the characters slowly change as they get deeper in this world. There’s some who want a future and some who live in the now because they don’t believe they will get a future. Not all the characters are likable either. There are some not so great things said and done but it was interesting to consider how the family they grew up in shaped who they were. Much like SoA this isn’t a happy story for most but I enjoyed getting to know these characters. I loved the writing style so I look forward to more books by this author.
I saw that this is soon to be a HBO series and I can absolutely see this being an amazing show to watch! I can’t wait to check it out.

Set in 2009 on Florida’s Space Coast during the recession, we follow best friends Eddy, Cueball, and Jesse as they struggle to find their place in a world offering them few options. Things take a dangerous turn when Cueball’s father hires them to work at his moving company, which turns out to be a front for running “Shank,” a new designer drug sweeping the East Coast. What follows is betrayal, violence, and chaos. What more could you want?? Even when Eddy and Cueball realize how dark things have gotten, escaping that life proves far more complicated than simply walking away. My only issue is that the pacing could've been better but still an impressive debut novel! This is also being adapted into a TV show on Hbo which I'm absolutely ecstatic for and hope they do this book justice!

Wow, everything about this book really drew me in. The cover, the synopsis, the theme, everything! This book is exactly what I’ve been looking for. It’s a coming of age story set not in a so famous city, but in a city with its own culture. For example, it has that Southern vibes, with a way of speaking and a culture that’s clearly different from New York or anywhere else. (I don’t live in US so culture is important for me!)

I think it’s clear enough why I gave this book 5 stars. There are a lot of characters in this book, but I never felt confused. Each one has their own story and unique personality. While reading, I couldn’t wait to see how they would act and how they grow in this dangerous plan. The characters development! There’s still so much more I could say about this book, and so many reasons why I loved it. But that’s all for now.

And honestly, that’s enough reason for you to pick it up and read it!

Thank you, Netgalley and Simon & Schuster, for the advanced reader copy! I loved the slow-burning crime thriller! The push and pull between characters was captivating and i thoroughly enjoyed it all the way through.

I didn’t finish reading this one. Not sure why but I kept putting it down. Thank you for sharing with me!

# ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Masterpiece of Literary Crime Fiction

**FLORIDA PALMS** by Joe Pan is nothing short of extraordinary. a novel that transcends genre boundaries to deliver something truly sublime. This is what happens when a poet turns their hand to crime fiction: you get prose so luminous, so precisely crafted, that every sentence feels like it could be underlined.

Pan's writing reminded me immediately of William R. Soldan's work: that same ability to find poetry in darkness, to elevate the gritty and noir into something approaching the sacred. But Pan has his own distinct voice, one that pulses with the humid, electric energy of Florida itself.

What struck me most was how quotable this novel is. I found myself slowing down, savoring passages, sometimes reading entire pages aloud just to feel the rhythm of Pan's sentences. This is a book that demands to be experienced rather than simply consumed. each chapter something devastating and beautiful.

The crime elements never feel like mere plot mechanics; instead, they serve as the dark canvas against which Pan paints his characters' most human moments. The language is so rich, so precisely chosen, that I genuinely paced myself while reading, not wanting to rush through what might be one of the most linguistically stunning novels I've encountered in years.

This is literary crime fiction at its absolute finest. proof that genre boundaries are meaningless when you're in the hands of a true artist. **FLORIDA PALMS** is essential reading for anyone who believes that crime fiction can be both visceral and transcendent.

A genuine masterpiece. Don't just read this book, experience it.

Three friends who grew up together and went to school together find themselves in search of jobs once they finish school and find themselves in the midst of what is described to them as “furniture delivery”. They go up from the coast of Florida and make several stops along the way up the East coast of the United States. The business grows to include many more people and cover much more territory and of course grows more dangerous. Don’t want to spoil the book so I won’t say more. Interesting read.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

Central characters, best friends Eddy, Cueball, and Jesse, have graduated from high school, so they must be adults, right? Florida in 2009 was not a friendly environment for those starting out at the bottom. The economy sucked, and the options were few when the three friends started working for Cueball's Dad. They soon find out their "furniture" deliveries are really drugs. The story is full of the reality faced by young men when their choices are made for them and the challenges place them at the front of a deadly business.

Joe Pan's debut novel has all the hallmarks of a thriller success. The characters are real, the backstory is well defined, and the pacing is at Indy speeds. It was very easy to become engrossed in this story. It's going to be interesting to see where Pan goes from here.

Epic panhandle crime novel, set during the the late 2000s with a pair of best friends falling into involvement with a drug running biker gang. Tremendous sense of place and time, Florida bikers during the great recession isn’t a well-trod setting but Pan puts you right there, and really makes you empathize with characters who are just smart enough to realize they are in a disastrous situation, but not smart enough to figure out a way out.

After I read this, I looked the author up on Goodreads and was not surprised to learn that he is a poet! That aspect definitely comes through in this novel/his writing. I really enjoyed the atmospheric setting and coming-of-age story but felt sad that the teens got caught up in such a bad situation.

I also LOVED the character names and think it felt really authentic to the types of people the characters are.

Highly recommend this one for a thriller/crime novel with a bit of a twist. Thank you so much to the publisher for an eARC!

Violent and drug-addled, futureless and betrayed at every turn, the young men in this dreadful life of cat-and-mouse with the law (mostly unseen on the page, a faceless enemy), the rival outlaws, and each other, are dead men walking. There's no hope this side of the grave for any of them. It's a game they can't win. Or even walk away from. If you believe in free will, these guys make the worst choices imaginable...but honestly I came away from the read feeling pretty darn sure they're proof, all of 'em, that free will's an illusion.

Because if it isn't, y'all's controlling god is a rotten, evil entity.

Why read it, why finish it, why keep the misery fresh? Because the philosophical soliloquies coming out of these dead-enders' mouths are just *chef's kiss* and there's quite a number of 'em. Equally fun is the occasional character on the page reading CS Lewis or something equally unsuspected. Kaos and Cueball and Eddy, none of these guys made it out, or if they did it wasn't with everything they walked in carrying. The idea of their lives is to have more. And no one tells them "more" has no end, that's how the addictions they supply and live get their hold.

I think four stars is fair because, if it's not original, it's got honesty and clarity and it respects you as a reader. Joe Pan has put out poetry books before, and it shows. A first novel by a poet doesn't usually come this close to being a good story; it's more usual that there's less plot, more ornament. This is good description, good characterization, solid plotting, and only falls a bit short in the last 10%. I'm not sure how else to end it, though, so the fourth star stays whole.

Never a fan of Florida, I'm pretty sure it's not a far-fetched set of events or an outrageous group of guys, so I'm reinforced in my...less than fond...opinion, just as I'd hoped to be. If you're in the mood for some grit lit, here it is with a Florida twist.

As someone who knows Florida intimately (I grew up there) I could feel and smell every scene in this book. That musky stew of thick humid air, the unrelenting sun, the unkept pavement, the swamps - it is all here. This book is as gritty as it is described and it is fitting of its logline - The Outsiders meets Sons of Anarchy. This isn’t the Florida you see on the postcards; this is the Florida that exists in the decrepit, overlooked, and untouched neighborhoods, set against the 2009 recession.

The narrative centers on best friends Eddy, Cueball, and Jesse, fresh out of high school and struggling with scarce job prospects. They are quickly coerced into a dangerous drug-running operation for Cueball’s ex-con biker father. Their circumstances are desperate (I mean, who isn’t when you need to make a buck?) and we quickly learn how youth can become a "product of their environment" and are tested in unthinkable ways. Pan vividly portrays their spiral into a world of back-alley deals, bloodshed, and turf wars, forcing them to confront loyalties and make impossible decisions. And much like Babs Dionne, we are given an exploration of survival and the consequences of choices.

It is a slow burn. At almost 500 pages this is a novel that you can chew on but it is so eloquently written, the prose is both poetic and gritty. It was no surprise to learn that Joe Pan is a poet. It was a surprise to learn this is his debut novel. And with the upcoming HBO adaptation, I cannot wait to see what he puts out next.

https://judgemebymycover.substack.com/

A unique coming of age story set in Florida beginning around 2009. The economy is is the tank, Eddy, Cueball and Jesse are fresh from high school and looking for work. What starts as a job "moving furniture",  quickly evolves into a gritty crime story. There is plenty of action, lots of "Godfather" vibes and dialogue. There is also a touch of humanity. You can feel the heat and humidity conveyed in the swamps of Florida. Excellent read.

Update The Outsiders To 2009 ish Florida And You Have This Book. Seriously, this is one case where the publisher got the first line of the description (at least as it exists on publication day) 100% spot on. While there is perhaps more here than many will be comfortable with allowing even in high schools, much less younger ages, this is also absolutely a book that should be at least on the recommended lists for college level ENGL courses.

Speaking of things that are perhaps a touch rough for younger readers - and that many adults prefer not to read themselves, let's dispense with a bit of a listing here: the entire damn book centers around a drug gang and the relationships within it and on its boundaries. There is a fair amount of sex - not erotica level, and really more "fade to black" than anything, but still, more than most will be comfortable with particularly younger readers being exposed to. The violence is at least as intense as The Outsiders, but with a more gun focus rather than the 50s era knives and fists. There are also some rather graphic and disturbing scenes of hunting, including hunting endangered animals that have only recently been brought back from the brink of full extinction through much human effort.

Aside from the above though, this really is quite a strong book. Yes, at least as strong as Hinton's famous masterpiece - though one presumes Pan would prefer to have a follow up that gets as much acclaim as the first. Based on what we have here, this reader in particular would love to see what Pan can do when he *doesn't* have a lifetime building up to this day - the day I write this review being release day of the book, despite having had it for several months. It happens to be my 98th completed read this year, and I've read 134 books since picking this one up from NetGalley on November 30, 2024.

At nearly 500 pages, this book doesn't *quite* qualify as a "tome", yet is also nearly 50% longer than most books even I read, and certainly one of the longer non-scifi/ fantasy books I've read. Looking back in my records, I've only read 8 books longer than this one that were neither nonfiction nor scifi/ fantasy since my spreadsheet began at the beginning of 2019. But perhaps you're a reader that prefers such longer books. In which case, you're going to love this one. If you're a reader that generally prefers shorter-than-this books... well, I still thought this one worked well even with its length, and I urge you to give it a try. Either way, if you do read it, make sure you leave your own review and let us all know what you thought of the length here. :)

Again, for me this was absolutely a strong debut, truly a modernized Outsiders - which is high praise, as I, like so many Americans, truly cherish that story - and is thus...

Very Much Recommended.

Florida Palms is a coming-of-age crime thriller like nothing I've read before. The story focuses on Eddy, Cueball, and Jesse, three friends just out of high school, looking to find their way in the world. But the difficult economy in Florida in the late 2000s means jobs are hard to come by and options are limited. After joining the furniture moving company that Cueball's father owns, a much more lucrative opportunity presents itself. It turns out, Cueball's ex-con father wasn't done living a life of crime after all, and soon the trio hesitantly begin running a new designer drug up the East Coast.

What begins as a great way to make quick money soon goes off the rails and results in betrayal, turf wars, drug addiction, and bloodshed. The Brotherhood fractures as the big picture comes into focus, and the young men struggle with where to place their loyalties. They're tested in unthinkable ways that somehow feel entirely plausible considering their circumstances.

Pan's writing is beautifully immersive, taking grisly scenes and describing them in a profoundly poetic way. This isn't an edge-of-your-seat thriller. The slow-burn story feels like it's meant to be savored, allowing you to pause and appreciate the writing just as much as the story. It's so deeply human, raw, and unfiltered, and it was easy to get lost in the story. I've become an instant fan of Joe Pan, and I can't wait to see what he writes next.

5 stars.

Thanks to Joe Pan, Simon and Schuster, and NetGalley for an eARC of this novel.

Eddie and Cueball have just started their adult life’s after high school but it’s 2009 in Florida and the recession hit hard. When they join a new job shipping a designer drug up the coast, their lives spiral.

When I heard the Outsiders meets Sons of Anarchy, I knew I had to read this one. It’s a passionate tale, with action, betrayal, and heart. It is on the slower side and takes some time to read, but it’s worth it. The characters are well done and so is the atmosphere.

“What power responsible for this bright blue empty heaven required so much from them? The crazy-ass life they’d imagined for themselves post-graduation - epic parties and mailbox baseball and fumbling sex in the back rows of the dollar theater - had quickly buckled under the unforgiving gravity of food costs and bills, as they were now expected to pay their own way through life.”

Florida Palms comes out 7/22.

4.5 ⭐️ This is a gritty, slow burn of a crime thriller and I Ioved it! I read that Joe Pan is a poet and it translates to some of the most intensely descriptive prose that kept me absorbed in the story!

Set in Fl in 2009, it focuses on the lives of high school friends Eddy and Cueball. Their lives change forever and they are set on a path of destruction when Cueball’s Dad, Bird, hires them as runners in his new designer drug business.

Filled with characters I loved and hated, I was engrossed in the plight of the struggles of the friends to make their way in a world they found increasingly dangerous.

There is a lot of back stabbing, violence, murder, and mayhem along the lines of Sons of Anarchy. The ending was perfect. Soon to be an HBO series I hear.

Thank you NetGalley, Simon & ShusterPublishers, and author Joe Pan for the opportunity to read an ARC of this amazing story for my honest review.

I enjoyed this crime thriller based along the space coast of Florida. So many times youth are the product of their environment and it’s easy to fall into the culture and vibe of the people you are around. This is what happens with Eddie and Cueball. They go to work for Cueballs dad and then find themselves in the dark world of drugs and crime. You wonder why these young men don’t run from this life when they clearly don’t like it. Easier said than done.

I was mesmerized by the gritty and raw interaction between rivals, disloyal members of the group and the attempt at relationship s and coming to terms with your sexuality. There are so many layers to this novel. I never really felt hopeful or happy in this world. It seems like most of the people in this business only get out of this underbelly lifestyle by being killed. No thank you. Not the life for me.

This is a great debut novel for those who like mystery, crime thrillers.

I want to thank the author, NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for an advanced ready copy of this novel. This review is voluntary.

Unfortunately I have made the decision that I am no longer going to continue reading this book. The synopsis of the book was incredibly intriguing and was the reason I initially pick up this book. Unfortunately I really struggled with keeping track of the different characters and deciphering who was who. My confusion was taking away from the book and ultimate story line so I decided not to continue reading. I do think that there are those out there who would really enjoy this book.

Florida Palms is the debut novel from Joe Pan. He has previously some poetry volumes.

"It's 2009, the height of the Great Recession. Best friends Eddy, Cueball and Jesse are fresh out of high school with no jobs to be found. They go to work as movers with Cueball's dad. Soon they are moving more than furniture and the money is rolling in - and so are the problems - turf wars, crazed bikers, meth zombies and a blowgun-wielding hitman. The young friends are caught up in the crime life with some tough decisions to make."

This is a gritty crime fiction story. One difference from other crime fiction I've read is that this is all told from the POV of the criminals. There is zero law enforcement presence, except for a couple of corrupt cops at the end. There is one likable character. Everyone else is a drug-addicted criminal making terrible decisions. Pan tries to make them sypathetic with the context of the recession. He asks the question - "Do people have a choice in who and what they become?"
Much of the writing is highly descriptive and lyrical - feels like the author's poet self is poking through. It was a bit much at times. And there's a constant barrage of poor decisions leading to violence and conflict. There's some great character names - Cueball, Gumby.

Interesting debut from Pan.