A Lesson in Violence

Sometimes when you finish reading a book you just aren't ready to let the characters go and that's very much how I feel about Poppy and, to a lesser extent, Nate. I want to know that she will be ok and have a good life beyond the book (and yes I do know she isn't real). It's so easy to picture her with her watermelon red hair and bear sticking out of her backpack. I must thank bear for adding a touch of humour to the story. There is a lot of violence in this book, as the title suggests, but at the core it is a story of a father/daughter relationship and how it develops in the toughest of circumstances.

A LESSON IN VIOLENCE (also in print and better known by the title She Rides Shotgun) by Jordan Harper is a story about a young girl named Polly, who is a loner and outcast at her school, with her teddy bear seemingly her only friend.

Nate is Polly’s dad, and he’s been incarcerated for most of Polly’s life, but inexplicably shows up at her school one day out of the blue, and it soon becomes clear that something has gone terribly wrong in regards to the safety of anyone associated with Nate as he whisks her off with no explanation.

Soon it becomes clear that Nate has become a marked man as a result of an incident in prison just before his release, and protecting Polly is his one goal left in life even though they haven’t had a relationship since early in her childhood.

Jordan Harper has written not a good, but a great debut full length novel that follows up on his Love and Other Wounds: Stories as well as his other short stories, of which his ‘LUCY IN THE PIT’ from THUGLIT Issue 1 got my attention right away, and I’ve followed him ever since.

Recommended obviously to all fans of the Thuglit books and authors, especially Johnny Shaw readers, although Harper's writing is a style all his own and I’ll be looking forward to whatever comes next from him.

5 stars.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview A Lesson in Violence by Jordan Harper.
The word comes down in Pelican Bay - a family is marked to die. A serious prison gang, Aryan Steel, is out for vengience for a prison killing. Nate, a hardcore criminal, has killed a made man and he knows he is not safe, but the word is out to take out his familiy as well.
Nate gets out of prison and knows he has to get to his family before the Aryan Steel does - before they kill what is left of his life.
I really liked this book and for a debut, I must say this is one of the best I have read. This is well written and really vivid and scary at times.
4 STARS - RECOMMEND!!!!!!

As soon as I read the synopsis, I knew this was going to be an unforgettable ride. It seems like complex father-daughter relationships are a popular theme in recent books and I couldn't be happier. She Rides Shotfun (aka A Lesson in Violence) was one of my favorite reads of the summer.

I don't usually enjoy action-packed stories in books as much as in movies, but She Rides Shotgun was the exception to the rule. I was completely addicted from the moment I started it. This book tells the story of a man, Nate, who has just been released from prison but is wanted by some dangerous men. The Aryan Steel gang wants him and his family dead and Nate can't allow them harm his daughter Polly. So he picks her up from school and makes her travel with thim.

Road trip stories are usually wonderful and this one is just the perfect adventure. Their bond grows strong, Polly learns how to be brave and fierce and Nate discovers that he might have a weakness, after all. The novel is dark and gritty, but with a lovely side at the same time.

The detective's perspective was interesting as well and I couldn't wait to find out how he would behave when catching up with the fugitives. Help them or hurt them? And how is this journey going to end? It surely can't go on forever...

Haven't read Jordan Harper's short story collection, but I'll surely pick up his next book. She Rides Shotgun is an unforgetable tale of family and redemption.