"Andrew Lafleche is an honest and courageous writer. There is an eyes-wide-open accuracy to his work, no matter the subject matter. Hemingway once said of writers he admired: 'They're true gen,' meaning they were the genuine article, writers he considered incapable of deceit, and incapable of playing dumb. Andrew is a True Gen writer." —Ron Corbett, award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and author of the Frank Yakabuski crime novels

"He's like a surgeon with a shotgun." —Akeem Duncan, Quiet Lunch Magazine

"The memories kicked up by this trip lead Troy on a bender of extreme and violent proportions-he robs drug dealers, ruins friendships, and fills his system with whatever chemicals he can. As he self-destructs, he tells himself to just "enjoy the ride," but that may be because he doesn't realize the dark places that the ride will take him. Lafleche tells the story in Troy's own voice-a caustic blend of casual slurs, teenage id, and affected nihilism-and the novel as a whole fits very well within the tradition of transgressive literature." —Kirkus Reviews

"Andrew Lafleche's Ride, like a sharp new switchblade, has a dangerous weight to it. Troy accidentally stabs his friend, his parents are divorcing, he's high risk with sex, drugs, and crime, and he's giving his life the finger. Ride is highway speed and echoes Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting, only with Canadian accents." —Gerald Arthur Moore, author of Shatter the Glass, Shards of Flame

"I laughed. I cried. I cringed." —Karen Connelly, best-selling author of The Change Room

"Andrew Lafleche's RIDE is a poignant, wild ride through a drug-fueled coming of age in the early 2000s that will equally break your heart. Filled with propulsive writing, it's a must read!" —Lee Matthew Goldberg, acclaimed author of The Mentor and The Ancestor

"To understand Lafleche's work is to understand the anguish of our youth."  —Times Book Review

“This book pushes all the boundaries; you’ll be able to exhale when you finally put it down.” —Lee Luyben-Switzer

“Raw, rowdy, and disturbing.” —The BookLife Prize

"Lafleche's Ride is a fast-paced binge in a style that resembles early American detective fiction like Mickey Spillane's. Dialogue is terse, punch-rough, and trade-sex-ready as the action explodes like gas on a fire. The main character, Troy, tries to douse his own burning desires with beer, sex, and drugs, only to feel raw regret each morning. The things he does, or fails to do, are like melted beer cans among the ashes of morning-and he hasn't seen his shrink in days. 'I am nobody, who knows nothing, ' Leary's third generation 'turned on, tuned in, and dropping out' as Lafleche weaves a counterculture of loathing that mirrors a Hunter S. Thompson circus party. This is a bush party in the heart of the city, and in the heart of Troy. The question is: will he survive? —Keith Inman, author of The War Poems and SEAsya