Let It Ride

By John McFetridge

Book Overview

"McFetridge channels Elmore Leonard at the height of his powers, with dialogue Quentin Tarantino would kill for."-Ken Bruen The author of two critically acclaimed Canadian crime novels, with Let It Ride John McFetridge takes us deep inside the gray zone that exists between the Canadian/American border, delivering all the up to the minute twists and edgy action of an episode of The Wire . Vernard 'Get' McGetty is back from serving in Afghanistan, back dealing drugs in Detroit and looking to move up with his buddy JT, a guy he met in Kandahar who also happens to be the leader of the Saints of Hell-a notorious Ontario biker gang currently in the process of taking over all North of the border drug traffic. Commuting weekly across the line into the center of JT's high flying empire, Get hooks up with Sunitha, a decidedly independent woman who's gone from working seedy massage parlors to robbing them at gunpoint-and has dreams of a much bigger score: taking the Saints for the millions they have stashed in gold bars. Meanwhile, the Toronto cops have the Saints under a microscope. Detectives Price and McKeon are getting nowhere with a double drive-by killing on the Gardiner Expressway-a husband and wife returning from a swingers party-and the investigation keeps leading back to the Saints…

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 031259948X
• ISBN13: 9780312599485
• Release Date: February 2010
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 295 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A fast and furious ride

Filled with fast paced, rapid fire scenes, Let It Ride is a snapshot story of the Canadian-American drug scene. The characters are well-drawn and the pages will fly by in this noir telling of crime, drugs and cops. I have to admit that the style of the book reminded me of Pulp Fiction, which I found compelling. Any noir and crime fiction fan will enjoy picking Let It Ride up and giving it a whirl.

wild crime caper

Sunitha Suraiya dreams of leaving depressed Detroit, but to achieve her goal she needs money. Working at massage parlors is petty cash; robbing them is just a little more petty cash as is holding up better spas with its white wealthy women. So Sunitha is planning a major heist. After spending time playing soldier in Afghanistan, Vernard "Get" McGetty is back in the Motor City selling drugs. His contact is JT, chief of the Ontario Saints of Hell biker gang, who dreams of being the druglord of the province and eventually the Dominion. They met in Afghanistan where a drug partnership was formed. Sunitha realizes Get is her mechanism to leave town as he has access to JT who owns a ton of gold bullion he plans to use to buy drugs and she plans to steal from him while cops on both sides of the border salivate over dreaming of a drug war. This is a wild crime caper starring people with a different moral take than most American-Canadian residents. The exciting Noir story line is character driven especially by Sunitha, Get and JT. Although there is too much going on at times, fans will appreciate this zany tour of Detroit and Toronto with everyone answering whom do you trust with the answer no one not even the person staring back at you in a mirror or worse a person you may love. Harriet Klausner

More great work from McFetridge

I read this when it was SWAP in Canada. Great book. Many readers have compared McFetridge's work to that of Elmore Leonard, which is not a bad comparison at all. This is the story of motorcycle gangs and drugs and Toronto. Some are trying to get out. Some are trying to get out alive. Some are trying to make some money. Some to settle scores. The writing is fast-paced and tight. The dialog is spot on. The looks the characters give, the way they phrase their words, the plots that work together -- it's clear that this book was written by someone who is at the top of his game. Enjoy a great read.