The Last King of California

Very well written. A great book about crime, the desert, Southern California and human nature. One of my new favorites. Highly recommended.

Excellent story line

after getting blown away by the last Jordan Harper novel A Lesson In Violence just over a year ago (known by the infinitely better title She Rides Shotgun in the US), I was desperate to get a hold of this asap.Well, it certainly doesn't disappoint. Some killer prose and style, but what truly sells the story is the depth of the characters. But when the story has to move, it mooooves, with the jumped up kinetic energy of an Ellroy novel. But...the book is reminds me the most of is Tapping The Source by Kem Nunn. This is a coming of age story in a harsh and unforgiving world.If you're a fan of top-shelf crime fiction, then you know I've been dropping some big names as a comparison. But if you're a fan of Jordan Harper, then you already know that it is earned.The combo of the peckerwood inland California setting and Shakespearean family dynamics is reminiscent of Sons of Anarchy, but this book has way more heart (quite literally) and way less cartoonish violence. But there is violence. Brutal, gnarly, and affecting. Some of it verges on Cronenberg body horror, especially toward the end as the story races to its fiery inevitable conclusion. This is not a book for the faint of heart.

Utter rubbish