What really makes this a standout is Gattis’s talent for portraying people that operate firmly in the 'gray zone' (some tending toward the darker end) as very, very human and his obviously exhaustive research into the many ins and outs of various criminal enterprises. Rooster—Glasses’s boss—and his crew even use American Sign Language to communicate in certain circumstances. I loved these characters. I love that Ghost just wants to do some good in his very messed up world before he goes out for good. Hell, I loved this book. Gattis explores some pretty big themes—like addiction, mortality, and of course, the huge gap that can lie between right and wrong—without sacrificing an undeniably cinematic touch. Also, the ending will surprise you. In a good way. If you’re looking for something intelligent, fast-paced, sometimes funny, and certainly noir but with a huge heart, snap this one up.
...a lean and frenetic read that leaves you satisfied with no guilty aftertaste. And several elements not typically found in crime thrillers make this one distinct ... Gattis is an expert in rhythm and cadence. Both characters deliver their own stories throughout Safe with a style reminiscent to the work of George Pelecanos and Richard Price, always distinct and from the hip. Through their deliveries we see the moral ambiguity of their respective trades ... If there’s a criticism to be made, it’s that I put the book down for a few days and had to backtrack to pick up some of the plot’s threads again. And I’m Gattis’s target audience for punk — early mentions of San Pedro (home of the Minutemen and fIREHOSE) had me nodding — but I wonder about the punk subplot’s efficacy. With that said, Safe, a finely-crafted whiplash of a crime staccato, is still a great way to spend the waning days of summer.
While the gangsters-with-a-heart story might sound improbable, Gattis compensates with whip-smart vernacular and a narrative that zips along. There is depth to his characters too ... Through multiple definitions of the word 'safe' – physical, emotional, psychological, financial – Gattis has created a gripping novel about opportunity, transformation and hope.
At times, Gattis overexplains these men's motivations. He needn't — the pathos of their problems is inherently compelling. This macho, faster-than-a-speeding-bullet novel benefits from the extensive research Gattis has done on the L.A. gang scene — his previous novel, All Involved, was about the 1992 riots — and that deep knowledge informs electrifying plot twists. To navigate them, Ghost knows, he's 'got to put a saddle on all the stuff that makes me be me and ride it. Strategy. Lying. Cleverness. All the gifts I ever had that made me a damn good junkie have got to be used for good now.'
Gattis has followed up this small masterpiece with Safe, a more modestly purposed but equally intense character study disguised as a crime caper story. The set-up is fairly standard: protagonist takes a wrong turn, crosses a criminal gang, and pays the price ... Safe’s protagonist and antagonist, whose respective stories are told in overlapping sequences of first-person narration, are in many ways mirror images of one another ...very much a Los Angeles novel...is a tendency to introspection that at times verges on navel-gazing: the thread of plot can be lost for pages as Ricky or Rudy slips into one of their characteristic...an intense and gripping novel.
Set in September 2008, during the subprime-mortgage crisis, Safe keys in on the people for whom the big-time wheeling and dealing was no mere abstraction; as Ghost makes the biggest score of his life, he reflects that it pales in comparison to Lehman Brothers’ daily take. Though the grand gesture by a bad guy who wants to be good could play as hokey, here it’s anything but. The criminal life is carefully rendered, the stakes are clear, and the characters’ humanity is rich and refreshing ... this is an emotionally rich page-turner whose devastating ending still offers a glimmer of hope.
The narrative back and forth between Ricky and Rudolfo is a bit out of balance—Ricky is clearly the better-drawn figure—and the prose gets soft whenever Ricky does. But the tension about Ricky’s fate remains steady to the novel’s somber, surprising conclusion, which justifies the neo-noirish mood he cultivates. A moody yarn that cannily merges punk-rock world weariness and real-world criminality.
...[an] engrossing crime novel ... Gattis’s refreshingly smart characters doggedly try to do the right thing in this satisfying if unrealistically upbeat tale about the drug world.
