- Paperback: 147 pages
- Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (3 April 2012)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1464200114
- ISBN-13: 978-1464200113
- Product Dimensions: 21.3 x 14 x 1.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 544,520 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Seven years have passed since Driver ended his campaign against those who double-crossed him. He has left the old life, become Paul West and founded a successful business back in Phoenix. But walking down the street one day, he and his fiancee are attacked by two men and, while Driver dispatches both, his fiancee is killed. Sinking back into anonymity, aided by his friend Felix, an ex-gangbanger and Desert Storm vet, Driver realises that his past stalks him - and will not stop. He has to turn and face it.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have always regarded James Sallis as one of the most skilled writers in the US in any genre. Despite the darkness and the sometimes excessive violence of his latest noir thrillers, Sallis's ability to say much in few words and to convey tension without being melodramatic is awe-inspiring. His dialogue, usually terse, says all that needs to be said, and his ability to create perfect images in few words is unparalleled. "Minimalism" takes on new meaning in his hands.
His novel Drive, recently made into a hit film starring Ryan Gosling, precedes Driven, and both are short novels which lack the fully developed characters one finds in Sallis's other novels. Drive, the story of a man who works as a stunt driver by day and as the driver of getaway cars by night, is full of violence, and the body count in the book and film is extremely high, some of the deaths coming at the hands of Driver himself as payback for egregious betrayals. At the end of the novel and film, Driver gets into his car and drives, seriously wounded.
Driven begins six years later. Driver has been keeping a low profile under the pseudonym of Paul West in Phoenix, and he has been successful in avoiding trouble - and in falling in love with Elsa. The novel starts with a bang, however. On page one, Driver and Elsa are attacked on a Saturday morning, and though Driver manages to disable one attacker, the second one fatally stabs Elsa before Driver can take care of him. He has no idea who the attackers are or why he was selected for attack, and even more attacks follow, but as a friend tells him, "Those you seek are wolves. Wolves do not wish to be found, they are themselves the hunters...They survive, they thrive, on their cunning." Ultimately, the book's body count equals that of Drive.
Driven is a peculiar book, one that feels unfinished to me. The back cover (and the book description here on Amazon) sports a sentence which I regarded initially as an almost fatal spoiler: "Driven tells how [Driver], done with killing, becomes the one who goes down `at 3 a.m. on a clear, cool morning in a Tijuana bar.' " Yet no such thing occurs within the action of this novel. That misleading quotation refers to a screenplay that Driver's friend Manny wrote years ago, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with this plot! The novel, less than one hundred fifty pages long, with large type and wide margins, also feels a bit like an outline, rather than the compressed but fully developed novel which Sallis is known for. The ending of this novel suggests that there might yet be another episode in the life of Driver, the third novel in a possible trilogy. Those who have not read Drive or seen the film will want to do so before reading this continuation of Driver's story. And those who have never had the pleasure of reading Sallis at all may want to start with The Killer is Dying, one of Sallis's best books. Mary Whipple
His novel Drive, recently made into a hit film starring Ryan Gosling, precedes Driven, and both are short novels which lack the fully developed characters one finds in Sallis's other novels. Drive, the story of a man who works as a stunt driver by day and as the driver of getaway cars by night, is full of violence, and the body count in the book and film is extremely high, some of the deaths coming at the hands of Driver himself as payback for egregious betrayals. At the end of the novel and film, Driver gets into his car and drives, seriously wounded.
Driven begins six years later. Driver has been keeping a low profile under the pseudonym of Paul West in Phoenix, and he has been successful in avoiding trouble - and in falling in love with Elsa. The novel starts with a bang, however. On page one, Driver and Elsa are attacked on a Saturday morning, and though Driver manages to disable one attacker, the second one fatally stabs Elsa before Driver can take care of him. He has no idea who the attackers are or why he was selected for attack, and even more attacks follow, but as a friend tells him, "Those you seek are wolves. Wolves do not wish to be found, they are themselves the hunters...They survive, they thrive, on their cunning." Ultimately, the book's body count equals that of Drive.
Driven is a peculiar book, one that feels unfinished to me. The back cover (and the book description here on Amazon) sports a sentence which I regarded initially as an almost fatal spoiler: "Driven tells how [Driver], done with killing, becomes the one who goes down `at 3 a.m. on a clear, cool morning in a Tijuana bar.' " Yet no such thing occurs within the action of this novel. That misleading quotation refers to a screenplay that Driver's friend Manny wrote years ago, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with this plot! The novel, less than one hundred fifty pages long, with large type and wide margins, also feels a bit like an outline, rather than the compressed but fully developed novel which Sallis is known for. The ending of this novel suggests that there might yet be another episode in the life of Driver, the third novel in a possible trilogy. Those who have not read Drive or seen the film will want to do so before reading this continuation of Driver's story. And those who have never had the pleasure of reading Sallis at all may want to start with The Killer is Dying, one of Sallis's best books. Mary Whipple
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
11 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Take the Ride
1 April 2012
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
If you made it to the Cineplex to see Ryan Gossling in Nichols Nefn's neo-noir masterpiece, "Drive," don't wait to see if there's going to be a sequel - you can read in now. "Driven" is James Sallis' brilliant follow-up to his dark tale of Driver, a 26 year-old reclusive Hollywood stunt driver who moonlights as a robbery wheelman. Driver is now 32, living as Paul West in Phoenix, having gone-to-ground to escape the mobsters he dispatched in the first episode. Or so he thought. Sallis wastes no time getting to the action and violence; the first page hasn't turned before Driver leaves two would-be killers broken and dying on the pavement. From here out the formula is simple - Driver, with some assistance from the shadowy Gulf War vet Felix - brutally retires a seemingly endless parade of thugs send to kill him, while he soups up an inconspicuous Ford Fairlane and hunts down those behind the repeated attempted hits.
This is a simple story, a fast read that could be mediocre were it not delivered by James Sallis. Despite its brevity, the talented Sallis packs more imagery and power into 140 pages than the average crime writer could muster in 1,000; that rare brand of prose that is atmospheric without being bloated. This is lean, stripped down fiction, reminiscent of Jim Thompson or Raymond Chandler, but more elegantly told in sentences that, despite the grisly fare, read more like poetry than pulp fiction.
Like its predecessor "Drive," "Driven" is American crime writing at its best, and James Sallis is the unsung master of the genre. If you haven't discovered him yet - with or without Ryan Gossling - this quick pair of novels is a great place to make the acquaintance.
This is a simple story, a fast read that could be mediocre were it not delivered by James Sallis. Despite its brevity, the talented Sallis packs more imagery and power into 140 pages than the average crime writer could muster in 1,000; that rare brand of prose that is atmospheric without being bloated. This is lean, stripped down fiction, reminiscent of Jim Thompson or Raymond Chandler, but more elegantly told in sentences that, despite the grisly fare, read more like poetry than pulp fiction.
Like its predecessor "Drive," "Driven" is American crime writing at its best, and James Sallis is the unsung master of the genre. If you haven't discovered him yet - with or without Ryan Gossling - this quick pair of novels is a great place to make the acquaintance.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
All the strengths and weaknesses of noir mysteries
9 April 2012
Format:Paperback
Others have summarized the plot well. This is hardcore noir--people either speak in extremely short, terse sentences or like university psychology or physics professors. Most of the living quarters are roach infested. Characters have, at most, one name. The bad guys are always able to track down the hero, without any explanation of how. The action begins immediately and the book is very short. The action scenes are exciting, but the characters are stick figures. There is a great deal of violence. Ryan Gosling did a wonderful drive bringing the hero to life in Drive--a better job than the author does on the page.
This is a treat for noir lovers and not bad for noir haters.
It is a terrible shame that The Driver never teamed up with Richard Stark's Parker.
This is a treat for noir lovers and not bad for noir haters.
It is a terrible shame that The Driver never teamed up with Richard Stark's Parker.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
A perfect read for noir fans.
3 April 2012
Format:Kindle Edition
For those who have not read or seen the movie Drive,and I don't imagine that there are a lot of you. I'll try and bring you up to date. The young man called Driver,was left alone when mother killed father. A family named Smith took him in and took good care of him but, one day he left taking their car and leaving a note telling them he was SORRY!! Heading for Los Angeles, he finds people that will help him out. He becomes a stunt driver for the movies by day and, seems to have found his niche in life. Unfortunately, he also comes across some people who hire him to drive for them. People that are on the other side of the law and they come after Driver, to end his career in both fields. The Driver disappears into the gloom and is incognito for about seven years. He left his old ways behind and took the new identity of Paul West, who has his own business and is about to marry his fiancée, Elsa. One day, while out walking the two of them are attacked by two men and Elsa is killed. Now, we start the sequel called Driven!
This is a review of Driven,the sequel to Drive.
A few years have passed and Driver has become Paul West. After the tragedy of his fiancee's death Paul goes into hiding and, with the help of an old friend Felix, he tries to get away from these folks from his criminal past, who want him out of the way. He finds a car and soups it up so he can get away from these folks and, for a time, it works. But, he finds out that when he gets away from one group, another is right behind him so, eventually he has to turn and face them.
For folks who liked the movie, this book will be right up their alley. It's pure Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. Or, at least it was for this reader. It's a short narrative that explains what happened to the Driver and probably there will be more. When the driver drives away he says "I Drive, that's what I do," and he isn't kidding. We'll definitely be seeing more of him. And, that's OK with noir lovers.
'
'
This is a review of Driven,the sequel to Drive.
A few years have passed and Driver has become Paul West. After the tragedy of his fiancee's death Paul goes into hiding and, with the help of an old friend Felix, he tries to get away from these folks from his criminal past, who want him out of the way. He finds a car and soups it up so he can get away from these folks and, for a time, it works. But, he finds out that when he gets away from one group, another is right behind him so, eventually he has to turn and face them.
For folks who liked the movie, this book will be right up their alley. It's pure Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. Or, at least it was for this reader. It's a short narrative that explains what happened to the Driver and probably there will be more. When the driver drives away he says "I Drive, that's what I do," and he isn't kidding. We'll definitely be seeing more of him. And, that's OK with noir lovers.
'
'
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