My buzz is gone and I’m
on edge.
I’m nothing without the
amphetamine in my body.
I’m only bones.
All
Due Respect is making a habit of putting new authors on my radar and
reinforcing the fact there are some great authors publishing books for today’s
lover of noir fiction. One of their latest offerings, Only Bones by Daniel
Vlasaty is a dark, violent book that displays a wonderful economy of lyrical
words that paints a great mood of despair and hopelessness for the drug
addicted main character, Daniel, a bicycle messenger who gets caught up in a
situation well beyond his control.
When
Daniel finds his drug usage exceeds his money making ability, he decides to
work off his debt to his dealer by picking up packages for him, regardless of
their content. The only problem with his plan is during his first pickup and
delivery, he gets tangles up with a jacked up drug dealer who sets his own
rules and two bent police officers who target drug dealers and other lowlifes
to get drugs and money for themselves. Daniel finds himself teaming up with his
drug dealer, Lawrence in a quest to rid themselves of the opposing dealer and
the bent cops.
Vlasaty
proves that he can paint the bleakest picture of the city, the characters, and
the mood of drug addicts with no hope of getting ahead. I found myself
rereading particular paragraphs and whole chapters just to really let his
choice of words sink in and paint its grey, dreary picture in my mind. Vlasaty creates characters who start in the
dregs of society and, while having no desire to do so, couldn’t climb out of
the gutter even if they triedWhile his characters are destined for darkness,
Vlasaty has a bright, bright future. . I was floored by this book and recommend
it with no reservations.
Highly
Recommended.
Reviewed by Derrick Horodyski.
