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Dodgers

Bill Beverly

3.87 · Rating details · 5,810 ratings · 820 reviews

WINNER OF THE LA TIMES BOOK PRIZE 2017 FOR BEST MYSTERY/THRILLER
WINNER OF THE CWA GOLDSBORO GOLD DAGGER 2016 FOR BEST CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR
WINNER OF THE CWA JOHN CREASEY NEW BLOOD DAGGER 2016 FOR BEST DEBUT CRIME NOVEL
FINALIST FOR THE PEN/HEMINGWAY AWARD 2017 FOR DEBUT FICTION
LONGLISTED FOR ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL 2017 FOR EXCELLENCE IN FICTION
NOMINATED FOR THE EDGAR AWARD ...more

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Paperback, 320 pages

Published December 5th 2016 by Oldcastle Books Ltd (first published March 30th 2016)

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Feb 12, 2016 karen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: grgiveaways

In his mind he was boiling it down: Drive the roads. Meet up for guns. The job. He tried to follow it in his mind, see where the problems were. But there was nothing to see. Only these boys. Kill a man? More like keep them from killing each other, these three boys, for two thousand miles in this ugly van. That was what they'd brought him in for. That was what he had to do to get back home.

this is crime fiction where crime takes a backseat to character development, a coming-of-age novel whose pro ...more

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Aug 12, 2020 Richard (on hiatus) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: thrillers-us

If you enjoy the tough, minimal lyricism of authors like Michael Farris Smith and the naturalistic, gritty street life described in the novels of Richard Price, you’ll love Dodgers by Bill Beverley.
The novel centres around East, a 15 year old ‘watcher’ for a drugs house in a broken down suburb of Los Angeles. He’s a tough cookie, quiet and disciplined, controlling a group of ‘yard boys’ for Fyn, the house/ business owner.
The narrative takes the shape of a road trip as East is tasked with a viol ...more

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May 08, 2016 James Thane rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-fiction

This is a haunting, beautifully written book about a young Los Angeles gang banger named East. As the book opens, East is the head of a crew of sentries who are guarding the approach to a drug den. But when the police suddenly raid the place, something goes wrong, and the boys East has placed on the perimeter to sound the first alarm fail to do so. The house gets hit with only East's last-second panicked warning to those inside.

East's uncle, Fin, who runs this and other drug houses, is naturally ...more

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Apr 06, 2016 Annet rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: coming-of-age, wilderness-books-can-usa, dark, crime, kids, literature-pure, have-to-read-again, gritty, family-ties, hope

This is a great book. Really good. Thanks to karen who brought me to this book with her review! And a great debut novel by Bill Beverly. One of my reading highlights of 2016.
I would say, ... it's a sort of modern Oliver Twist story. Only more grim. Yes, it's a rather bleak, sad crime story, but more than that it is a coming of age story. It's a story about a road trip. And this trip is not for fun. The cover of the book is sort of symbolic: a deserted gas station, bleak, deserted.
It's the story ...more

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Feb 10, 2016 Es Summer rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Gritty, brutally wicked, yet poetic and tender, Dodgers is one of the best written literary crime novels I have read. From the first page, I was hooked into the world of edgy delinquents and LA's street gangs.

I do not read a lot of crime novels, due to the fact that they do not make me feel much.
I don't care about a murder investigation if the story is plot driven and not character driven. If there is not much character development, I am not interested to explore the story and analyze the e ...more

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Dec 28, 2015 Faith rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed, librarything

This is a wonderful book about the coming of age of 15 year old East, who works as lookout for a Los Angeles drug dealer. When his job blows up, East, his estranged, 13 year old brother Ty and two older boys, Michael and Walter, are sent by the drug dealer on a cross country mission to Wisconsin. East is preternaturally calm and mature, but it is the sociopathic Ty who drives much of the action in this story which takes place over the course of about one month.

The author respected his characters ...more

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Dec 08, 2016 Julie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: e-book, crime, mystery-shelf

Dodgers by Bill Beverly is a 2016 Crown publication.

Good, but not what I was expecting.

An L.A. Gang member called ‘East’, finds himself in a bind when the house he is supposed to ‘watch’ is popped, causing him to lose his position. But, his uncle, Fin, offers him another 'opportunity' by sending him off on a road trip with his younger half -brother and two other guys to kill a judge before he can testify against him.

So, begins a long road trip style journey for East, who is only fifteen, some ...more

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Mar 13, 2018 Beverly rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Gritty, urban saga, Dodgers, kept me guessing and worrying about what would happen to its 15 year old protagonist, East, a boy with many problems., not least of which is his violent 13 year old brother, Ty. Easy works as a yard boy, keeping an eye on the crack house, which his mentor owns, but said house is lost, after a police bust and Easy must go on a dangerous road trip across the country to seek revenge for its dissolution. A quick read, with some surprises at the end which I didn't see com ...more

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Jan 29, 2017 Liz rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Isn't it wild how a book can grab you immediately? Just a few pages and you're hooked. Dodgers is like that. Beverly starts off describing The Boxes, the slums, and you're there. First we are in East’s world and then Beverly flips the page and East enters ours. A boy that's probably never left the Boxes, let alone LA, is driving towards Wisconsin. Unfortunately what starts out so hot cools off and slows down as they travel. I know it would be hard to maintain that intensity but a little somethin ...more

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Jan 05, 2016 ☮Karen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, read-in-2016, giveaways-librarything

4.5 stars. Gorgeous writing about such an ugly topic: Four teen boys in an L.A. street gang take a cross-country road trip to kill a Wisconsin judge. Boys sent to do what most men won't do. Their risk taking and stupidity made me very nervous, a feeling I did not at first appreciate. A book about gang members is definitely not my usual preference; but I think the author did a great job formulating the characters and helping us understand why they were the way they were, without having to a ...more

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Jan 21, 2019 Misty rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019

Dodgers, by author Bill Beverly, is a YA novel, haunting and beautiful, less “Y” and more “A”, filled with an intoxicating combination of poetic prose and the gritty language of the streets.

The story follows East, a young LA gang member, as he leaves the dangerous streets of his city for the first time, sent on a mission to pull off a hit ordered by his uncle. East, his brother Ty, and two others (Walter and Michael) head off for Wisconsin, armed with the resources, if not the experience, that Dodgers, by author Bill Beverly, is a YA novel, haunting and beautiful, less “Y” and more “A”, filled with an intoxicating combination of poetic prose and the gritty language of the streets.

The story follows East, a young LA gang member, as he leaves the dangerous streets of his city for the first time, sent on a mission to pull off a hit ordered by his uncle. East, his brother Ty, and two others (Walter and Michael) head off for Wisconsin, armed with the resources, if not the experience, that they will need to get the job done.

To see the journey through East’s eyes is to be caught between an adult and a child. He has seen the horrors of life and death, but he marvels at the mountains, is ensnared by the allure of the Vegas strip and shivers naively in the first bone-chilling cold he has ever known. Author Beverley is a brilliant wordsmith, giving a voice to East that portrays him as more adult than his years should warrant, stuck in that vast in-between space that calls in both directions:

East liked driving here—the flat, unruffled fields with no one in sight, blind stubble mown down into splinters, maybe a tractor, maybe an irrigation rig like a long line of silver stitches across the fabric of earth. The flatness. There was more in the flatness than he’d expected. The van’s shadow lay long, and the fields traded colors. The boys slept in intervals or complained. Riding in a car for more than a few hours, he thought, was like suspended animation—somewhere under the layers of frost, your heart beat. To the left, a thunderstorm hovered, prowling its own road.

Know going in that the YA genre label is a bit of misdirection, as the language alone would preclude this from being appropriate for younger teenagers. Racial epithets and adult language, as well as episodes of profound violence, are many and varied. They are, however, as important to the story as the characters themselves.

Brutal and heart breaking, poetic and raw, this read will stay with you long after the cover has been closed. ...more

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Apr 11, 2016 Ron rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: suspense-thriller, whodunit

Dodgers is the story of a boy named East, a seasoned gang member at only 15 years old already in charge of a “yard”. The initial setting takes place in what’s been termed The Boxes, the run-down blocks of houses in Los Angeles that East calls home. But this is more than a story about gangs running drugs in the poor section of a city. After the house he guards is taken down by police, East is asked to do another job. Murder a man in Wisconsin. What comes in a form of a question is not always a qu ...more

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Sep 25, 2016 Snotchocheez rated it really liked it · review of another edition

4 stars

As the 2016 baseball season dwindles down to the Fall Classic with the Los Angeles Dodgers having sewn up the National League West division, I thought I'd slip in a curveball (as Bill Beverly has done with his remarkable debut, Dodgers.)

Despite the title, this dark, gritty, (and, dare I say it without turning off everyone) coming of age novel has zero to do with baseball (and despite the black-and-white Four-Level cover photo, not a whole heck of a lot to do with Los Angeles, either.) I 4 stars

As the 2016 baseball season dwindles down to the Fall Classic with the Los Angeles Dodgers having sewn up the National League West division, I thought I'd slip in a curveball (as Bill Beverly has done with his remarkable debut, Dodgers.)

Despite the title, this dark, gritty, (and, dare I say it without turning off everyone) coming of age novel has zero to do with baseball (and despite the black-and-white Four-Level cover photo, not a whole heck of a lot to do with Los Angeles, either.) It does feature, however, some pretty intense themes (at times reminiscent of a West Coast Rchard Price with the merest whiff of Quentin Tarantino, in his precocious Reservoir Dogs- days.) It features the (quite appropriately named, as you'll see) East, a sage, much-wiser-than-his-years 15 year-old black kid, who lives in The Boxes, a crime-ridden downtown-adjacent LA suburb, who spends most of his days and nights as lookout for his uncle's most lucrative crack house. When East and his posse lapse in vigilance one afternoon, allowing the police to make a sneak, though unsuccessful, raid of the house (leading to a shootout, the death of a neighborhood girl, and the loss of the crackhouse), East's uncle lays down an ultimatum: Road trip east, with three of his (young, black) posse to lily-white semi-rural Wisconsin to make a "hit" on a witness to an unrelated Federal drug case.

I know what you're thinking: Didn't you say the protagonist was 15?!?. Yup. Not even old enough to legally drive. More bizarre and creepy: though one of his road trip posse/fellow assassins is old enough to drive, another is East's half brother Ty (a trigger-happy bad-ass), who's 13!!!. Four black kids from the ghetto, who've never even left the mean streets of LA before, are gonna make this "hit" in Middle America?!? C'mon Bill Beverly, what kind of fools do you take us for?!?

Amazingly this road trip book (heavy on atmospherics, believable dialog, and, ultimately, introspection) works: so well that I inhaled this book without really batting an eyelash to the potential implausibilities (and in retrospect, I'll admit there were plenty). I didn't care. There was just something about these characters (particularly East, a kid locked into making some very un-kidlike life choices) that was so utterly compelling, I couldn't stop reading.

Unlike our protagonists (who couldn't give two shits about the LA Dodgers, and were just wearing their team apparel to blend in on their road trip, "coz you know, white people love their baseball"), I'm, as always, rooting for the Dodgers this year to win the Series. I'm also hoping like heck Dodgers the novel finds its audience. It (and its author, Bill Beverly) are champion-caliber. Recommended. ...more

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Jan 26, 2016 Paul rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: literary, crime-thrillers

Dodgers – A Brilliant Debut Novel

Dodgers is my standout debut thriller of the year that will take your breath away, this is the literary world’s The Wire. Usually when I see the words literary crime thriller I tend to shudder, as the story is neither one nor the other but falls between the two. Dodgers has made me question my understanding of literary crime as it delivers on so many levels, it is as addictive as crack cocaine!

Dodgers follows the story of East, a drug gangs house lookout at a cra Dodgers – A Brilliant Debut Novel

Dodgers is my standout debut thriller of the year that will take your breath away, this is the literary world’s The Wire. Usually when I see the words literary crime thriller I tend to shudder, as the story is neither one nor the other but falls between the two. Dodgers has made me question my understanding of literary crime as it delivers on so many levels, it is as addictive as crack cocaine!

Dodgers follows the story of East, a drug gangs house lookout at a crack den in The Boxes in Los Angeles, he is fifteen and knows what he is doing. But things go wrong when a police raid takes place and a young girl is shot, he thinks he will be held responsible by Fin the gang leader and dealt with. What he is told instead is that he is going across country as part of a hit squad on a judge who is hiding out in Wisconsin.

Fin has assembled a four man team, which includes East and his thirteen year old half-brother, Ty, who speaks little but loves guns. There is Walter who may be larger than life but he is an intelligent teenager and Michael the eldest of them who is there as the sensible person to stop them killing each other. They are given a van that looks nothing special, but looks can be deceiving, and this is the beginning of a long road trip, especially as East has never been out of LA.

The journey from LA to Wisconsin is not without incident, and also helps East to grow and see things he has never encountered before. Through East’s eyes we see a world as he sees it, malfunctioning, that needs to be closely observed, that seems inescapable to him, he feels he is stuck in his punishing world.

I loved the way in which the decisions that each of the characters make throughout the book shows that they can be at odds with each other, but are loyal foot soldiers to the cause. They also discover that their impulses and split second decision making will either doom them or save them. East especially is on a voyage of discovery and what sort of young man he wants to become. The characters in this book are remarkable, flawed and believable, all out to become someone else.

Dodgers is one of the most enjoyable crime thrillers I have read in a while, for a debut it is flawless and shows us what an exciting talent the literary world has in Bill Beverly. The prose Beverly uses is engaging and colourful, descriptive and expressive, all of which draws you further in to the story, with some wonderful imagery, being the back drop and colours of America.

I believe I have read a literary crime thriller that will sit alongside many of the classics in years to come, and rightly hold its own.
...more

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Dec 12, 2015 Emma rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is not the kind of book that I would ordinarily have picked for myself and I went into it with little expectation that I would enjoy it. Yet, from the outset, I was gripped by the voice of East, a young LA gang member. If this is a crime novel, it is crime in the way of DeLillo or Hunter S. Thomson. It is powerful extrapolation of character, the immediate immersion in a lifestyle so different from your own, the uncertainty of what the hell is going to happen next, the destruction of what yo ...more

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Jan 11, 2017 Paul O’Neill rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Here’s how it went, for me.

Interesting setup > Unique premise > Good mix of characters on a journey > Interesting group dynamic leads to fractious event > Group carries out interesting task with good plot twist > ABSOLUTE BOREDOM FOR FAAAR TOO LONG IN OHIO > Semi-interesting ending.

This started off as a four star book and ended on two stars. I’ve seen lots of positive reviews regarding Dodgers but in the end, the poor character building and absolutely mind numbingly boring third act ruined it. I ...more

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Feb 04, 2016 Carole (Carole's Random Life) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: first-to-read, coming-of-age, reviewed, 2016

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life.

I liked this book but I didn't love it as I had hoped that I would. The focus of this book was really on the characters with the plot taking a lesser role. I thought the book was really slow at times and was fairly easy to set aside. However, the writing had a nice flow which I really enjoyed. Overall, I found this book to be a good read.

This book was very character driven. I think one of my main problems with the story is that I never connec This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life.

I liked this book but I didn't love it as I had hoped that I would. The focus of this book was really on the characters with the plot taking a lesser role. I thought the book was really slow at times and was fairly easy to set aside. However, the writing had a nice flow which I really enjoyed. Overall, I found this book to be a good read.

This book was very character driven. I think one of my main problems with the story is that I never connected with any of the characters. Sure, I liked East well enough but more in a acquaintance kind of way. Even after reading the whole book and spending all of those pages with East, I am still not sure that I really understand him. I felt even less of a connection to the rest of the group that go on the trip, Ty, Walter, and Micheal.

Before reading the story, I had expected a lot of action. A book about gang members going on a road trip to murder a witness sounds action packed - at least in my mind. There wasn't nearly as much action as I had expected with much of the story being spent in the van on the trip and trying to decide what they should do next. The second half of the book got a little more interesting for me when the group gets split up. At that point, the story becomes completely East's story with his life looking very different. It is apparent that East is thinking about taking a different path in his life.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a coming of age story that is a little different. I do think that most readers are going to enjoy this one a bit more than I did. This is the first book by Bill Beverly that I have had a chance to read. I enjoyed his writing style and would definitely read more of his work in the future.

I received an advance reader edition of this book from Crown Publishing via First to Read for the purpose of providing an honest review.

Initial Thoughts
This was okay for me. The real focus of the book was the characters with the plot taking a back seat. It dragged at times but it was a decent read overall. ...more

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Apr 22, 2016 Eric rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This was a fine book and highly recommended.

Some are calling this a "coming of age" story, but I dispute that sort of description. It's not really about growing up, more so than growing "out." It's also more like a sort of teenage road story, rather than a nostalgic look at growing up.

The story deals with four, inner city teenagers involved in the gang life, instructed to drive cross country to complete a violent task at the orders of their street gang boss.

Along the way, revelations are made ...more

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Dec 04, 2016 Trudie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: other-awards, best-of-2016

This is a very accomplished debut crime novel by Bill Beverly, author of a previous non-fictional work on criminal fugitives.

I love a good crime novel but prefer them to have solid, dare one say, "literary writing" as well as page-turning plotting.
Dodgers came as close to anything I have read this year to hitting that mark.

This is a road trip story, but a road trip with a dark mission. A clandestine journey eastwards with an odd sort of criminal fellowship. An enigmatic sibling rivalry, plans ...more

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Mar 13, 2016 Ann Marie (Lit·Wit·Wine·Dine) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: family-dynamics, fiction, arc, netgalley, coming-of-age

Read more reviews at www.litwitwineanddine.com

Dodgers is not what I would call a mystery/thriller or even a crime novel in the strictest sense. It's definitely more of a coming-of-age story. East is a young L.A. gang member who has recently failed to protect a house he was in charge of from a police raid. His Uncle, the leader, sends him to Wisconsin along with 3 other gang members, including his younger half brother, to execute a judge who is to be a key witness. He gives them new identities, a ...more

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Apr 26, 2017 Trish marked it as put-aside · review of another edition

Shelves: america, adolescence, crime, fiction, audio, race

For some reason this didn't work for me. I was listening to the audio and the narrator, J.D. Jackson, is African American. Nothing wrong with that, except that the author is white, and this is about gangland boys looking for a key witness outside of South Central L.A., where they live.

Far be it from me to say who can explain what is a valid experience, but the first time I started listening to it I felt a distance from the material. It just didn't seem authentic--the boys were noticing and disc ...more

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Mar 26, 2016 debra rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Definitely very well written. The story was very much character driven and I wanted a little more of a story. Regardless of that, the characters (especially East) were so well written that I will not forget them any time soon. Author did a great job.

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May 12, 2016 Mike W rated it really liked it · review of another edition

When author Adam Sternbergh recently tweeted that readers looking for a great thriller would do well to check out Bill Beverly's new novel "Dodgers" it got my attention. When he described the plot as "... if kid-characters from The Wire went on a mythic road trip" I was all in. I have to say, that description is something close to perfect and if that sounds appealing then you're very likely to enjoy this novel.

East is a 15 year old in South Central L.A. who has worked the past two years supervis When author Adam Sternbergh recently tweeted that readers looking for a great thriller would do well to check out Bill Beverly's new novel "Dodgers" it got my attention. When he described the plot as "... if kid-characters from The Wire went on a mythic road trip" I was all in. I have to say, that description is something close to perfect and if that sounds appealing then you're very likely to enjoy this novel.

East is a 15 year old in South Central L.A. who has worked the past two years supervising a crew of other teens in watching one of drug lord Fin's many crack houses. While things have gone smoothly under his leadership, the novel opens on a day where nothing goes as planned and East ends the day wondering if it might cost him his life.

After being summoned to meet with Fin, East learns he's lost his assignment but he's asked to take on a new one. This one will require several days travel and an ultimate mission with very serious consequences. The novel unfolds when East accepts and the journey begins a long road trip with 3 other young men, one of whom is his estranged and unpredictable half brother.

I'm working hard here not to give any spoilers so suffice it to say that the novel works because Beverly has crafted a tight thriller but has packed it with great dialog, interesting characters and multiple, mostly believable twists. Though the subject matter is quite serious and sobering, the dialog at times is darkly comical and there were more than a few moments where I thought to myself, "wait, should I be laughing about this?" I probably shouldn't have been, but funny is funny. Beverly's ability to develop several distinct characters despite the lean format was impressive. East is the most fully developed and in spite of his many flaws he becomes a quite likeable protagonist, and his story engenders a good deal of thought about choice and agency in the criminal world.

Dodgers is an impressive debut novel and though I'd classify it as general fiction it definitely has a literary feel to it. I wouldn't be surprised to see this as a screenplay in the next couple of years as the story would likely lend itself to film quite well. In any case, it should please any reader looking for a crime thriller but it would be a mistake to restrict the recommendation to that one group. This is a book that is likely to please many readers who don't often venture into the genre.

Note: I received an ARC free via NetGalley for the purpose of review. ...more

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May 16, 2016 Raven rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Widely billed as The Wire crossed with road trip movie, I think that this book actually defies the simplicity of this description. In the character of gang member East, who was the absolute stand out for me, Beverly has created something really quite special. This is a bildungsroman for the modern age, with East in particular embracing the possibilities of life outside of the tough LA neighbourhood he inhabits, and the lawless life he leads. As the book progresses and his cohorts fall by the way ...more

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Jul 19, 2019 Brandon rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, 2019, fiction

Bill Beverly’s debut novel Dodgers follows four teens as they ride from Los Angeles to suburban Wisconsin to carry out a hit on a judge in an upcoming drug case. Led by East, a fifteen-year old lookout for a drug dealer, who’s joined by his younger brother Ty, and two others, Michael and Walter, as they make the two thousand mile trek north.

This is like if the kids in Stand by Me went to leave a dead body rather than find one.

Coming-of-age novels can be pretty hit or miss when it comes to my tas Bill Beverly’s debut novel Dodgers follows four teens as they ride from Los Angeles to suburban Wisconsin to carry out a hit on a judge in an upcoming drug case. Led by East, a fifteen-year old lookout for a drug dealer, who’s joined by his younger brother Ty, and two others, Michael and Walter, as they make the two thousand mile trek north.

This is like if the kids in Stand by Me went to leave a dead body rather than find one.

Coming-of-age novels can be pretty hit or miss when it comes to my taste. Bad coming-of-age novels like The Catcher in the Rye (yeah, I went there), leave me annoyed because of constant bitching and moaning from the main character. However, if done right, it can evoke feelings of nostalgia or in the case of Dodgers, leave me grateful that I wasn’t in a similar position as East or his brother Ty at their ages. The most I had to worry about was what I wanted for Christmas rather than looking out for cops or being fearful of dying by stray bullets.

The bulk of the novel takes place on the road in the mini-van or in small towns across America. As is often the case, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. When you add four teens to the mix, things will likely go about as smoothly as a stucco waterslide. So, when things go pear-shaped rather quickly, that’s where Beverly’s novel really shines. For a first-time novelist, Beverly really has a handle on how to build and build on tension. Moments where the boys are facing danger completely sucked me into the story and left me reading in huge chunks. I think they call that “un-put-down-able”.

My only real complaint is that the novel builds to what feels like a climax shortly after the mid-way point and then the rest of the story shifts to what feels like a different novel. This may be hard for some people to adjust to because it does feel a bit jarring. I don’t think anything that happens is bad or off-putting per se, but it did seem to drag a little at points.

Dodgers was a great read and definitely something I needed after spending nearly 1,000 pages in post-apocalyptic fiction the book prior. Championed by one of my favorite authors, Don Winslow, Dodgers is a memorable story by an author to watch for in the years ahead. ...more

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Mar 06, 2022 Jin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The book description in the book says that this story would be for fans of "Huckleberry Finn". I agree that this feels like Huckleberry Finn in modern times with black main characters. But I'm not sure if this would survive as a classic over the time.
While I liked the story development with the diverse characters like Walter and TY, the beginning with East felt very slow which made it also difficult to feel sympathy for East, the main character. I liked the second half of the book much more whe ...more

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Mar 20, 2016 royaevereads rated it liked it · review of another edition

I don't read many crime novels. For the most part I did enjoy this one.

The writing style was great. One part that was especially effective was when the author stopped using personal pronouns during one particularly harrowing scene. It somehow magnified the horror of it all.

I liked how distinct the characters were, all with their very obvious strengths and flaws.

The main thing that was a let down for me was the ending. I began to feel that the book should end a long while before it did, and I ...more

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Dec 31, 2015 Tucker rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

“Dodgers” is a book that combines several different genres - crime noir, coming of age, and road trip - into a totally unforgettable novel with characters and events that linger long after the last page is read. Fifteen year old East is a gang member and the head of a lookout crew that keeps watch on a drug house. When the police raid the house, East and several other gang members are sent on a road trip to Wisconsin to kill a key witness in an upcoming trial. Most of theses boys have never been ...more

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Jul 23, 2017 Steph Post rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Dodgers was not what I expected, but actually turned out to more of the type of crime fiction that I enjoy. More a Coming of Age story, with a strong focus on characters over action, than your typical crime novel. I think the term "literary crime/thriller" is definitely appropriate here, as the writing is gorgeous and the characters thought-provoking and deftly drawn. Dodgers spans the genres and I would recommend this novel for both crime fiction and literary fiction fans. ...more

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Nov 12, 2016 Bonnie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: literary-fiction

‘Every road had a number and joined up a hundred times with other roads. He saw how they would go. This was like the mazes they use to do in school while the teacher slept. What they said in school was: Don’t worry. Keep looking at it. You can always get there.’

At only fifteen-years-old, East has been working as a lookout for two years at a Los Angeles drug house in a place known as the Boxes. He’s a tough young man and does his job well but when the established system fails and the house fa ‘Every road had a number and joined up a hundred times with other roads. He saw how they would go. This was like the mazes they use to do in school while the teacher slept. What they said in school was: Don’t worry. Keep looking at it. You can always get there.’

At only fifteen-years-old, East has been working as a lookout for two years at a Los Angeles drug house in a place known as the Boxes. He’s a tough young man and does his job well but when the established system fails and the house falls to the authorities, East is concerned he won’t be trusted any longer. His uncle, Fin, the drug lord he works for, has a new job for him though: a road trip with a crew of boys to kill a witness before he can testify in rural Wisconsin. While the murder is the objective, this road trip becomes much more a coming-of-age tale (regardless of the fact that these boys are mature beyond their years) when they get a glimpse of a world outside of Los Angeles that they have never seen before.

‘Flight, they called it. One part fear, one part the blindest excitement you’d ever known. It freed you from time, from who you were or the matter of what you’d done. You darted, like a fish away from a net, like a dog outrunning a dogcatcher.’

East has street smarts, there’s no doubt about that, but thrown into a world far different from his own causes him to almost regress and become more childlike and naive than the young man we were first introduced to. He adapts and does so quickly, with his determination to survive anything kicking into gear. In addition to East is Walter who has big dreams with a love of science, Michael Wilson who helps aid the drug runs at UCLA, and East’s thirteen-year-old brother Ty who has quickly become callous and hardhearted from the life he leads. None of the boys get along with one another, not even East and his brother, so they not only have to contend with learning how to navigate a world they’ve never been a part of but curb their conflicts with one another so they can make it there in one piece in order to finish the job. Things don’t exactly go to plan, despite the clear-cut path laid out for them.

Bill Beverly manages to successfully portray a calamitous way of life in an undisclosed time period. The research he conducted on criminal fugitives for his non-fiction book, On the Lam, clearly was utilized in this fictional tale. The aspect of this story that really shined for me were the descriptions of the surroundings and how these boys visualized the simplest of things them through their naiveté. This is not an action-packed story of street crime but is rather a haunting, character driven tale that succeeded in balancing despair and hope in equal measure.

I received this book for free from Library Thing in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. ...more

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