Capri Dall has a foolproof plan to knock over the marijuana dispensary where she works. But when her boyfriend botches the heist, the two of them end up in a stolen car with a trunkful of rare high-end weed and an unhinged security guard on their trail. Harry Robatore is a burned out rhinestone cowboy barely scraping by as a bail bondsman. Agreeing to help out an old pal, and settle his bar tab, he sets out to track down the lovers on the run. The chase begins in the San Fernando Valley and leads him deep into the heart of the Mojave Desert - building to an explosive ghost town showdown. Equal parts Elmore Leonard and Charles Portis - with Larry McMurtry's cowboy hat along for the ride - Zig Zag is a stoned odyssey across the dive bars, neon-lit motels, and lost highways of the American West.
About the Author :
J.D. O'Brien was educated by nuns and holds a degree from the Jack Dempsey Bartending School in New York City. He studied under Gordon Lish, George Pelecanos and Jonathan Ames, and worked for David Mamet and John Sayles. He's been a bartender, cold caller, dishwasher, waterslide operator and clerk at the Strand Book Store. He lives in Easthampton, Massachusetts and has a dog named Lefty.
Review :
"An at times funny, at times hard-boiled, at times sweetly sad crime romp set in some of the scuzzier pockets of Southern California. J.D. O'Brien lovingly limns these divey bars, rundown motels, and ticky-tacky apartments and brings to life the stoned and soused oddballs who stumble through them. It's Elmore Leonard meets Warren Zevon with a wry sensibility all its own, and I enjoyed every page of it." - Richard Lange, author of Rovers, The Smack, and Angel Baby
"This country and western novel is set in a sleazy California full of cheats, losers, and the smell of greasy food. The pleasure of the story is seeing the dodgy characters interact, or, rather, collide, and collide they do to humorous but also deadly effect. And the whole is suffused with dope, drink and dishonesty. Very much on the lowlife level, and a world away from both Chandler and Ellroy, this is a southern California hard-baked in grime. Great characters and a good read." - Jeremy Black for The Critic
"A book that starts with an epigraph from D.C. Berman already has me eating out of its hand but then J.D. O'Brien goes and ups the ante. Zig Zag is a cosmic American crime odyssey that's reminiscent of Barry Gifford, James Crumley, Charles Portis, Elmore Leonard, and Charles Willeford. Wild, funny, and entertaining as hell. Capri Dall and Harry Robatore are characters I won't soon forget." -William Boyle, author of Shoot the Moonlight Out, City of Margins, and A Friend is a Gift You Give Yourself
"A weed-soaked modern western packed with laugh-out-loud digressions and hard luck characters so real I half-expected to find one sitting on a barstool next to me long after I finished the novel. The kind of offbeat book that I can't wait to loan out to friends."
- Duncan Birmingham, author of The Cult In My Garage and writer/director of Who Invited Them
