Dodgers is a dark, unforgettable coming-of-age journey that recalls the very best of Richard Price, Denis Johnson, and J.D. Salinger. It is the story of a young LA gang member named East, who is sent by his uncle along with some other teenage boys—including East’s hothead younger brother—to kill a key witness hiding out in Wisconsin. The journey takes East out of a city he’s never left and into … city he’s never left and into an America that is entirely alien to him, ultimately forcing him to grapple with his place in the world and decide what kind of man he wants to become.
Written in stark and unforgettable prose and featuring an array of surprising and memorable characters rendered with empathy and wit, Dodgers heralds the arrival of a major new voice in American fiction.
Winner of the LA TIMES Book Prize of 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
Winner of the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award
Finalist for the PEN/Heminghway Award 2017 for Debut Fiction
Longlisted for Andrew Carnegie Medal 2017 for Excellence in Fiction
Nominated for the Edgar Award 2017 for Best First Novel
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I have an advance copy of this debut novel and would be happy to pass it on to someone! I liked it. Richard Price-y.
An intriguing and compelling novel. It’s genre thriller/crime, but Beverly also flouts conventions in all the right ways. The story of a young man in a drug dealing world, who still manages to find himself, or some part of himself, when he’s sent to do a job far from the world he knows in Los Angeles. Beverly picks from universal archetypes as much as from what’s-next storytelling. Solid line-by-line prose is rich in imagery and thoughtfulness, too.
First of all, it’s not about the baseball team. It’s about teenagers caught up in the drug world at a very young age in L.A. They aren’t users; they just work there. Four of them are sent out on a mission to kill a witness in Wisconsin. This book is about their journey. I must confess that I had trouble reading more than a few pages at a time at first because of the heavy subject matter. But then I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next and how it would turn out. We did this for our November book club selection and it provided good material for discussion. It was very different from anything I have ever read before, and I recommend it.
A great read and surprisingly touching.
The book was a 1960’s kind of novel. A lot of philosophical meandering without much point disguised as angst. I would not recommend this book.
Best book I’ve read in a very long time!
Sorry I took the time to read this drivel. Was I supposed to care about any of the murdering punks is the poorly constructed tale?
I really wanted to love this book!! I liked East’s point of view on things, and his dedication to his boss. But the relationship with his brother was just to messed up. And the violence was just to much. I get that living in a gang is violent, but it was the unnessacery killing that I didnt like. When East was restarting his life at the shooting range the story was so real!! I enjoyed getting to see him start living a normal life. Over all, it was a decent read.
I wasn’t prepared to like this book, especially after the first few paragraphs . At first I found the language difficult,but it opened a whole different world!
At the end I wanted to learn more about what happened to this young man.
,who seemed to have a basically good heart.
I really liked this book. Well put together and informative!
by the time I finished the book I was glad it was over.
These characters are so real, it is almost like reliving part of my growing up. Once read, you’ll never forget these young boys on their way to manhood.
I read this book while trying to get my hands on something else I wanted. I was so very pleasantly surprised to find I loved reading this page turner. Very well written and provocative.
I really, really liked this book. What drew me to this book is that it was about a planned murder that was to take place in Wisconsin, I live in Wisconsin. It is about four black kids in the drug trade in LA. Being that I am an old white woman in Wisconsin this story was out of my norm. I thought is was wonderful and I would recommend it to anyone. Thank you BookBub for recommending this book.
Not for me – did not finish.
Great character development. It takes you along.
Very well-written, excellent character development, unique plot, satisfying conclusion. Wish I hadn’t read it so I could read it again.
Excellent look into a slice of the world I have little experience with. Despite his circumstances there is something noble about the young protagonist.
Excellent writing. Not a wasted word. Tells a story that drives you to read on to find out what happens next.
Dodgers by Bill Beverly is a stand alone novel about a teenage gang member, East, sent on a mission by his uncle to do a dirty deed with some other gang members. During this journey, East realizes that there might be a different life to be had other than being in a gang. This is a wonderful coming of age story that grabbed me from the start and held my attention to the end. Certain parts of the writing brought to mind of poetry writing. I thoroughly enjoyed following East on his journey.