She Rides Shotgun

Starred review from April 24, 2017
At the start of Harper’s visceral, pulpy, vernacular-filled first novel, introspective 11-year-old Polly McClusky has an unexpected reunion on the steps of her Southern California middle school with her estranged father, Nate. Nate has recently been released from Pelican Bay State Prison, where a gang known as Aryan Steel issued a death warrant for him and his family, including Polly’s mom, Avis. Nate is committed to saving Polly from the Aryan Steel killers, though he’s too late to prevent the brutal murder of Avis and her new husband. Nate, Polly, and her stuffed bear, who serves to articulate the swirling emotions that Polly hesitates to voice, go on the run, sought by not only the gang but also Det. John Park, who’s investigating the murders. Nate and Polly’s relationship blooms, despite their being in constant crisis-survival mode, as the action builds to a climax that’s over-the-top but consistent with what has gone before. Expert pacing and well-developed characters lift this above the thriller pack. Harper is also the author of a story collection, 2016’s Love and Other Wounds. Agent: Nat Sobel, Sobel Weber.

Starred review from April 1, 2017
In his first novel, Harper returns to the seamy criminal fringe he explored in his story collections (Love and Other Wounds, 2015, etc.) for a grim yet moving tale about an ex-con's efforts to protect his young daughter.Meek, intellectually precocious 11-year-old Polly finds her tattooed, heavily muscled father, Nate, waiting outside her school in Fontana, California. Having been in prison for more than half of Polly's life, Nate has now been granted an early release. Unfortunately, though, the head of the Aryan Steel gang has just put out a call from his prison cell for his gang members to kill Nate, his ex-wife, and their daughter. Polly's mother is knifed before Nate can reach her, but he takes Polly on the run to evade hit men while planning how to stop the vendetta. His love for Polly overpowers and empowers him, but there is no sentimentality here--he recognizes with paternal pride that she shares his "buried rage." He trains her to fight, then takes her along when he robs stores and attacks his Aryan Steel enemies. Although she remains attached to her teddy bear, Polly discovers she takes after her badass daddy more than she or he imagined. The novel combines striking images, like Nate's "gunfighter eyes" and the "old man of a car" he shows up driving, with disturbingly raw violence--a drug mule gutted by a crooked sheriff to get out the merchandise, the same sheriff gouging out an eye. Even more disturbing are the characters' raw emotions: after witnessing Nate hold an Aryan Steel member's back against the coals from a barbecue-grill fire until he gives desired information, Polly finds herself smiling. Yet there is a moral core here. Acknowledging that his vengeful behavior is "dumb and selfish," Nate knows he isn't good for Polly. And despite her developing toughness, Polly retains her urge to save the innocent. For all the darkness and even ugliness displayed, the characters' loyalty, love, and struggle for redemption grip the reader and don't let go.

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October 1, 2017

Eleven-year-old Polly knows little about her father, Nate, who has been in prison for most of her life. When he suddenly appears after school, in a car that doesn't belong to him, she is wary but goes with him. Nate isn't a man of many words, but watchful Polly learns that she can never return to her mother's house. Thanks to Nate's actions in prison, Polly isn't safe, and the next few weeks are a whirlwind of robberies, strength training, and brainstorming ways to survive the hit that the prison gang Aryan Steel has put out on the two of them. As in an episode of Breaking Bad, disaster constantly looms on the horizon. Readers will race through this nail-bitingly suspenseful novel as the duo wreak havoc on Aryan Steel establishments around Los Angeles. Harper's portrayal of the California underworld rings true, and the loving connection that develops between Polly and Nate is full of hope and promise. VERDICT This emotional and fast-paced tale will stick with mature teens who appreciate gritty contemporary fare.-Sarah Hill, Lake Land College, Mattoon, IL

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 1, 2017
When short-timer Nate McClusky kills a member of the Aryan Steel prison gang in Susanville, California, the victim's brother (who happens to be the gang's president) sends a death warrant from Supermaxnot only for Nate but also for his ex-wife, Avis, and his daughter, Polly. Nate survives his last week in prison but returns home to find Avis dead. Picking up 11-year-old Polly from middle school, he intends to drop her off with a relative until circumstances suggest the only way to keep her permanently safe is to take on Aryan Steel and hit them where it hurts. Polly is at first terrified (and contacts the police) but soon displays an aptitude for crimeshe's her father's daughter, after alland decides she wants to be more than just a passenger. Meanwhile, in chapters that read like mid-period James Ellroy, Detective Park searches the bleak and barren parts of California for the girl who now regrets her call for help. From its bravura prologue to its immensely satisfying ending, this first novel (Harper previously penned the short story collection Love and Other Wounds, 2015) comes out with guns blazing and shoots the chambers dry. It's both a dark, original take on the chase novel and a strangely touching portrait of a father-daughter relationship framed in barbed wire.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)