Drive-By

Tito was sure his brother Jimmy wasn't a gang member until Jimmy was shot dead in the street. Now he had better find what the gang is looking for, or his family may never be safe. Despite the suspense of this subject and the cliff-hanger chapter endings, this audiobook falls flat. There is no hint of a "poverty-stricken L.A. neighborhood" in Robert Ramirez's performance. The discrepancy between the necessity of a clear, even-paced reading and the setting of the story may be too wide for even the best narrator to bridge. This discrepancy makes the story jarring, distracting, and finally boring. J.M.P. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine

June 3, 1996
"Jimmy always told me there were only two kinds of gangbangers: those who were dead and those who were going to die." So thinks Tito, the forthright narrator of this piercing novel, just minutes after he witnesses his older brother's death in a drive-by shooting. Given Jimmy's credo and zest for life, Tito is incredulous when the police tell him that Jimmy belonged to a gang, "jacking people for their money and rolling with some dope-dealing killers." But Tito can't dodge the truth for long, and must make some very tough decisions when members of Jimmy's gang drag him into their search for drug money that Jimmy had skimmed. An unambiguously upbeat conclusion resolves the conflicts tidily. Ewing's fast-paced first novel offers distinctly drawn, affecting characters and lots of action, but stops short of evoking a sense of place--almost like a teleplay that leaves the scene-setting to a camera. Ages 10-up.