Dove Season
Written by Johnny Shaw
Narrated by Gary Dikeos
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Twelve years have passed since Jimmy Veeder set foot in the Imperial Valley of southern California. The only person that could bring him back is his father, Jack, who is dying of cancer. Jimmy is prepared to spend Jack’s final days joking and reminiscing, but the old man has other plans. He needs Jimmy to cross the border into Mexico and find a prostitute named Yolanda. It’s a strange final request to be sure, but Jimmy’s not one to argue with a dying man. With his childhood buddy Bobby Maves in tow, he heads south, looking for Yolanda among the seedy bars and neighborhoods along the Calexico/Mexicali border. Their search leads them to Tomás Morales, a rising star in the Mexican underworld. While dangerous to most, his childhood friendship with Jimmy brings out his loyalty and spurs him to help. But just when Jimmy thinks his quest has ended, an unexpected murder sucks him further into the violence and danger of Mexicali. In his fight for survival and search for truth, what he uncovers calls into question everything he thought he knew about his father—and will determine just what kind of man he himself truly is.
Johnny Shaw
Johnny Shaw is the author of the award-winning Jimmy Veeder Fiasco series, including the books Dove Season, Plaster City, and Imperial Valley, as well as the stand-alone novels Floodgate and Big Maria. He has won the Spotted Owl and Anthony Awards and was the Grand Marshal of the 69th Annual Carrot Festival Parade. Johnny lives nomadically.
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Dove Season Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Plaster City Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Imperial Valley Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for Dove Season
39 ratings7 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In the first of (and hopefully a grip of) the “Jimmy Veeder Fiasco’s”, Jimmy is called back to his home town when his father announces he has terminal cancer and no further options. He travels back to the 100+ degree heat to spend time with “Pop” and help get things in order.Jimmy has been away from the Imperial Valley of California over a decade. He went to college, traveled the world, and planned no further into the future than a week. He was generically content with his life, even if he was not what people would call happy. It doesn’t matter though. Desert folk can move to a city, travel the world , or settle down with a chica up north, but will always have the desert inside them.Jimmy finds out very quickly that nothing has changed since he left El Centro and the Imperial area. The border is still malleable, Mexicali is still someplace that should cause a grown man to stay out of the shadows, and even though he thought he left his life behind, it was waiting or him when he came back.As described on the back of the book, things get a bit upside down when Pop asks Jimmy to locate him a Mexicali prostitute by the name of Yolanda. Respecting his privacy on the issue, Veeder does not ask questions. Instead he enlists the help of long time friend Bobby to head south of the boarder and track down Yolanda.. If a dying man wants a prostitute found, you find her, regardless of the specifics… Regardless of the lengths a person must go to or the consequences of ones actions…Johnny Shaw’s title for this book is fantastically metaphoric. Dove Season is the time of year when small game hunters break out the guns en-masse and kill the universally recognized “bird of peace” by the tens of thousands. Peace is sometimes more like a flying rodent than an innocent (and often naive) ideal. This novel chronicles Veeder’s own “Dove Season” as he re-immerses in desert life and puts the hurt on his inner peace (and a few assholes) for the betterment of himself and everyone he knows.People who enjoy excellent fight scenes, a reasonable amount of manly introspection, and booze should check this out. It is like being sucker punched in the tentative tequila-queasy stomach while you sit on the back porch having one of those alcohol driven “honest talks” with a best friend.--xpost RawBlurb.com
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5it's pretty damn good - a low brow goldfinch with grit and action that rewards the reader with humor .
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Fast-paced novel where a man returns home because his father is dying and he picks up with the people he left behind.
Not really the book for me. The author describes the dustiness and seediness well, but I really didn't care that much for the protagonist who just seemed to pretty well drift through life and with the amount of drinking going on, I think they'd all better look out for their livers. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In my mind, this novel can be broken down into two parts, and both of them are satisfying, but for different reasons. Part One is about Jimmy Veeder, a good guy drifter with a sense of humor, who returns to the Imperial Valley in California to visit his dying father, Big Jack Veeder. The highlights of this section are Shaw’s descriptions of Imperial Valley and Mexico, which is right on the border nearby. Here is one of my favorite sections from the beginning of chapter six: All the fun stuff is in Mexico. . . Hell, you can buy Cuban cigars. You can go to a bullfight, a dog fight, or a cock fight if that’s your pleasure. What is fun and illegal in the U.S., Mexico gladly offers in a semi-legal, slightly dangerous way. If the law looks the other way, then is it really illegal?In this passage, Shaw comically sums up the moral and legal ambiguity of Mexico and what role America and Americans play in that ambiguity; pretty much throughout Part One, he manages to skillfully provide commentary on the complex relationship between the two countries, but without being preachy, long-winded, and, most importantly, without sacrificing the narrative thread. Another aspect of Part One I enjoyed was the relationships between Jimmy (the son) and Jack (the father). Even in a crime novel, death bed scenes, especially death bed scenes between parent and child, could very easily come across as trite or just plain boring to read. But these aren’t. Big Jack, a veteran and a farmer, is kind of the strong-silent type, but he has a wonderful sense of humor, especially about death. Here’s Big Jack on death, from chapter three: Dying is a bitch when you don’t believe in God. But I ain’t going to start now just because I’m scared. I’m afraid, and the only way I know how to kill fear is distraction. I want to die happy. I want to die laughing. . .Let’s not let this get dark and sad and morose. Leave the crying to the women.Throughout Part One, there are funny exchanges like this between Jimmy and Jack, the best of which happens when Jack asks his son to find him a prostitute, which, in a way, serves as the transition from Part One to Part Two.Part Two of the novel is the crime element of this particular crime novel, and this is when the narrative really picks up speed. Jimmy and his friend Bobby head into Mexico to locate Yolanda, a prostitute that Big Jack has a mysterious relationship with. I never like to talk specifics about plot, but I can say this journey into Mexico brings death, kidnapping, and gangsters into the mix, which is always fun. I especially enjoy the character Tomas Morales, a stone-cold businessman who Jimmy used to look after when Tomas was a little kid. Morales is into all manner of illegal activity, but he assists Jimmy in finding Yolanda. In this section of the novel, the reader really gets to know Jimmy, and the misadventures he gets into with Bobby are great fun. As is their dialogue. Here’s Bobby’s response when Jimmy asks him to go to Mexico and help Jimmy locate a hooker for Big Jack: Your dad is fucking awesome. I am so in on this. Beats the shit out of bringing flowers. Jack wants a piece, let’s tear him off some chonch.That made me laugh. I also enjoyed the relationship Jimmy has with Angie, his ex-girlfriend who works at Big Jack’s hospice center. Tough as nails and every bit as funny as Bobby, Angie keeps Jimmy, a slacker by nature, focused and centered, and it is always fun to read.Bottom line, this is an excellent book with a funny yet flawed main character and a fascinating setting. The Mexico/US border is always fertile ground for great stories, and Johnny Shaw has certainly added a great new one. I’ve already downloaded PLASTER CITY, which is another book in the Jimmy Veeder series. I give DOVE SEASON my highest recommendation.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The only book by this author that I read before this one was Big Maria, a very funny, farcical adventure that I loved despite some rather explicit grossness. I expected this book, published earlier, to be more of the same. I was wrong.This book is still quite funny, but it has more substance. Halfway through, it turns into a murder mystery. I didn't see that coming. It also addresses some serious subjects, especially immigration issues, but it doesn't pretend to have easy answers and it is not preachy. The characters are quirky, although not as much as in Big Maria, but they are also believable. Relationships are explored, and not everyone is good at handling them, not everyone always does the right thing. The protagonist has some very loyal, if not incredibly bright, friends. The Imperial Valley setting, the descriptions of farming in the valley, add great atmosphere.This book is very entertaining and can be read just for that, but there is bone under the skin and fat.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jimmy Veeder hasn't been home in twelve years. His father, Jack, kept his cancer to himself but now that he knew that he didn't have much time, he called Jimmy.Jimmy's home is in Holtville in southern California across from Mexicalli, Mexico. It's a place in the desert where "...even the plants have a chip on their shoulder."The town hasn't changed much in the years that Jimmy was gone and neither has his best friend, Bobby Maves. When Jimmy asks Bobby how he's been, Bobby's response, "I live in Holtville. How good could I be."Jimmy's father has only one request, to find a prostitute named Yolanda who lives in Mexico.In this noir novel, the desert is also a character. Jimmy, Bobby and their boyhood friend Tomas look for Yolanda. Tomas is an underworld figure in Mexico who claims to be an arranger. He helps find people, in particular girls for pornographic films and whatever can earn him money.Yolanda is found and returns with Jimmy for a last visit with Jack. Later, when Jack dies peacefully, Yolanda is able to return for the service. However, something happens and changes the direction of the story. We learn more of Jack's early years and see Jimmy face dangers of the Mexican underworld.The characters are well presented and the plot interesting.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In the first of (and hopefully a grip of) the “Jimmy Veeder Fiasco’s”, Jimmy is called back to his home town when his father announces he has terminal cancer and no further options. He travels back to the 100+ degree heat to spend time with “Pop” and help get things in order.Jimmy has been away from the Imperial Valley of California over a decade. He went to college, traveled the world, and planned no further into the future than a week. He was generically content with his life, even if he was not what people would call happy. It doesn’t matter though. Desert folk can move to a city, travel the world , or settle down with a chica up north, but will always have the desert inside them.Jimmy finds out very quickly that nothing has changed since he left El Centro and the Imperial area. The border is still malleable, Mexicali is still someplace that should cause a grown man to stay out of the shadows, and even though he thought he left his life behind, it was waiting or him when he came back.As described on the back of the book, things get a bit upside down when Pop asks Jimmy to locate him a Mexicali prostitute by the name of Yolanda. Respecting his privacy on the issue, Veeder does not ask questions. Instead he enlists the help of long time friend Bobby to head south of the boarder and track down Yolanda.. If a dying man wants a prostitute found, you find her, regardless of the specifics… Regardless of the lengths a person must go to or the consequences of ones actions…Johnny Shaw’s title for this book is fantastically metaphoric. Dove Season is the time of year when small game hunters break out the guns en-masse and kill the universally recognized “bird of peace” by the tens of thousands. Peace is sometimes more like a flying rodent than an innocent (and often naive) ideal. This novel chronicles Veeder’s own “Dove Season” as he re-immerses in desert life and puts the hurt on his inner peace (and a few assholes) for the betterment of himself and everyone he knows.People who enjoy excellent fight scenes, a reasonable amount of manly introspection, and booze should check this out. It is like being sucker punched in the tentative tequila-queasy stomach while you sit on the back porch having one of those alcohol driven “honest talks” with a best friend.--xpost RawBlurb.com