Editorial Content for Friends Helping Friends
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Bunny Simpson, the protagonist of Patrick Hoffman’s oddly affecting crime novel, grew up poor in Grand Junction, Colorado. Now in his 20s and working at a convenience store in Denver, his needs are few --- help his uncle pay rent, save a little money, maybe start a business one day. His best friend, Jerry LeClair, fantasizes about moving to California.
"Each time it seems that the direction of the novel’s trajectory is obvious, the narrative takes a sharp turn --- and readers of FRIENDS HELPING FRIENDS are rewarded with yet another startling perspective."
So when Helen McCalla, an attorney who buys drugs from Jerry, asks him to scare her ex-husband who happens to be a local judge, he agrees...for a fee. When he begs his pal to help out, Bunny is at first reluctant, but he needs the money and figures it’s just friends helping friends. Right?
When the cops discover that it was Bunny and Jerry roughing up the judge and send both to prison, they make a deal with Bunny that will clear his record. He must infiltrate a group of white supremacists and steal a notebook from a safe in their command center. Though the cops keep telling Bunny that they’re his friends, they don’t act like it. So after he carries out the theft, he decides that maybe he should keep it to himself. What he and Jerry do with it takes the story from a plot focused on small-time criminals to an exhilarating caper.
The characters, each carrying baggage from his or her past that constrains future prospects, are well drawn and sympathetic. And while the depiction of various lowlifes in and out of the band of white supremacist misogynists is dispiriting, there are plenty of funny or affecting scenes to offset the gloom.
Each time it seems that the direction of the novel’s trajectory is obvious, the narrative takes a sharp turn --- and readers of FRIENDS HELPING FRIENDS are rewarded with yet another startling perspective.
Teaser
Bunny Simpson grew up poor in Grand Junction, Colorado. Now in his 20s and working in Denver, he has simple dreams: He wants to help his uncle pay rent, save a little money, and maybe start a business one day. His best friend, Jerry LeClair, fantasizes about moving to California. The problem is they don’t have any prospects. Enter Helen McCalla, an attorney with an ax to grind against her ex-husband, who happens to be a judge in the local court. She offers the boys a deal: scare the man, rough him up a little, and she’ll give them a few thousand dollars. It’s simple --- just friends helping friends, right?
Promo
Bunny Simpson grew up poor in Grand Junction, Colorado. Now in his 20s and working in Denver, he has simple dreams: He wants to help his uncle pay rent, save a little money, and maybe start a business one day. His best friend, Jerry LeClair, fantasizes about moving to California. The problem is they don’t have any prospects. Enter Helen McCalla, an attorney with an ax to grind against her ex-husband, who happens to be a judge in the local court. She offers the boys a deal: scare the man, rough him up a little, and she’ll give them a few thousand dollars. It’s simple --- just friends helping friends, right?
About the Book
A young man must infiltrate his own family’s white nationalist group, or go to prison himself --- written with critically acclaimed author Patrick Hoffman’s “crisp pace and superb timing” (Wall Street Journal).
Bunny Simpson grew up poor in Grand Junction, Colorado. Now in his 20s and working in Denver, he has simple dreams: He wants to help his uncle pay rent, save a little money, and maybe start a business one day. His best friend, Jerry LeClair, fantasizes about moving to California. The problem is they don’t have any prospects. Enter Helen McCalla, an attorney with an ax to grind against her ex-husband, who happens to be a judge in the local court. She offers the boys a deal: scare the man, rough him up a little, and she’ll give them a few thousand dollars. It’s simple --- just friends helping friends, right?
Part crime novel, part portrait of friendship, extremism and inherited trauma, celebrated novelist Patrick Hoffman is at his brilliant best in these pages. Bunny never wanted any trouble. So how the hell did he end up at a white supremacist compound in rural Colorado? Fast-paced, suspenseful, and by turns funny and terrifying, FRIENDS HELPING FRIENDS is an electrifying thriller that moves at a breakneck pace, examining the vulnerability of our destinies --- and how friendship can survive it all.
Audiobook available, read by Jacques Roy
