- Book Topics
- Mojave Desert
- Marijuana dispensary
- Tareytons
- Bail bondsman
- Flying Burrito Brothers
- Gram Parsons
- Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme
- Acapulco Gold
- Edibles
- Van Nuys
- San Fernando Valley
- Ghost Town
- Calico
Zig Zag
Capri Dall has a foolproof plan to knock over the marijuana dispensary where she works. But when her boyfriend botches the heist, the two of them end up in a stolen car with a trunkful of rare high-end weed–and an unhinged security guard on their trail.
Harry Robatore is a burned-out rhinestone cowboy, barely scraping by as a bail bondsman. Agreeing to help out an old pal, and settle his bar tab, he sets out to track down the lovers on the run. The chase begins in the San Fernando Valley and leads him deep into the heart of the Mojave Desert–building to an explosive showdown at a ghost town tourist trap.
- Book Topics
- Mojave Desert
- Marijuana dispensary
- Tareytons
- Bail bondsman
- Flying Burrito Brothers
- Gram Parsons
- Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme
- Acapulco Gold
- Edibles
- Van Nuys
- San Fernando Valley
- Ghost Town
- Calico
Reviews and Comments
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A book that starts with an epigraph from D.C. Berman already has me eating out of its hand but then J.D. O’Brien goes and ups the ante. Zig Zag is a cosmic American crime odyssey that’s reminiscent of Barry Gifford, James Crumley, Charles Portis, Elmore Leonard, and Charles Willeford. Wild, funny, and entertaining as hell. Capri Dall and Harry Robatore are characters I won’t soon forget.
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An at times funny, at times hard-boiled, at times sweetly sad crime romp set in some of the scuzzier pockets of Southern California. J.D. O’Brien lovingly limns these divey bars, rundown motels, and ticky-tacky apartments and brings to life the stoned and soused oddballs who stumble through them. It’s Elmore Leonard meets Warren Zevon with a wry sensibility all its own, and I enjoyed every page of it.
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Feels like a great 70s movie.
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A rare debut crime novel with the hardboiled humor of Charles Willeford and Barry Gifford, J.D. O’Brien’s saga of a dope-smoking, Nudie suit-wearing bail bondsman is a freewheeling oater for the ages.
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A weed-soaked modern western packed with laugh-out-loud digressions and hard luck characters so real I half-expected to find one sitting on a barstool next to me long after I finished the novel. The kind of offbeat book that I can’t wait to loan out to friends.
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The perfect Country & Western novel.
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A richly written caper…J.D. O’Brien is already a master of the neonoir genre.
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Droll humor swirls nicely with serious violence in this madcap adventure… a mesmerizing story with a strong set of characters in this engrossing page-turner.
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This book sat on my desk for three or four months because I didn’t believe O’Brien could live up to the high bar set by the likes of Thomas Pynchon or Hunter S. Thompson in creating believable characters who just happen to inhabit a world where a strong buzz is part of an honest day’s work, but I’m here to tell you he did it.
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The pleasure of the story is seeing the dodgy characters interact, or, rather, collide, and collide they do to humorous but also deadly effect. Very much on the lowlife level, and a world away from both Chandler and Ellroy, this is a southern California hard-baked in grime. Great characters and a good read.