If you can read a few chapters of this and not fall in love with this little girl, want to adopt her and protect her from all this madness? Something’s broken in you. Polly? I don’t know what to say about her. Expect some heroics, but remember he’s no Nick Mason, Jack Reacher or the like. He’s a criminal - and not an entirely successful criminal, with almost zero parenting skills. He’s not a paragon of virtue, he’s not a reputable citizen. The thing to remember about Nate - he might be trying to be a good father, he may want to be a good father and act a certain way for Polly. Nate takes Polly to save her life, but in the end it may very well be Polly who saves him. She Rides Shotgun is a gripping and emotionally wrenching novel that upends even our most long-held expectations about heroes, villains, and victims. But can their powerful bond transcend the dangerous existence he’s carved out for them? Will they ever be able to live an honest life, free of fear? Nate, in turn, learns what it’s like to love fiercely and unconditionally-a love he’s never quite felt before.

She finds herself transforming from a shy little girl into a true fighter. Out on the lam, Polly is forced to grow up early: with barely any time to mourn her mother, she must learn how to take a punch and pull off a drug-house heist. Nate and Polly’s lives soon become a series of narrow misses, of evading the bad guys and the police, of sleepless nights in motels. They’ve already murdered his ex-wife, Polly’s mother. Nate made dangerous enemies in prison-a gang called Aryan Steel has put out a bounty on his head, counting on its members on the outside to finish him off.

He takes her from the front of her school into a world of robbery, violence, and the constant threat of death.

So, here’s the official blurb to keep me from slipping:Įleven-year-old Polly McClusky is shy, too old for the teddy bear she carries with her everywhere, when she is unexpectedly reunited with her father, Nate, fresh out of jail and driving a stolen car. Harper’s better to read on this than me, anyway. This is one of those books where you want to sit and talk about it for a couple of hours - recapping and dissecting the events, analyzing, and speculating about what happens after the book ends or you don’t want to say anything beyond “just read it, I don’t want to ruin anything for you.” I could absolutely relish the former, but I’m going to hew closer to the latter. Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller.

She rode shotgun