101

Jerry, the arrogant 25-year-old protagonist of this often brutal crime novel from Pitts (American Static), gets into a bar fight with one of the Dead BBs, a California biker gang that runs a huge marijuana business. He escapes alive but realizes that he needs to get out of San Francisco before the BBs come after him. His mother, Barbara, a former nurse and drug dealer, puts him in touch with her old friend Vic, who runs a pot-growing operation in Humboldt County. Jerry heads north on U.S. Route 101 to Vic’s cabin, where he plans to lie low. But a killer named Cardiff gets on his trail, along with a Russian weed kingpin known as Vlad the Inhaler. Jerry’s girlfriend, Piper, the stepdaughter of one of the BBs, complicates matters. The violent action, involving various bikers and drug farmers with names such as Ripper, Doughboy, and Meth Master Mike, harms dogs as well as humans. The plot follows a predictable course from rural Humboldt back to the Bay Area for the final, unsurprising showdown. Pitts falls short of finding the level of gonzo insanity that the book’s pacing seems to demand. (Nov.)