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    You Were Never Really Here
    Unavailable
    You Were Never Really Here
    Unavailable
    You Were Never Really Here
    Ebook91 pages1 hour

    You Were Never Really Here

    By Jonathan Ames

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook


    A new extended edition of this supremely hardboiled thriller, to tie in with the release of a major hollywood film version, starring Joaquin Phoenix and directed by Lynne Ramsay
    Joe has witnessed things that cannot be erased. A former FBI agent and Marine, his abusive childhood has left him damaged beyond repair. So he hides away, earning a living rescuing girls who have been kidnapped into the sex trade. Now he’s been hired to save the daughter of a New York senator, held captive at a Manhattan brothel. But he’s stumbled into a dangerous web of conspiracy – and he’s about to pay the price.
    Brutal and redemptive in equal measure, You Were Never Really Here is a toxic shot of a thriller, laced with corruption, revenge and the darkest of inner demons.Quotes:
    “Short, taut and in only the darkest shades of noir” The Sunday Times
    “Achieves more than most crime novels three times the length” The Times, Crime Novels of the Year 2016
    “A striking and powerful noir debut” Daily Mail
    “Fast-moving, agreeably violent and perfectly pared-down” Spectator
    “Ice-cold modern noir” Mr Hyde
    “A dark thriller, full of attitude and heart” San Francisco ChronicleBio:
    Jonathan Ames is the author of nine books including Wake Up, Sir! (published by Pushkin Press) The Extra Man, I Love You More Than You Know and the graphic novel The Alcoholic. He also created the hit HBO comedy Bored to Death, starring Ted Danson, Zach Galifianakis and Jason Schwartzman, as well as Blunt Talk, starring Patrick Stewart. You Were Never Really Here has now been turned into a major Hollywood film, starring Joaquin Phoenix. He lives in Los Angeles.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPushkin Vertigo
    Release dateFeb 22, 2018
    ISBN9781782272953
    Unavailable
    You Were Never Really Here
    Author

    Jonathan Ames

    Jonathan Ames is the author of I Pass Like Night; The Extra Man; What’s Not to Love?; My Less Than Secret Life; Wake Up, Sir!; I Love You More Than You Know; The Alcoholic; and The Double Life Is Twice As Good. He’s the creator of the HBO® Original Series Bored to Death and has had two amateur boxing matches, fighting as “The Herring Wonder.” His most recent work is the detective novel A Man Named Doll. 

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    Reviews for You Were Never Really Here

    3.5/5

    57 ratings9 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Amazing thrilling novella. I want more of this!
    • 3/5
      I saw the movie a few months ago and was quite disappointed by it. But the story at the root of it seemed like something I should enjoy, so I was surprised and intrigued when I saw this novella sitting on the library shelf. I hadn't even known the movie was an adaptation.Indeed, reading the story was much better. It is a straightforward crime noir that reminded me of Richard Stark's Parker and Andrew Vachss' Burke novel series. A damaged man does good things by way of bad means. The prose is lean, the plot is simple, and the lead character is sympathetic.This is another case of a good book becoming a bad movie. The filmmakers decided to slow things way down and add layers of murk and symbolism. And while Joaquin Phoenix is a decent actor, he just didn't click in this role for me.
    • 4/5
      but then what happened ? Seems like half a book really. Great thriller otherwise.
    • 4/5
      A highly-charged and hard-boiled private detective story. None of the likeable goofiness you might have expected from Ames.
    • 4/5
      If this book was longer I'd have given it 5 stars. It is a novella. Like catholic sex, it stops just about the place where you don’t want it to stop and it leaves you gasping for more. I like Joe, he carries a hammer because it frightens people. The writing is like a hammer too, it beats you over the head and around the shoulders relentlessly. Just when you think it could not get any darker in there he whacks you again and you see stars. The writing is so tight I swear the book creaked and groaned from the tension.

      This noir at its best and you should try it, it wont take much of your time like a quick knee trembler up a dark alley with a catholic conclusion.
    • 3/5
      Film noir writ large - or small, I should say. A fairly decent book, but just a snack rather than anything substantial, Ames' dark shocker feels like something better suited to the big screen with its reliance on overused tropes and simple, direct storytelling.
    • 3/5
      The movie was pretty good, the book is ok.
    • 4/5
      Solid hardboiled tale in the vein of Drive.
    • 4/5
      Notes for a complete review: Gritty, noirEx-marine, ex-FBI, whose favourite weapon is a hammer because his father used to beat him up (and his mother) with one. The movie was better