You Were Never Really Here
by Jonathan Ames
A hammer was Joe's favourite weapon. He was his father's son, after all
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.
You Were Never Really Here is now a major motion picture starring Joaquin Phoenix
Joe is a half-Irish, half-Italian killing machine. His whole body is a weapon, and he knows how to use it, to inflict violence upon those in his way. He's available for hire, and able to work on the streets of New York without detection. After Senator Votto instructs him to find his daughter, we are in Chandler territory but this story is 'harder-boiled'. Joe is as tough as they come but there's time for reflection and backstory, making Joe an interesting character, chiselled by his parents.
This is modern noir with an old-school style, and what a style. With fewer than 100 pages it's as spare as it is violent. An action-packed story that doesn't waste a word. Gritty, dark and punchy, it's a devour in one sitting read. Impressive. I suspect we'll see more of Joe.
About Jonathan Ames
Novelist, essayist, creator of the beloved TV series Bored to Death and Blunt Talk, Jonathan Ames is celebrated not only for his comic sensibilities and devotion to the
absurd but for his lurid attraction to inner demons. He is the author of nine books including The Extra Man (published by Pushkin in August 2018) I Love You More Than You Know and the graphic novel The
Alcoholic. Pushkin Press also published his novel Wake Up, Sir!. He plans to write a sequel to You Were Never Really Here. He has fought in two amateur boxing matches as 'The Herring Wonder'. He lives in Los Angeles.