A fun read. Fast paced. Engaging characters. And a satisfying end. What more do you want?

Bunny Simpson and Jerry St Clair are two ordinary guys doing a favour for a friend. Helen wants a bit of payback for the way her ex-husband dumped her for a younger model. But Helen's ex is a vindictive judge and when Jerry and Bunny throw a few punches he retaliates with the law. So now Bunny ends up doing a favour for the FBI.

And so the story continues. One favour leads to another, bigger one and Bunny and Jerry get drawn deeper and deeper into a conspiracy that could end all their dreams of a better life. And just because they'd tried to help a friend.

This is a really entertaining read. I was rooting for Bunny and Jerry all the way through. They're not entirely angels but they're very likeable. The story feels quite organic and anyone you meet along the way (which includes gun-toting old ladies, drug dealing music afficionados, evil relatives and even a few white supremacists) can influence what happens next. I really had no idea what the outcome would be - good or bad. There is a definite conclusion to the novel but not the one I expected at all.

Definitely recommended. I'd look out for more by this author.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for the advance review copy.

What a weird and wonderful, and sometimes dark, little book! I thought the pacing was nearly perfect with no slow sections and a satisfying ending. A cast of complex, morally gray characters you can’t help but root for. Would be great for fans of Lisa McInerney’s Glorious Heresies. 5⭐️!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Patrick Hoffman walks a fine line between social comment, gritty urban realism, satire and caper in his latest novel Friends Helping Friends. But by walking this line he manages to be informative, insightful and entertaining. Even the title is a sly dig at the various real and predatory and accidental relationships that power this novel.
When Friends Helping Friends opens Bunny is being arrested. It turns out that the crime Bunny committed was helping his friend Jerry beat up the ex-husband of lawyer Helen, who commissioned the deed while tweaked on the steroids that Jerry sells her. What the pair don’t know is that Helen’s ex-husband is a judge and soon they are facing serious jail time. But Bunny is thrown a lifeline by a pair of cops – they can get him out if he agrees to go undercover with a white supremist organisation that is run by his uncle. As that undercover operation goes on though, Bunny, and readers may start to suspect that nothing about this deal is what it seems.
Friends Helping Friends can be fairly dark. It takes readers into the prison system and later into a training camp for white supremacists. And there is no such thing as a truly good person in Bunny’s world, just shifting shades of grey. But there are webs of co-dependence and people doing favours for each other. So that when Jerry tries to lean on Helen to post bail for him, Helen enlists the help of gym buddy and casual hook-up Sam. But the darkness is leavened by the almost comical interactions of the characters and Hoffman’s side-eyed view of society. It helps also that the narrative will occasionally skew in directions that readers do not expect but in ways that all build on that web of connections.
Overall, Hoffman has actually delivered a kind of heist caper novel in a kind of Coen Brothers vein. And while the full shape of this does not come clear until very late in the piece, the set up and progress of it keep the novel from descending into some potentially very dark places. And while there are plenty of bizarre characters the plot itself anchors around Bunny who despite occasionally doing bad things, and possibly has a bit of a violent streak, is a character that readers can cheer for.

Bunny just wanted a happy and better life as did his friend Jerry but they took a lot of wrong decisions that put them in jail. They had to deal with murderer white nationalists, cops who wanted to rob someone's money, and a hurt woman who also wanted to have a happy, normal life and a family. Friends Helping Friends could be a true story in most parts and it just shows as decisions big or small affect the lives of many and may put people in danger or in simple bliss. I liked Bunny's and Jerry's characters, they were simpleton boys who had no big dreams but reached them.
I thank the author, his publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC.

Patrick Hoffman writes like a gorgeous hybrid of Denis Johnson, Charles Willeford, and Richard Stark. Like the best noir, his novel nails how folks on the margins fall into bad choices. Yet his almost brutal matter-of-factness about events and character is coupled with a tremendous empathy, getting inside their decisions, their dreams, the destructive traumas they've lived through.

Highly recommended as a great crime novel, and equally as just a great American novel. I loved it.

Hoffman is one of my favorite crime writers, someone who can immerse himself in a subculture and wrench up the tension. This is his fourth book, and they are all great, he has a knack for illuminating the world of losers and giving them dignity. This book centers around Bunny Simpson, who works at the counter of a cigarette store and stumbles his way into becoming an undercover snitch in his uncle’s white supremacist gang. Hoffman has a real knack for finding poetry in the dirty corners of the world, and this is another banger.

A good story with twists and lots of action, I enjoyed the ending a lot, it felt really well developed.
I wanted to read more about these characters, more about this topic, even though there are some loose ends and randomly brought up plot points.
A good easy read, quite a page turner to be honest.
The only thing I didn't like was the beginning and the way the book was organized (it took me some time to get used to the writing style) but other than that a very solid and enjoyable read.

I saw a lot of good reviews about it this and was excited to get my hands on it. However, the writing and the story telling weren't for me. I didn’t find the characters likeable, which was frustrating and the story itself read so choppy that I had a hard time following the story line and frankly caring about the characters. There were good themes woven throughout. I will give Hoffman that, but overall this was a read I could have passed on.

I was looking for more of the relationships between characters and honestly the fact that this was described as a thriller doesn’t track for me, a mystery of sorts sure, but I didn’t find the events thrilling which was a bit of a let down when that was what I went in expecting.

TDLR:

4/5

a very well written book about two friends who get involved into a mess. Both the main characters are likable and the story is good.

Bunny and Jerry are two friends who are paid to beat up a lawyer's ex husband. They're then arrested and then one thing leads to another and they end up helping the police to crack a white nationalist group.

Both the main characters are extremely likable and well fleshed out and the best part is they aren't hateful or plotting against each other

Wherever you think this book is going, you're wrong! This book was full of twists and it was quite a fun ride.

This book addresses some important topics, but doesn't add anything significantly meaningful to the narrative. I feel like more of a 'lesson' could have been provided with more reflection from the characters.

The characters were great. Not great people, but as characters they really helped build the story.

The ending was satisfying, although a bit rushed. Ultimately, I would have liked more of the book. But it's an easy read with straightforward writing and dialogue and I quite enjoyed it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

FRIENDS HELPING FRIENDS-PATRICK HOFFMAN-Publishing March 28th, 2025 by Atlantic Monthly Press.

A young man must gain access to his own families white nationalist group, or go to prison.

Bunny Simpson is a young man, early 20’s living in Denver, working a crap job. He lives in a trailer with his uncle, taking care of him, and maybe thinking he would like to start a business. His friend, Jerry LeClair, sells drugs and wants to move to California.
They have nothing going on, until Helen McCalla enters their lives. Helen buys steroids from Jerry. Helen hates he ex-husband. Helen offers Jerry and Bunny a few thousand bucks to rough him up a little, get in a fight.

One thing leads to another and the boys take on a lot more than they thought they would.

Friendships. Crime. Trauma. Fast paced. Suspenseful. Thriller.

Good read.

#writing #fiction #patrickhoffman #groveatlantic #grovebooks #bookrecommendations #bookreview #bookreader #bookreviewer
1m

Solid thriller, solid characters, solid plot. I went into this book thinking I was in for a mellow reading, but instead I got a very intricately woven story full crime, action and imperfect people not very virtuous motivations.

Reads like a good movie, even if a bit too serious most of the time. None of the twists and turns were predictable. Each character was very genuine. Hopefully it will be adapted into a movie.

I didn't really know what to expect with this one as white nationalism isn't really my preferred reading material BUT i was so engrossed with the story in this one, I couldn't put it down. I loved the flawed characters and the story of what I imagine is quite a common occurrence for young men of a certain economic background, having to enter the world of crime just to get by and getting themselves into situations they struggle to get out of without some sort of comeuppance. I liked Bunny, he seemed like a nice kid who got caught up with the wrong crowd from the beginning. This is more than a story of a crime gone wrong and a young man being taken advantage of, it's also a story of finding family in others, the lengths we'll go to to survive, identity, the things we do for love and respect AND what defines us as human beings. Is it nature? nurture? experiences? why do we dislike great swathes of people? and for what? also, Helen! LOVED HER. I'd have read a full novel just about what she was up to! The only downside I'd say was the structuring of the book, it takes a while to get used to but perhaps that may chance with the final print.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Grove Atlantic and Patrick Hoffman, the author of Friends Helping Friends for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of this book!

This is my first time reading Patrick Hoffman's work, and I truly enjoyed it and couldn't put it down. The story's premise is very simple: Bunny will get $500 to beat someone up; however, he doesn't know this will later spiral into a disastrous chaos that makes him choose to either get involved in his uncle's white nationalist group or go to prison for 10 years. The story is very engaging, just when I think it cannot get worse, things get worse and Bunny has a lot more mess to deal with. The language is simple but effective. There are only brief mentions about Bunny's childhood trauma, but they give me chills every time.

I also can't help but notice the satirical message this book delivers. The title is Friends Helping Friends, and in the book Bunny gets involved with two cops who keep telling Bunny that they are friends, but whenever Bunny refuses to do something they ask him to do, they will lash out on Bunny and become aggressive and threaten him. Is that what friends do?

Overall I really like this book and can't wait to read more work of Hoffman's.

I cannot remember the last time I wanted to scream at a book—and I mean that in the best way. Patrick Hoffman's Friends Helping Friends really riled me up. It felt like watching a personal friend make poor choices, and wanting to rattle their brain to choose differently. An incredibly fun, tense, interesting, and frustrating story I'm grateful to have read.

Thanks to Grove Atlantic for the ARC.

I’ve read all of Hoffman’s books now. Every Man A Menace was a weird masterpiece. White Van more of a straight grizzly crime novel but framed in a bizarrely different way. Clean Hands was a legal thriller but also has an off kilter vibe.

Which brings us to this one. It’s good, but a much more regular gritty crime story with stock characters. I kept waiting for something else to kick in, story or language wise, and it sort of does toward the end when the plot ratchets up - but overall this book was playing it safe for me.

The exception to this was the Helen character, who was delightfully oddball. The book touches out some zeitgeisty themes like white nationalism (which to be fair is not really a new phenomenon, as American as apple pie and gerrymandering) and the stuff about steroids was different - never really seen this sort of thing in a crime novel before.

Worth reading if you’re into that gritty crime vibe, but after Every Man A Menace I think I was expecting something a bit more epic in scope.

An interesting book, though I found it a bit slow at times, but the themes are very relevant. Bunny (male) and his buddy Jerry find themselves in trouble after Jerry persuades Bunny to beat up the ex husband of one of his customers he sells steroids to, she's become jealous of a new woman he's become interested in. Jerry and Bunny meet up to do the beat down, and since it takes place in a well lit affluent neighborhood, it's all caught on camera. They are quickly arrested and Bunny is quickly offered a deal, integrate himself with a white supremist organization and report back to the feds and charges will be dropped. Bunny ends up working at a used car dealership where he eventually meets the guy that runs the supremist organization, who invites him to their compound and to become one of them. Bunny finds out that they are planning some very bad stuff, but the feds don't appear interested in that, they want a notebook that the leader has. Meanwhile Jerry is still in jail trying to figure out how Bunny got out before him. Events go quickly once Bunny is at the compound and the last part of the book was a page turner. I would recommend. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Atlantic Monthly Press for the ARC.

The novel centers around Bunny Simpson, a clerk at a Denver cigarette store, His friend Jerry comes up with an idea to beat someone up for money and the two of them get arrested. Bunny then becomes an undercover informer in a white nationalist group.
The description given for the novel is "an exhilarating thriller" but i didn't see it as exhilarating. Interesting at points for sure.
Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thank you for the ARC!

This book really reminded me of "Since the Layoffs" and "The Anthology" both in tone and in content, both of which I really liked.

A vaguely racist MMC takes no responsibility for the consequences of his actions and makes a lot of presumptions about the people he encounters, similar to Holden Caufield. It then makes perfect sense when he gets tangled up in infiltrating a white supremacist group.

A good read but doesn't add anything super new to the narrative. The author plays in to archaic stereotypes that he's clearly never encountered. This is a book for men and nothing like I would have expected from the cover. But I enjoyed it as much as I would an action movie.

The author imbeds each character with deep seated hate, so as to make the MMC seem better. The book does not pass the bechdel test and the women in the book disrespect themselves, thus the minus 1 star.

Oh 89, misspelled ads as adds

This was a pretty good book! It was full of action, plot twists and asshole men. It is actually scary that this book is giving a pretty accurate portrayal of these extremists and the way their mind is so fucked up. It pokes fun of them which is good, but still scary that some people are like this

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review!!