Shirley F’N Lyle

Shirley Lyle is a four hundred pound (well, closer to three-fifty, but she tends to round up), six-foot-tall hooker, and as the book opens, she is in the company of a Ukranian stripper. The two are neighbors, but that is not at all what binds them at this moment. What binds them is that the two have just committed a triple homicide in the name of their two-woman movement, VIVA the REVOLUTION.

It won’t be just two for much longer, though. If Shirley has her way, what she has begun will catch fire among women all across the country, perhaps even all across the world. She just has to survive and not be arrested.

Shirley’s story properly begins in an earlier book of Clayton Lindemuth’s, The Outlaw Stinky Joe, but those who haven’t read that (as I hadn’t) won’t have much trouble following along. Though the book starts in the middle of the action and doesn’t provide much in the way of backstory, not much is required. Shirley is not a terribly complex character, and neither are the people who surround her. The people who fill her world are human, and they show just how simple humanity can sometimes be. Shirley has been hurt; now she wants revenge. Sometimes humanity is as simple as that.

VIVA the REVOLUTION, the first book in Shirley’s series, is a fast, compelling ride, showing a woman doing her best to remake herself and build up a better life than the one she had. Whether she succeeds is up to the reader, but as it is the first in a series, anyone can agree the process is far from over. I’m eager to read the next books, not only to see how Shirley’s story continues but also to see how some of the plotlines introduced in this first book all come together. A few characters, such as the FBI agent Joe Smith, are introduced and appear occasionally through the book, but never do much to influence the plot. While I wish they could have been explored further in this book, I’m eager to see what they might do in later installments in the series and how it (likely) will all come rushing to a head.

The book is described as “chick grit lit”, and while it’s certainly heavier on the grit than the chick, I found it an enjoyable ride and an exciting story. I, along with many others, will be looking forward to more.