All Involved

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All Involved

By: Ryan Gattis

Narrated by: Adam Lazarre-White, Anthony Ray Perez, James Chen, Jim Cooper, Marisol Ramirez

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About this listen

For six days, Los Angeles is a city ablaze.
For six days, seventeen people are caught in the chaos.
For six days, Los Angeles shows the world what happens when laws are no longer enforceable.
Ernesto Vera is walking home from his job at a taco truck when three guys jump out of a car and assault him. Ernesto's not in a gang, he's not involved, but his sister is - and when Payasa hears that her innocent brother has been murdered, she wants revenge. As widespread rioting breaks out across the city, Ernesto's death triggers an astonishing sequence of events, not just for the gangs involved, but for the firefighters, nurses and law enforcement who must deal with the consequences.
In April 1992, after one of the most notorious, racially charged trials in American history, the city of L.A. exploded in violence. All Involved tells the interconnected stories of seventeen characters over six life-changing days, and transforms the truly extraordinary story of the L.A. riots into a vivid, electrifying and addictive work of fiction.

Fiction

Genre Fiction

Literary Fiction

Urban

Heartfelt

Crime

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Critic reviews

All Involved is a symphonic, pitch-perfect, superlative novel. It is visceral and adrenalin-fuelled, yet tender and even darkly comic. It is audacious, unflinching and subversive. It doesn't judge. It swallowed me whole. (David Mitchell, author of CLOUD ATLAS and THE BONE CLOCKS)

Do not resist All Involved. It's the most compelling, moving, shocking and world-expanding novel you'll read all year; it sucks you in, then spits you out, permanently changed. I loved it with a frankly scary evangelical zeal. (Charlotte Mendelson, Orange Prize-shortlisted author of WHEN WE WERE BAD and ALMOST ENGLISH)

All Involved is a monumental achievement. Ryan Gattis takes the reader into the broken, outraged heart of Los Angeles during the `92 riots and doesn't blink once at what he finds there. (Dennis Lehane, author of SHUTTER ISLAND)

Corrosive, timely, vividly realized scenes of urban warfare and thwarted dreams by a writer who clearly knows his subject: the netherworld of Los Angeles in the early 1990's. (Joyce Carol Oates, author of THEM and BLONDE)

All Involved is an astounding, vital novel. LA riots, 1992, brought to life with scorching intensity and empathy (Matt Haig, author of THE HUMANS)

Full of brutality with flashes of tenderness, this is an adrenaline-fulled, roller-coaster ride of a novel. Hold on tight. (Cathy Rentzenbrink)

All Involved is a high-octane, polyphonic narrative that hit me with the force of a nuclear strike. It is a scorching, bowl-along book with fierce integrity and I heartily recommend it to all who like compelling committed fiction (Patrick McCabe, author of THE BUTCHER BOY)

Shocking, visceral and humane, All Involved is a perfectly-paced, heart-breaking portrait of a city tearing itself apart. Gattis has created characters who live on in the imagination long after you have read the final page. (Paula Hawkins, author of THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN)

A tour de force . . . without glamorising his subject, there's a lyricism in the vernacular and street language that makes it hard not to be moved . . . a powerful work of fiction

Most relevant

I feel somewhat duped with this one after I read the publisher's summary, in particular "A propulsive and ambitious novel as electrifying as the television seriesThe Wire, this is a mesmerizing epic of crime and opportunity, race, revenge, and loyalty."

As a self confessed wire fanboy this was enough for me to give it a go. However, It was a hard slog with very little reward for me. Firstly I must mention that this isn't really about the Rodney King L.A riots, this is the back drop to the story of south central cholo gang warfare and revenge. Which itself is still an exciting premise but something just doesn't quite work for me. I felt the characters were for the most part very similar with very little to differentiate between them and at times came across as stereotypes and caricatures.

Unlike the wire, all the pieces did not matter. Sections of the book that at the time appeared to be leading somewhere ended up being mostly redundant filler.

I've not read many books that touch upon this subject matter and this hasn't put me off despite its shortcomings. There are great moments in the book but the wire comparison was a kiss of death for me, perhaps if it weren't for this I wouldn't have had such high expectations and would not have judged it so harshly.

Sheeeeeeeiiiiit.

Come at the king, you best not miss.

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Starts slow and felt a bit cliqued, but once it got going I found myself not wanting to stop listening. The different characters jump off the page, they were the strength of the book. Definitely some moments when I rolled my eyes (brain tumor? Really?) but overall would recommend

Gets Involved

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Would you listen to All Involved again? Why?

Yes, it was an engrossing listen with realistic and complex characters. I'm sure than one would uncover more insight into the story and characters on an additional listen.

What was one of the most memorable moments of All Involved?

For me the most memorable moment was how Payasa, Ernie's sister, reacts when she sees his body and covers his face. This moving scene demonstrated the love that she has for her brother, and reflects her humanity beneath her "tough guy" exterior.

Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favourite?

Gloria was my favourite character, as she was the one that I identified with the most.

Any additional comments?

I was hesitant when I purchased this book, but soon found myself engrossed by the story. It is a great listen and was well worth the credit. The narrators all did an excellent job.

Engrossing

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If you could sum up All Involved in three words, what would they be?

Pacey. Tragic. Real.

What was one of the most memorable moments of All Involved?

Reading a line that revealed the age of one of the characters.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

The accents & excellent dramatization add to the books authenticity/believability.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Read the book first.

Any additional comments?

I couldn't put this down. Looking forward to Ryan Gattis next book.

So glad I read this book

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Well, it's not a bad book, but it's not a good book either. I haven't completed it yet but already i feel I can write something about it. Set during a riot in Los Angeles this book might be set anywhere during any six days of any month, week or year. I don't feel connected with this book at all. It's a drama and the writing is appalling but then told in the first person it's likely that the characters did talk the way it's written. There's a lot of plain talk and expletives so if you're squeamish about that kind of thing don't read this. The book feels like it's a movie set minus the extras. There's really nobody about and no resistance to the events narated. You feel remote from it all and the rioting is merely incidental to what would have or could have happened anyway. No I'd never read another book by this author again. The narators do a pretty good job though with all the Spanish, at least i think they do. I don't speak spanish myself.

More like the movies

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