Rush: Books 1 and 2 by CJ Reid

Publisher:       ReadReid

Usually two books would not be included in one review, but they comprise a series and the same comments apply to both of them.

This is a perfect example of a fairly good story that was ruined by not having a good editor or production staff.  The mistakes in the book are so numerous that not finishing the first one was a real consideration.  The second volume didn’t fare as well.  It's not just a matter of spelling mistakes.  Before the first two pages could be finished there were six grammar mistakes, several uses of the wrong words (Reid has a real fondness for saying "passed" when she means "past') and incomplete sentences.  It's also clear that what has been issued as two books could have been one good book if a competent editor had gone over them.

The series features women who race cars on streets in LA and make their living that way.  They’re tough talking and acting.  Each club forms a family that every member is ready to defend with her life.  According to this story, these women spend all night driving and partying (alcohol and drugs) and most of the day sleeping it off.  Getting into a club requires an initiation and a ceremony of acceptance.

This is the world that Dylan Kelly stumbles into with her brother.  They come from a broken home and are barely making it when Dylan meets a member of the Femme Fatales Racing Club.  Dylan quickly discovers that she can’t resist the world that the club represents, even if it means lying to her brother.  The two books follow her efforts to join the club and then how her presence threatens to destroy it.  Meanwhile, there’s plenty of racing, information about cars, tension and sex.

This culture may exist, certainly it exists for men.  Frankly, the book reads as if CJ Reid is trying to create a community where this exists for women.  Parts of the book just don’t ring true, but they might be.  The books would have much more punch though if they were edited down into one volume.  That would intensify the action and spare the reader from so much talk about car parts.

If you like stories about hard driving women who act like men, this might be your book.  You have to get past the numerous mistakes though which do interfere with the pace of the reading.  It might be better to save your money and look for other books about the same topic.