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The Jones Men
An all-out drug war explodes in 1970s Detroit when a young Vietnam veteran decides to rip off heroin kingpin Willis McDaniel. In the chaos, rival outfits, the Mafia, and even junkies themselves try to step in to fill the void while one lone assassin tries to hunt them all down—and one determined cop tries to stop it all.
252 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
4 people are currently reading
260 people want to read
About the author
Vern E. Smith
4 books4 followersVernon Emile Smith (Natchez, Mississippi, 1946) studied at San Francisco university. In 1971, he begun to work with several newspapers in California, later he worked for Newsweek in Detroit. His article «Detroit's Heroin Subculture» won the Detroit Press Club Foundation prize and became the inspiration of his only novel, The Jones Men, published in 1974 and traslated in spanish, italian and french.
For more than twenty years he continued to work for Newsweek in Atlanta, were he mostly wrote articles about Vietnam's veterans and other social issues as the movements for Civil Rights and the O. J. Simpson case. Vern Smith always tried to work for a cinema-verité film adaptation of The Jones Men and recently he start working on a second novel, titled Dry Heat.
For more than twenty years he continued to work for Newsweek in Atlanta, were he mostly wrote articles about Vietnam's veterans and other social issues as the movements for Civil Rights and the O. J. Simpson case. Vern Smith always tried to work for a cinema-verité film adaptation of The Jones Men and recently he start working on a second novel, titled Dry Heat.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
September 21, 2020
Me encantan este tipo de novelas. Entiendo que no a todo el mundo le apasionen, pero retratar tan bien el mundo de la droga no es nada fácil.
Si Don Winslow describe el inicio del recorrido de la droga, Vern E. Smith relata el intermedio: los jefes de las ciudades que se encargan de repartirla y el submundo que los rodea.
Chulos, putas, yonquis, guardaespaldas, policías, chivatazos, asesinos. Todo está tan bien descrito que te metes de lleno en la historia. Es verdad que ayudan mucho la infinidad de series televisivas que han tratado este tema.
No esperéis historias de amor ni palabras agradables. Esto es la "jodida" (el lenguaje se contagia) realidad del Detroit de los años 70. Pura crudeza.
I love this kind of novel. I understand that not everyone is passionate, but portraying the world of drugs so well is not easy.
If Don Winslow describes the beginning of the drug's journey, Vern E. Smith relates the intermission: the city chiefs who are in charge of distributing it and the underworld that surrounds them. Pimps, whores, junkies, bodyguards, policemen, tip-off, murderers. Everything is so well described that you get right into the story. It is true that the multitude of television series that have dealt with this subject help a lot.
Do not expect love stories or nice words. This is the "fucking" (language is contagious) reality of 1970's Detroit. Pure rawness.
Si Don Winslow describe el inicio del recorrido de la droga, Vern E. Smith relata el intermedio: los jefes de las ciudades que se encargan de repartirla y el submundo que los rodea.
Chulos, putas, yonquis, guardaespaldas, policías, chivatazos, asesinos. Todo está tan bien descrito que te metes de lleno en la historia. Es verdad que ayudan mucho la infinidad de series televisivas que han tratado este tema.
No esperéis historias de amor ni palabras agradables. Esto es la "jodida" (el lenguaje se contagia) realidad del Detroit de los años 70. Pura crudeza.
I love this kind of novel. I understand that not everyone is passionate, but portraying the world of drugs so well is not easy.
If Don Winslow describes the beginning of the drug's journey, Vern E. Smith relates the intermission: the city chiefs who are in charge of distributing it and the underworld that surrounds them. Pimps, whores, junkies, bodyguards, policemen, tip-off, murderers. Everything is so well described that you get right into the story. It is true that the multitude of television series that have dealt with this subject help a lot.
Do not expect love stories or nice words. This is the "fucking" (language is contagious) reality of 1970's Detroit. Pure rawness.
November 19, 2014
This dark, gritty novel is the only one ever written by Vern E. Smith, which is really too bad. If the guy was capable of writing books like this one, then fans of crime fiction are that much poorer for not having more of them.
Originally published in 1974, the book is set in the seedy underworld of Detroit where dope addicts struggle to find their next fix and the dealers jockey for position on the supply chain. The Jones Men are the heroin dealers and the current king of the hill is Willis McDaniel. But uneasy lies the head that wears the crown and all that sort of thing. There are always other ruthless and ambitious men ready to kick the king out of the way and wear the crown themselves.
At a party one night, McDaniel carelessly makes a remark about a big incoming shipment of dope that he's expecting. The word filters through the drug community to a kid named Lennie Jack who's fresh home from the war in Vietnam and looking to step up in the world.
Lennie Jack and a couple of buddies hit the exchange and make off with McDaneil's shipment. McDaniel, naturally, is furious both because of the dope he has lost and, even more important, because the robbery makes him look vulnerable in a world where the most dangerous thing that can happen to a drug kingpin is to look weak.
McDaniel launches an "investigation" into the theft and before long, the blood is flowing like a river. It's a brutal world where mercy, trust and security are unknown commodities, where today's ally may be tonight's enemy, and where it's every man for himself.
Smith writes a very compelling story set in a very believable world where, before the days of Escalades and Lincoln Navigators, the dealers drive tricked-out Cadillacs and dress like Super Fly. The Jones Men is a trip back in time that any fan of nourish crime fiction is almost certain to enjoy.
Originally published in 1974, the book is set in the seedy underworld of Detroit where dope addicts struggle to find their next fix and the dealers jockey for position on the supply chain. The Jones Men are the heroin dealers and the current king of the hill is Willis McDaniel. But uneasy lies the head that wears the crown and all that sort of thing. There are always other ruthless and ambitious men ready to kick the king out of the way and wear the crown themselves.
At a party one night, McDaniel carelessly makes a remark about a big incoming shipment of dope that he's expecting. The word filters through the drug community to a kid named Lennie Jack who's fresh home from the war in Vietnam and looking to step up in the world.
Lennie Jack and a couple of buddies hit the exchange and make off with McDaneil's shipment. McDaniel, naturally, is furious both because of the dope he has lost and, even more important, because the robbery makes him look vulnerable in a world where the most dangerous thing that can happen to a drug kingpin is to look weak.
McDaniel launches an "investigation" into the theft and before long, the blood is flowing like a river. It's a brutal world where mercy, trust and security are unknown commodities, where today's ally may be tonight's enemy, and where it's every man for himself.
Smith writes a very compelling story set in a very believable world where, before the days of Escalades and Lincoln Navigators, the dealers drive tricked-out Cadillacs and dress like Super Fly. The Jones Men is a trip back in time that any fan of nourish crime fiction is almost certain to enjoy.
October 9, 2024
Captivating read by Smith, which unfortunately is his only published novel. Set in Detroit circa early 70s (first published in 1974), The Jones Men tells the tale of gang war over the heroin trade on the West side of the city. Smith gives us a large cast of characters here; several 'gangsters', lots of junkies and a top cop where this all goes down.
McDaniel, the 'big man' of the heroin trade, basically supplies most of the junk to the various pushers and 'shooting galleries' around the West side. The tale starts off at a wake of a dead gangster, one who told McDaniel he only wanted to push coke, not horse; that did come off well! Anyway, at the wake, several gangsters, mainly young guys with their tricked out hogs (caddies), bemoaned the state of affairs. These are the 'Jones Men', supplying people's needs to get their jones. Two of them, however, have a plan to undermine McDaniel and assume the 'big man' spot. You know this will get ugly, and it does for sure!
What Smith does so well here concerns depicting the culture of the heroin trade in the city; the flamboyant gangsters, the users, and the dynamics of the entire scene. Junk means big money for those in charge, and big money means lots of people sniffing around for a piece of the pie. The action is visceral, the dialogue feels real, and the motivations all so predictable. I have not read something like this since Pimp: The Story of My Life. While a short novel, it definitely packs a punch. 4.5 junkie stars!!
McDaniel, the 'big man' of the heroin trade, basically supplies most of the junk to the various pushers and 'shooting galleries' around the West side. The tale starts off at a wake of a dead gangster, one who told McDaniel he only wanted to push coke, not horse; that did come off well! Anyway, at the wake, several gangsters, mainly young guys with their tricked out hogs (caddies), bemoaned the state of affairs. These are the 'Jones Men', supplying people's needs to get their jones. Two of them, however, have a plan to undermine McDaniel and assume the 'big man' spot. You know this will get ugly, and it does for sure!
What Smith does so well here concerns depicting the culture of the heroin trade in the city; the flamboyant gangsters, the users, and the dynamics of the entire scene. Junk means big money for those in charge, and big money means lots of people sniffing around for a piece of the pie. The action is visceral, the dialogue feels real, and the motivations all so predictable. I have not read something like this since Pimp: The Story of My Life. While a short novel, it definitely packs a punch. 4.5 junkie stars!!
November 29, 2022
Loved, loved, loved this one. Season One of The Wire transported to 70s Detroit with the hard-heartedness of Shane Stevens' Dead City.
December 6, 2014
Verne E. Smith is an African-American journalist who has covered inner city issues for the Newsweek Detroit Bureau and other media. His only novel, The Jones Men, is set soon after the 1968 Detroit Riots, durng the transition from the old business model of organized crime (prostitution, numbers, bank theft and violence) to the new model of disorganized crime (drugs and much more violence). The novel, published in 1974, has become a crime cult classic. Smith coined the term “jones” to represent heroin and “jones men” to represent heroin dealers.
The story begins at the coke-laden funeral of Bennie Lee Sims, a young man who naively asked Willis McDaniel, an established drug lord, if he could run some of McDaniel’s west side drug trade; Bennie Lee was found floating in the river with two bullet holes in his head. The main figures in the novel are gathered at the funeral, having arrived in their pimpmobiles with their zoot suits, jewelry, women, and weapons. There we meet Willis McDaniel, the established drug lord; Lennie Jack, a Viet Nam vet and a wannabe; Jack’s sidekick, Joe Red; and Foxy Newton, a low-level drug trader.
After the funeral, Lennie Jack hears from Foxy that McDaniel is expecting a large drug delivery at a certain drug house. Lennie Jack decides to jump a few rungs up the organizational ladder by interdicting the drugs and starting at the top. This done, Lennie and Joe Red go into hiding till the heat dies and they can begin letting some of their score out on the street. McDaniel is very pissed and he hires T.C. Thomas, a professional killer, to find out who scored and to deal with them accordingly. Lennie Jack hires “the goateed man” for protection. The fun begins. Yes, there will be blood!
Smith’s style is short and punchy, laden with rich dialogue reminiscent of the snappy exchanges in old-time black-and-white crime films. There is little scene setting and no philosophical exchange. Instead we have verbal tennis balls in inner city dialect. It fits the characters and the action perfectly—-these are not guys who want to talk about relationships, existentialism, or the future of mankind. Their concerns are far more personal, and their duplicitous interactions are worthy of John LeCarre—-a double cross would be a simple operation among the jones men.
If you want an authentic, inner-city Afro-American drug trade crime thriller from the 1970s that stands up extremely well against the best modern writing in the crime genre, this is a great opportunity. Four stars.
The story begins at the coke-laden funeral of Bennie Lee Sims, a young man who naively asked Willis McDaniel, an established drug lord, if he could run some of McDaniel’s west side drug trade; Bennie Lee was found floating in the river with two bullet holes in his head. The main figures in the novel are gathered at the funeral, having arrived in their pimpmobiles with their zoot suits, jewelry, women, and weapons. There we meet Willis McDaniel, the established drug lord; Lennie Jack, a Viet Nam vet and a wannabe; Jack’s sidekick, Joe Red; and Foxy Newton, a low-level drug trader.
After the funeral, Lennie Jack hears from Foxy that McDaniel is expecting a large drug delivery at a certain drug house. Lennie Jack decides to jump a few rungs up the organizational ladder by interdicting the drugs and starting at the top. This done, Lennie and Joe Red go into hiding till the heat dies and they can begin letting some of their score out on the street. McDaniel is very pissed and he hires T.C. Thomas, a professional killer, to find out who scored and to deal with them accordingly. Lennie Jack hires “the goateed man” for protection. The fun begins. Yes, there will be blood!
Smith’s style is short and punchy, laden with rich dialogue reminiscent of the snappy exchanges in old-time black-and-white crime films. There is little scene setting and no philosophical exchange. Instead we have verbal tennis balls in inner city dialect. It fits the characters and the action perfectly—-these are not guys who want to talk about relationships, existentialism, or the future of mankind. Their concerns are far more personal, and their duplicitous interactions are worthy of John LeCarre—-a double cross would be a simple operation among the jones men.
If you want an authentic, inner-city Afro-American drug trade crime thriller from the 1970s that stands up extremely well against the best modern writing in the crime genre, this is a great opportunity. Four stars.
August 23, 2024
Brutal. Si que es verdad que tanto nombre y personaje acaba liando un poco, pero al final mola mucho. Libro muy bien ambientado y los diálogos son geniales. Recomendado
June 12, 2015
Publicado en http://lecturaylocura.com/capsulas-po...
Cápsulas policíacas para verano: Preston y Child, Erik Axl Sund y Vern E. Smith
Leyendo todo lo que leo es difícil, por falta de tiempo, preparar reseñas de cada lectura; es por ello que voy a volver al formato de cápsulas para momentos puntuales que me sirven para, por lo menos, dar una imagen general del libro y su calidad. Este formato especialmente se adapta muy bien por temáticas, así que os traigo a continuación unas policiacas con, eso sí, éxito desigual:
La isla perdida de Douglas Preston y Lincoln Child, tercer libro de la serie de Gideon Crew, y me paso a la edición de bolsillo; las razones son claras, esta serie sigue sin lanzarse, da la impresión de que no tienen muy claro el carácter del personaje y por dónde llevar las aventuras y no consiguen dar un pulso a la historia, a pesar de que, indudablemente, no les falta imaginación; de hecho en esta parte los paralelismos con la Odisea de Homero son atractivos y tienen momentos felices como el siguiente, donde si asistimos a un galán cercano a James Bond o al Caffrey de White collar:
“-¿Me estás haciendo una proposición indecente?
-Pues sí. Cenaremos en el hotel del restaurante: tienen una cocina increíble y unos vinos espectaculares. Hablaremos sobre la física nuclear y literatura francesa, y luego subiremos a mi habitación y haremos el amor con mucha pasión y muy poca decencia.
-Eres insoportablemente directo.
-Vita brevis –sentenció sin más. Y porque era latín, más que por ninguna otra cosa, Julia aceptó.”
Desgraciadamente se trata de temas puntuales que no ocultan la irregularidad de la novela que no pasa de un buen divertimento, lo cual no es forzosamente malo, aunque sí lo es cuando conoces el nivel alcanzado en otros libros suyos.
PersonaPersona de Erik Axl Sund, es la última tomadura de pelo nórdica que nos intentan vender (y venderán, desgraciadamente), un catálogo de atrocidades con ganas de provocar sin ningún sentido final que los una; destila pretenciosidad filosófica profunda a los cuatro costados con una prosa que anonada por su simpleza:
“el cuerpo
estaría constituido por dos entidades, un animal y un ser humano.
Una víctima y un verdugo.
Un verdugo y una víctima.
El libre albedrío unido a las pulsiones físicas.
Dos antípodas en un mismo cuerpo.”
Y encima es altamente previsible desde el mismo subtítulo (que da nombre a la saga de tres libros) que adelanta, sin atisbo de error, la sorpresa que se supone que nos tenía que dejar alucinados; para el siguiente no me engañan el par de elementos escondidos bajo el nombre de Erik Axl Sund, la lástima es que haya caído con este. Esto me pasa por salirme de mi hoja de ruta.
jacoLos reyes del jaco de Vern E. Smith, dejo para el final la mejor muestra de las tres, por lo menos para quedarme con un buen sabor de boca; aquí tenemos una de esas novelas negras negras (y no es redundante), un hardboiled con personajes muy negros en los todos los sentidos donde asistimos a la típica trama de lucha de poder en una ciudad con la droga como hilo conductor:
“-En cualquier caso, a quien esté detrás de esto se le han acabado las oportunidades de ventilar mis asuntos. Sabéis que no aguanto estas mierdas. Si esos tarados de negros de teta se quieren matar, a mí me la suda, pero que no me jodan. Y si me joden, que sepan que tienen el culo sentenciado. Y vosotros ya podéis desear que esta mierda no os salpique. Murphy, llévate a estos a inspeccionar todos los garitos, uno a uno, hasta que encuentres algo.”
Una historia de perdedores, donde no hay ningún atisbo de esperanza y sí mucha violencia, y que reúne a la perfección las cualidades que utilizó en su momento Chester Himes, el olvidado y poco reeditado autor, uno de los más grandes:
“La chica de la peluca lanzó un aullido enfermizo y se ovilló en una esquina, cubriéndose la cabeza con los brazos. T. C. Thomas avanzó aprisa hacia donde estaba, le agarró el brazo izquierdo y se lo apartó. La chica se puso en pie dando golpes y gritos, presa de la histeria.
Con un empujón, T.C. Thomas la devolvió a la esquina. Le apuntó entre las cejas con la Magnum y disparó. La cabeza de la chica se fue para atrás de sopetón, y luego basculó hacia delante, revelando el irregular agujero en la pared que había dejado la bala a su paso. La sangre fluía de la hendidura de la cabeza de la chica y le empapaba el regazo.”
Una buena historia que no dejará indiferente a nadie y que, además, nos reconcilia un poco con las últimas publicaciones policíacas, demasiado irregulares y de un nivel ciertamente bajo.
Los textos provienen de las traducciones de Güido Sender de Los reyes del jaco de Vern E. Smith para Sajalín, de Miguel Marques Muñoz de La isla perdida de Douglas Preston y Lincoln Child y de Joan Riambau Moller de Persona de Erik Axl Sund.
Cápsulas policíacas para verano: Preston y Child, Erik Axl Sund y Vern E. Smith
Leyendo todo lo que leo es difícil, por falta de tiempo, preparar reseñas de cada lectura; es por ello que voy a volver al formato de cápsulas para momentos puntuales que me sirven para, por lo menos, dar una imagen general del libro y su calidad. Este formato especialmente se adapta muy bien por temáticas, así que os traigo a continuación unas policiacas con, eso sí, éxito desigual:
La isla perdida de Douglas Preston y Lincoln Child, tercer libro de la serie de Gideon Crew, y me paso a la edición de bolsillo; las razones son claras, esta serie sigue sin lanzarse, da la impresión de que no tienen muy claro el carácter del personaje y por dónde llevar las aventuras y no consiguen dar un pulso a la historia, a pesar de que, indudablemente, no les falta imaginación; de hecho en esta parte los paralelismos con la Odisea de Homero son atractivos y tienen momentos felices como el siguiente, donde si asistimos a un galán cercano a James Bond o al Caffrey de White collar:
“-¿Me estás haciendo una proposición indecente?
-Pues sí. Cenaremos en el hotel del restaurante: tienen una cocina increíble y unos vinos espectaculares. Hablaremos sobre la física nuclear y literatura francesa, y luego subiremos a mi habitación y haremos el amor con mucha pasión y muy poca decencia.
-Eres insoportablemente directo.
-Vita brevis –sentenció sin más. Y porque era latín, más que por ninguna otra cosa, Julia aceptó.”
Desgraciadamente se trata de temas puntuales que no ocultan la irregularidad de la novela que no pasa de un buen divertimento, lo cual no es forzosamente malo, aunque sí lo es cuando conoces el nivel alcanzado en otros libros suyos.
PersonaPersona de Erik Axl Sund, es la última tomadura de pelo nórdica que nos intentan vender (y venderán, desgraciadamente), un catálogo de atrocidades con ganas de provocar sin ningún sentido final que los una; destila pretenciosidad filosófica profunda a los cuatro costados con una prosa que anonada por su simpleza:
“el cuerpo
estaría constituido por dos entidades, un animal y un ser humano.
Una víctima y un verdugo.
Un verdugo y una víctima.
El libre albedrío unido a las pulsiones físicas.
Dos antípodas en un mismo cuerpo.”
Y encima es altamente previsible desde el mismo subtítulo (que da nombre a la saga de tres libros) que adelanta, sin atisbo de error, la sorpresa que se supone que nos tenía que dejar alucinados; para el siguiente no me engañan el par de elementos escondidos bajo el nombre de Erik Axl Sund, la lástima es que haya caído con este. Esto me pasa por salirme de mi hoja de ruta.
jacoLos reyes del jaco de Vern E. Smith, dejo para el final la mejor muestra de las tres, por lo menos para quedarme con un buen sabor de boca; aquí tenemos una de esas novelas negras negras (y no es redundante), un hardboiled con personajes muy negros en los todos los sentidos donde asistimos a la típica trama de lucha de poder en una ciudad con la droga como hilo conductor:
“-En cualquier caso, a quien esté detrás de esto se le han acabado las oportunidades de ventilar mis asuntos. Sabéis que no aguanto estas mierdas. Si esos tarados de negros de teta se quieren matar, a mí me la suda, pero que no me jodan. Y si me joden, que sepan que tienen el culo sentenciado. Y vosotros ya podéis desear que esta mierda no os salpique. Murphy, llévate a estos a inspeccionar todos los garitos, uno a uno, hasta que encuentres algo.”
Una historia de perdedores, donde no hay ningún atisbo de esperanza y sí mucha violencia, y que reúne a la perfección las cualidades que utilizó en su momento Chester Himes, el olvidado y poco reeditado autor, uno de los más grandes:
“La chica de la peluca lanzó un aullido enfermizo y se ovilló en una esquina, cubriéndose la cabeza con los brazos. T. C. Thomas avanzó aprisa hacia donde estaba, le agarró el brazo izquierdo y se lo apartó. La chica se puso en pie dando golpes y gritos, presa de la histeria.
Con un empujón, T.C. Thomas la devolvió a la esquina. Le apuntó entre las cejas con la Magnum y disparó. La cabeza de la chica se fue para atrás de sopetón, y luego basculó hacia delante, revelando el irregular agujero en la pared que había dejado la bala a su paso. La sangre fluía de la hendidura de la cabeza de la chica y le empapaba el regazo.”
Una buena historia que no dejará indiferente a nadie y que, además, nos reconcilia un poco con las últimas publicaciones policíacas, demasiado irregulares y de un nivel ciertamente bajo.
Los textos provienen de las traducciones de Güido Sender de Los reyes del jaco de Vern E. Smith para Sajalín, de Miguel Marques Muñoz de La isla perdida de Douglas Preston y Lincoln Child y de Joan Riambau Moller de Persona de Erik Axl Sund.
November 7, 2013
I thought someone on GR had recommended this book to me, but see that none of my friends have read it. Strange. Anyway I'm kind of glad I did as it's a fast paced crime novel set within the black community on the streets of Detroit in the 70s, filled with crackling dialogue and double cross and desperate junkies and such like. However I've read quite a bit of this lately (addiction and crime books like The Grass Arena and The Killer Inside Me) and am getting a bit weary of it all. I'm taking a complete turn of direction next with Barbara Pym and Penelope Fitzgerald. Not that I want to put anyone off this book, it's well worth reading, despite being full of 'car porn' which for a non driver goes straight over my head. Here's a typical passage to show you what i mean:
... .. the goateed man brought a gold-on-gold El Dorado into the bend of the Harbor Thoroughfare.
He cruised up the street until he spied the tan El Dorado with New York licence plates parked in a space near the middle of the harbor.
The goateed man backed his car into the space next to the tan car.
... .. the goateed man brought a gold-on-gold El Dorado into the bend of the Harbor Thoroughfare.
He cruised up the street until he spied the tan El Dorado with New York licence plates parked in a space near the middle of the harbor.
The goateed man backed his car into the space next to the tan car.
November 27, 2014
This is a street wise novel about the rise and fall of Lonnie
Jack . He is a Vietnam veteran and a mid level heroin dealer.
He has come up with a plan to knock off the number one king pin
Willis McDaniel and he takes over. This one draws the reader
into the world of addicts, dealers, and corrupt cops and builds
up to a frightening climax. Someone from Goodreads emailed me to
read this book they thought I might like it and they were right.
It was written in 1974 by Vern E Smith and it's the only book he
ever wrote. If I could write like this I would not be sitting here
writing reviews that nobody probably reads anyway. I would be
chasing Baldacci writing books.
Jack . He is a Vietnam veteran and a mid level heroin dealer.
He has come up with a plan to knock off the number one king pin
Willis McDaniel and he takes over. This one draws the reader
into the world of addicts, dealers, and corrupt cops and builds
up to a frightening climax. Someone from Goodreads emailed me to
read this book they thought I might like it and they were right.
It was written in 1974 by Vern E Smith and it's the only book he
ever wrote. If I could write like this I would not be sitting here
writing reviews that nobody probably reads anyway. I would be
chasing Baldacci writing books.
February 11, 2018
La mejor novela negra que he leído en mucho tiempo. Es de las pocas veces que la frase promocional del libro coincide con la realidad; The Wire antes de The Wire. Y así es, el libro tiene una ambientación similar, pulso, buenos personajes y acción, sólo que Los Reyes del jaco se escribió 30 años antes, en los 70, que el estreno de la serie. Una joya que no se si se había publicado en español con anterioridad, pero que sin duda la editorial Sajalin ha acertado al traducir (no obstante mi ejemplar es ya de la tercera edición). Una obra maestra que nos habla principalmente desde el lado de los delincuentes, de la vida del suburbio, de yonkis y de capos.
February 13, 2015
This is a such fun to read because it takes me back to the seventies. My older brother would wear those knit pants. I listened as he played his records at top volume. But back to the book. At first I was sure I'd finish it, started slow for me. But then I realized something, I kept turning the pages. LOL Smith's storytelling snuck up on me! Hooked and I didn't know it at first. As the story unfolded I had to find out what Foxy, Lennie Jack, et al was going to do next. Being inside the head of cold criminals was fascinatingly scary. Happy 40th anniversary to Vern E. Smith and The Jones Men.
September 28, 2018
An absolute tour-de-force look at the 1970s heroin trade in Detroit told through the story of an ambitious dope heist by some small time crooks, and the subsequent manhunt by the kingpin they ripped off. Interestingly, Vern E. Smith never wrote another novel. The Payback Press edition I have states that he is working on another novel (correct at year of publication which I forget) however Google yields little to no results.
While it attracted attention in its day, it seems to be virtually forgotten these days. Definitely check it out!
While it attracted attention in its day, it seems to be virtually forgotten these days. Definitely check it out!
October 2, 2015
Novela sobre la lucha por el control del tráfico de droga en Detroit. Ritmo trepidante y casi no puedo soltar el libro. Muy entretenido. De lo mejor que he leido este año
July 8, 2018
Buen libro. Y los disfrutarás más si eres fan de The Wire.
January 24, 2020
Puro The Wire. Para cuándo la serie?
September 14, 2024
Entretenida, y quizá, si te la lees,como yo, en el 2024...pues ya te parece todo muy trillado.
Estilo The wire, pues si.
En algún momento me he hecho un cirio, con los personajes, las cosas como son. Todos son parecidos.
Pero está bien, si te gusta el género.
Estilo The wire, pues si.
En algún momento me he hecho un cirio, con los personajes, las cosas como son. Todos son parecidos.
Pero está bien, si te gusta el género.
May 9, 2014
This book was definitely a throwback to a time that has long been gone but not so long that the story still occurs globally. Willis McDaniel is the top man when it comes to the drug game in detroit, Michigan. He is well respected and also very feared by those that run in the circles of the drug game, whether they are addicts or hustlers. Then there are the haters. New comer Lennie Jack thinks he can take Willis McDaniels and replace him as the drug kingpin in town when the opportunity presents itself. funny how things go as a junkie provides Lennie with some information on a shipment Willis has coming in, Jack steps in and makes off with the dope which sends Willis into a rage. this type of nonsense will not be tolerated no matter how many heads have to roll. the police and the citizens of Detroit have their hands full as Willis will stop at nothing to find out who started a war with him. this book is action packed from beginning to end. the reader will enjoy the side stories that are intertwined with the main one. i didn't find any typo's in this book nor were there any words used out of context. the author has written this so that the reader will find themselves anticipating what happens next.I definitely recommend this book.
Zandra D. Barnes
AAMBC Reviewer
Zandra D. Barnes
AAMBC Reviewer
June 25, 2020
Negro en todo, tanto el género como los protagonistas (aviso: así los describe el libro, no quiero problemas).
Años 70 en New York, dominio de drogas y camellos y entre éstos, destacan los negros, con sus negocios y las ganas de "quítate tú que me pongo yo" o si no se le ayuda a quitarse, que de esto trata la historia, de las jugadas entre narcos.
Sorprende que pongan a la policía como integra, es un punto a favor.
Interesante es la crudeza de la novela, tanto en describir el ambiente yonki más bajo, con todo detalle descrito, sin dejar nada sin contar, con un ambiente sórdido, percibes hasta el olor, la suciedad, todo muy real, como la violencia, muy explícita.
La novela se lee rápido, es casi un guión cinematográfico, estaría bien una película, con personajes tipo pero muy creíbles, auténticos.
Para amantes de la novela negra tirando a oscuro, no esperéis a encontrar grandes detectives, aquí hay vida real.
Años 70 en New York, dominio de drogas y camellos y entre éstos, destacan los negros, con sus negocios y las ganas de "quítate tú que me pongo yo" o si no se le ayuda a quitarse, que de esto trata la historia, de las jugadas entre narcos.
Sorprende que pongan a la policía como integra, es un punto a favor.
Interesante es la crudeza de la novela, tanto en describir el ambiente yonki más bajo, con todo detalle descrito, sin dejar nada sin contar, con un ambiente sórdido, percibes hasta el olor, la suciedad, todo muy real, como la violencia, muy explícita.
La novela se lee rápido, es casi un guión cinematográfico, estaría bien una película, con personajes tipo pero muy creíbles, auténticos.
Para amantes de la novela negra tirando a oscuro, no esperéis a encontrar grandes detectives, aquí hay vida real.
December 13, 2023
A nice little book, that reads like a saga of the old days in a TV show like "The Wire". It was never destined for greatness, but it has a gripping style that evokes the gritty, heroin-infused wasteland in black neighborhoods. This writer knew what was going on and wasn't afraid to take a closer look in rickety buildings where rent is paid to the largest muscles around.
I think the story was a little shaky near the end, as is so often the case with great buildups. Shit happens.
I would put it somewhere in the middle between literary fiction and a genre crime novel. Not quite there, but close. You could read it on holiday easily and have loads of fun with it.
13/12/2023
Just browsing through, and wanted to add that the abandoned (office?) building the dealers work out of is brilliantly described, I still remember it clearly.
I think the story was a little shaky near the end, as is so often the case with great buildups. Shit happens.
I would put it somewhere in the middle between literary fiction and a genre crime novel. Not quite there, but close. You could read it on holiday easily and have loads of fun with it.
13/12/2023
Just browsing through, and wanted to add that the abandoned (office?) building the dealers work out of is brilliantly described, I still remember it clearly.
May 9, 2020
I'm giving this fictional piece 5 stars because it depicts scenes that I have no experience with, where characters act violently as a matter of course, and because it was written by a journalist who reported on the type of activity depicted in the novel. Violence in United States is a significant part of our lives. I hope we can learn to include in our attention not only the brutality and ruthlessness of organized crime but also the more subtle forms of abuse and neglect that end with otherwise healthy people crying themselves to sleep at night, unable perhaps to acknowledge their loneliness.
July 11, 2015
This is a very interesting book that was written before its time. It takes readers to the 70's and the writer has a different background then other writers of this time.It was definitely interesting to read about drug lords and Detroit at that time. I also liked that the characters talked as if they were talking in real life. Rather than "big words" to make a point. I am giving this book a 4/5. I was given a copy to review, however all opinions are my own.
July 17, 2017
Utterly brilliant. This cold as ice heist thriller set on the very mean streets of seventies' Detroit might be one of the finest novels of its type that I've read. It has dialogue the equal of 70s' Elmore Leonard and George Higgins, a drum-tight plot packed with double and triple crosses, an awesome cast of weasely, self-serving scumbags, and writing so sharp and clean it cuts like a blade. I can't recommend it highly enough.
July 12, 2009
Just re-read. A spectacular novel from Norton's lamented mid 90's Old School Books line. Set in Detroit in the 1970s, Jones Men chronicles the attempt of drug dealer Lennie Jack to claw his way to the top of the heap. It doesn't end well. Bloody, amoral, and author Vern Smith's ear for dialogue is the equal of George V. Higgins.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 12, 2020
Very Seventies Crime Fiction
A highly regarded inner city crime fiction centering on drugs betrayals , and deals gone bad. Felt kind of dated. Like the movie Shaft. Quick and entertaining. .
A highly regarded inner city crime fiction centering on drugs betrayals , and deals gone bad. Felt kind of dated. Like the movie Shaft. Quick and entertaining. .
November 16, 2009
The definitive Detroit-underbelly novel.
Read
July 25, 2011One of my best ever reads
July 5, 2020
Si te gustó The Wire no dejes de leerlo.
February 23, 2021
The Jones Men, by Vern E Smith, is hands down one of the best crime novels I’ve ever read. Relentless and bloody, with minimalistic prose, it is a simple story about a Detroit drug war in the early seventies. Smith, an accomplished and important journalist, published the book in 1974 after reporting on the heroin business. It is his only novel. Since he’s still alive, one can hope he has another one in him, or that the screenplay he wrote (and which got a table reading in New York) will be produced. Long before David Simon’s epic Homicide/The Corner>The Wire, Smith laid it all out.
It starts with the funeral of a low-level dealer, whose cocaine-dusted corpse lies in repose for a carnival of Detroit’s finest smack merchants to admire and gossip over. Among the mourners are Willis McDaniels, the biggest dealer in town, and two guys looking to take over: Lennie Jack, an intelligent, enigmatic, Vietnam vet and his lieutenant, Joe Red.
A junky overhears a conversation and tells another junky what he overheard who tells Lenny Jack: McDaniels is expecting a huge shipment of pure heroin from New York. Lennie and Joe rob the shipment and assassinate T.C. Thomas, McDaniel’s Luca Brazzi. From here on the book details, day by day, McDaniel’s search for Lennie Jack, and Lenny Jack’s increasingly desperate moves to sell the heroin and score an even bigger shipment with the money, supplanting McDaniels. The blood flows abundantly, no one is safe, the cops are always one step behind, and the guys betray each other for as much as tens of thousands of dollars in cash and for as little as a few capsules of dope.
There are many joys in this book: the relentless pace, the dead-on dialogue, perfectly staged murders and shootouts, doors flying off their hinges, slow elevators in the projects, seedy shooting galleries, but most of all, the color of seventies Detroit: the cars the dealers drive, described with as much love and detail as an exploding head, and the clothes, the fur coats and hats, the goatees, the glittering swag, the glasses of Courvoisier and piles of coke. This is a world in the midst of transformation, as the heroin trade slips out of the hands of organized crime and into the hands of local operators, one of downward metamorphosis, devoid of romanticism and sentimentality, even of love, as all relationships, even between brothers, are transactional. A few brave souls hold out nearly to the end, but they all talk and the end always comes. It is just breathtaking.
It starts with the funeral of a low-level dealer, whose cocaine-dusted corpse lies in repose for a carnival of Detroit’s finest smack merchants to admire and gossip over. Among the mourners are Willis McDaniels, the biggest dealer in town, and two guys looking to take over: Lennie Jack, an intelligent, enigmatic, Vietnam vet and his lieutenant, Joe Red.
A junky overhears a conversation and tells another junky what he overheard who tells Lenny Jack: McDaniels is expecting a huge shipment of pure heroin from New York. Lennie and Joe rob the shipment and assassinate T.C. Thomas, McDaniel’s Luca Brazzi. From here on the book details, day by day, McDaniel’s search for Lennie Jack, and Lenny Jack’s increasingly desperate moves to sell the heroin and score an even bigger shipment with the money, supplanting McDaniels. The blood flows abundantly, no one is safe, the cops are always one step behind, and the guys betray each other for as much as tens of thousands of dollars in cash and for as little as a few capsules of dope.
There are many joys in this book: the relentless pace, the dead-on dialogue, perfectly staged murders and shootouts, doors flying off their hinges, slow elevators in the projects, seedy shooting galleries, but most of all, the color of seventies Detroit: the cars the dealers drive, described with as much love and detail as an exploding head, and the clothes, the fur coats and hats, the goatees, the glittering swag, the glasses of Courvoisier and piles of coke. This is a world in the midst of transformation, as the heroin trade slips out of the hands of organized crime and into the hands of local operators, one of downward metamorphosis, devoid of romanticism and sentimentality, even of love, as all relationships, even between brothers, are transactional. A few brave souls hold out nearly to the end, but they all talk and the end always comes. It is just breathtaking.
April 10, 2023
2,5/5
A favor: entreté, que en el fons és la finalitat de qualsevol novel·la, i convida a descobrir-ne el final. Es llegeix fàcil i ràpid; l'estructura de capítols curts organitzats en un grapat de dies permet fer una reconstrucció dels fets com si miréssim un capítol de The Wire o una pel·li.
En contra: els personatges, planers i poc definits més enllà del cotxe que condueixen, la roba que vesteixen i la pipa que fan servir. La trama, narrada amb precisió de guió, però amb un excés de diàlegs trillats i descripcions que a servidor no li han interessat gaire. La nul·la especulació social sobre el mal que les drogues poden fer a una societat com l'americana, centrant-se tan sols en l'aspecte glamurós del negoci i deixant de banda els estralls que fa a la vida dels drogoaddictes en particular i a la societat en general.
En definitiva: la romantització de la feina dels grans distribuïdors de droga, posant l'èmfasi en les vestimentes de luxe i els cotxassos que condueixen, juntament amb la narració austera i asèptica pel que fa a sentiments de moltes novel·les negres, fa del producte una mena de guió audiovisual, allò que un servidor gaudiria molt més com a serial o producte cinèfil que no pas com a novel·la. La trama no m'ha avorrit, però el meu interès per arribar al final tan sols era saber com acabava el sarau i qui quedava viu. Més enllà d'això, el somni americà de camells i delinqüents, que anhelen fer-se rics a través de les drogues, m'ha interessat molt poc. El llibre es llegeix de manera ràpida i àgil, i segurament per això l'he volgut acabar, perquè en cap cas m'he entrebancat amb la narració. Ara bé, tinc clar que aquest no és el meu gènere, i que més enllà d'un bonic i lluent embolcall —sigui amb cotxes amb para-xocs cromats o amb abrics de pell exclusius— la clau perquè una novel·la valgui la pena és que hi hagi personatges interessants. I en aquesta, de remarcable, no n'hi ha cap.
A favor: entreté, que en el fons és la finalitat de qualsevol novel·la, i convida a descobrir-ne el final. Es llegeix fàcil i ràpid; l'estructura de capítols curts organitzats en un grapat de dies permet fer una reconstrucció dels fets com si miréssim un capítol de The Wire o una pel·li.
En contra: els personatges, planers i poc definits més enllà del cotxe que condueixen, la roba que vesteixen i la pipa que fan servir. La trama, narrada amb precisió de guió, però amb un excés de diàlegs trillats i descripcions que a servidor no li han interessat gaire. La nul·la especulació social sobre el mal que les drogues poden fer a una societat com l'americana, centrant-se tan sols en l'aspecte glamurós del negoci i deixant de banda els estralls que fa a la vida dels drogoaddictes en particular i a la societat en general.
En definitiva: la romantització de la feina dels grans distribuïdors de droga, posant l'èmfasi en les vestimentes de luxe i els cotxassos que condueixen, juntament amb la narració austera i asèptica pel que fa a sentiments de moltes novel·les negres, fa del producte una mena de guió audiovisual, allò que un servidor gaudiria molt més com a serial o producte cinèfil que no pas com a novel·la. La trama no m'ha avorrit, però el meu interès per arribar al final tan sols era saber com acabava el sarau i qui quedava viu. Més enllà d'això, el somni americà de camells i delinqüents, que anhelen fer-se rics a través de les drogues, m'ha interessat molt poc. El llibre es llegeix de manera ràpida i àgil, i segurament per això l'he volgut acabar, perquè en cap cas m'he entrebancat amb la narració. Ara bé, tinc clar que aquest no és el meu gènere, i que més enllà d'un bonic i lluent embolcall —sigui amb cotxes amb para-xocs cromats o amb abrics de pell exclusius— la clau perquè una novel·la valgui la pena és que hi hagi personatges interessants. I en aquesta, de remarcable, no n'hi ha cap.
December 14, 2021
Back in February 1972, Vern E. Smith wrote an article on Detroit’s heroin subculture for Newsweek magazine. Subsequently, he received an offer to expand the story into a book. The result was 1974’s fictional The Jones Men. To date, it is Smith’s only published novel.
The plot of the Jones Men is very basic - a young man (Lennie Jack) returns to Detroit after military service during the Vietnam War. He almost died in Vietnam and reasons that he’s living on borrowed time. So, Lennie decides to go for broke by trying to take over Detroit’s heroin rackets. Ripoffs, double crosses, and TONS of violence ensue.
But The Jones Men is much better than that plot suggests. Author Smith tells several intersecting stories - those of: 1) Lennie Jack, 2) the current head of the heroin rackets (Willis McDaniel), 3) the police, 4) a street junkie (Foxy Newton) who tries to profit from the upheaval, and of several others. All of the characters ring true and all are interesting. And Smith brings the tale to a logical, chilling close.
There is no moralizing in The Jones Men. At one point, Lennie Jack tells another man “It’s cold out there, brother” (p. 10). And indeed it is. The reader has to find the message or the moral for him- or herself.
The Jones Men received much praise upon its publication. Among other honors, the novel received a nomination for an Edgar Award. But Smith chose to remain a journalist with Newsweek. (In a brief forward to my copy of The Jones Men, Smith states that he had a family to support and that the regular paychecks from Newsweek were nice). But The Jones Men is such a good novel, that - selfishly - I wish that Jones had given us more novels.
The plot of the Jones Men is very basic - a young man (Lennie Jack) returns to Detroit after military service during the Vietnam War. He almost died in Vietnam and reasons that he’s living on borrowed time. So, Lennie decides to go for broke by trying to take over Detroit’s heroin rackets. Ripoffs, double crosses, and TONS of violence ensue.
But The Jones Men is much better than that plot suggests. Author Smith tells several intersecting stories - those of: 1) Lennie Jack, 2) the current head of the heroin rackets (Willis McDaniel), 3) the police, 4) a street junkie (Foxy Newton) who tries to profit from the upheaval, and of several others. All of the characters ring true and all are interesting. And Smith brings the tale to a logical, chilling close.
There is no moralizing in The Jones Men. At one point, Lennie Jack tells another man “It’s cold out there, brother” (p. 10). And indeed it is. The reader has to find the message or the moral for him- or herself.
The Jones Men received much praise upon its publication. Among other honors, the novel received a nomination for an Edgar Award. But Smith chose to remain a journalist with Newsweek. (In a brief forward to my copy of The Jones Men, Smith states that he had a family to support and that the regular paychecks from Newsweek were nice). But The Jones Men is such a good novel, that - selfishly - I wish that Jones had given us more novels.
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