Shakey Town Express by Justin Arnold is a gripping crime thriller about the exploits of Buddy Green, a compassionate truck driver who crosses paths with the criminal underworld. Buddy is an experienced long-haul trucker and a man on a crucial spiritual mission. He starts a side hustle as a rideshare driver for criminals. Buddy drives anyone, from killers to thieves, to their assigned destinations. His intended goal is to minister to the lost and shepherd the souls of criminals to salvation. But even though Buddy’s heart is in the right place, the criminal world is a ruthless and unforgiving place. Before long, Buddy’s side hustle propels him deeper into an unforeseen world of fascination and danger. Buddy encounters many interesting characters that give rise to unexpected events, making his journey one that he won’t ever forget.

Shakey Town Express is a fast-paced, breathtaking adventure that will pull you along on the journey. This tale is filled with action, danger, suspense, surprising twists, and drama. It touches on various issues like choices, morality, good versus evil, faith, and family relationships. The characters are complex, flawed, authentic, and unpredictable. The moral dilemmas they face add urgency and intensity to their stories. This novel will appeal to readers of all backgrounds and walks of life. There’s a character for every personality style, so you’re guaranteed to connect with one or all of them. If you’re looking for a gripping crime thriller to keep you company, try Justin Arnold’s Shakey Town Express.

Keana Sackett-Moomey

Shaky Town Express by Justin Arnold tells the story of long-haul trucker Buddy Green, who transports various goods along the highways of California. Buddy is a hardworking man with old-fashioned morals who is staunch, respectful, and humble. However, the trucking business doesn’t cover all his bills, so he set up a side hustle providing ride-sharing services to the criminal underworld. While traveling to their destinations, he uses his Christian faith and belief to reach out to crooks. It is not long before Buddy encounters a ruthless criminal as one of his passengers, and he must now take action to get rid of this brutal man, who comes with a gang of shady thugs as well. In an adventure he did not anticipate, Buddy must protect himself at all costs for the sake of his family.

Shaky Town Express is an adventurous ride that also gives one a glimpse of the harsh world of truckers on Californian highways. There is a steady pace to the plot, along with an intriguing and engaging storyline that culminates in a satisfying ending. With well-researched and masterfully character-driven content, the reader can feel Buddy’s plight along with the relatable and down-to-earth characters. Although I was initially hesitant to read a trucker story, the skillfully written narrative captivated my attention and kept me interested throughout. While there were some heartfelt moments and action-packed scenes, there were also some humorous scenes. Buddy Green’s journey of self-discovery reflects themes of faith and redemption, and the reader will feel uplifted by his experience. Shaky Town Express by Justin Arnold is an entertaining crime novel that is highly recommended!

Angelique Papayannopoulos

Shakey Town Express is a work of fiction in the crime, suspense, and action genres. It is best suited to the mature adult reading audience as it contains strong language and violence throughout. Penned by author Justin Arnold, the plot follows Buddy Green, a long-haul trucker who supplements his income by providing rideshare services for the criminal underworld. For $5,000, Buddy offers safe passage from Sacramento to Los Angeles, evading law enforcement in his Peterbilt 379, Lucille. Despite his illicit side hustle, Buddy views his work as a Christian ministry, aiming to reach out to thieves and crooks. Along the way, Buddy and his diverse passengers experience an adventurous and unpredictable journey through California.

Author Justin Arnold has a knack for crafting memorable and unusual scenes with his arresting, highly visual descriptive style, and has crafted a captivating and unconventional crime ride as a result. Buddy Green’s dual life as a trucker and an underground rideshare driver creates a fascinating tension between his devout Christian beliefs and his morally dubious occupation, setting off an incredible juxtaposition of situations that always keep you turning pages. The vivid descriptions of California’s highways and the colorful cast of characters Buddy encounters made the journey feel vibrant and real, with visceral, multi-sensory details enhancing the experience and unique dialogue that gave each passenger’s story the chance to reflect a diverse spectrum of human experiences and motivations. The blend of adventure, crime, and introspection kept me hooked, eager to see how Buddy’s journey would unfold, and the pacing ensured that we were never far away from a discovery, a large emotional moment, or an action-packed twist. Overall, Shakey Town Express left me reflecting on the gray areas of morality and the unexpected ways people seek to make a difference in the world. It’s a sophisticated and highly immersive novel for crime fans to enjoy.

K.C. Finn

Justin Arnold’s Shakey Town Express is about a long-haul trucker, Buddy Green. As a truck driver, Buddy did not make enough to cover his bills and needed a side job to make extra money. Buddy gave the criminal underworld a priceless service by transporting wanted individuals to Los Angeles without being caught. Smith was the newest client Buddy had to transport to Los Angeles, but he had to make sure from the beginning that Smith left no trace for him to be found. Smith took part in the violent heist at the Four Winds Jewelry Exchange, which left eight people dead. Buddy faced obstacles during this journey that brought about encounters and surprising detours. Buddy was thrown into a dangerous world due to his service to the criminal underworld.

The plot in Shakey Town Express by Justin Arnold was complex, and the writing was interesting and easy to read. The pace was steady, and the chapters flowed into each other. The entire time I was nervously wondering if Buddy and Smith would make it to Los Angeles safely. The characters were authentic, and each character had a backstory that allowed me to get to know them better. Buddy was a Christian and Smith a criminal, but they got along in their unique way. There was a laid-back camaraderie among the drivers, who treated one another like family. Through the conversations between the drivers, I learned a lot about different topics. This book was enjoyable to read in that it exceeded my expectations and was much more than I had anticipated.

Alma Boucher

Villains, victims, and imperfect heroes are the people you meet in Shakey Town Express, a novel by Justin Arnold. The protagonist is Buddy Green, a God-fearing Christian man who is also a bit of an outlaw. Mr. Green understands that the world is not black and white, just various shades of gray, and sometimes you have to bend the rules to survive. As the owner-operator of Buddy Green Shipping & Freight, he spends his days trucking along highways, delivering freight to and fro. He also smuggles and offers safe passage to people on the run for a fee. The story focuses on two of his passengers. Both these people are on the run, though for different reasons. One passenger has a heart as big as a house; the other has no heart at all, and catastrophic peril follows both.

Shakey Town Express by Justin Arnold is an excellent addition to contemporary literature and one of the most captivating books I’ve read in a long time. The plot is a very plausible story of a man making ends meet by helping people evade the law as they make a run for it. The themes, however, are subtle and relate exceptionally well. Trust, faith, friendship, and the ability to do the right thing, even if it means breaking the law, are expertly woven into this tale. The characters are outstanding, and it is through their conversations and interactions that the novel gets its points across. A gritty pace akin to an 18-wheeler steadily eating up the highway (like slurping spaghetti) makes Shakey Town Express an easy recommendation for adult fans of crime fiction and adventure.

Gaius Konstantine

A street-smart, spiritually oriented trucker hauls much more than freight in Arnold’s action thriller.

“Relax, Mister Smith,” truck driver Buddy Green says to his new passenger and client. “It’s smooth sailing here on the Shakey Town Express.” In addition to hauling goods up and down California’s I-5 corridor, Buddy runs a successful side business helping all kinds of fugitives (like Mister Smith) slip past the law. There are just a few rules everyone has to abide by: no smoking, no guns in the front seat, no music other than country, and no taking the Lord’s name in vain. (Buddy explains that he has “disabused” himself of a strict moral code after serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, but he remains a devout Christian.) Smith begrudgingly agrees to Buddy’s rules, and the two find themselves locked in endless debates about God, war, and everything in between. (The Great Gatsby even becomes a hot topic when Smith discovers that Buddy enjoys hosting a trucker book club with no-nonsense former MMA fighter Large Marge, one of the book’s best characters.) What Buddy doesn’t know yet is that Smith isn’t just on the run for fraud—he’s a member of a gang that just pulled off a deadly heist. Danger lies in wait for them at Smith’s destination of Los Angeles, where a young sex worker named Dylan, who has crossed the wrong Hollywood mogul, is also waiting and putting all her hopes on Buddy. Arnold introduces readers to this gruff but fascinating world with fantastic cinematic energy, snappy dialogue, and well-calibrated suspense. Buddy is an instantly likable character whom readers will be happy to ride along with. The treatment of Smith (and, as a consequence, the overall story) is more uneven. Pages fly by when Smith and Buddy settle into a Midnight Run-like action-comedy groove, evading the police and learning about each other. But a sudden burst of unexpected, gratuitous violence awkwardly shifts the story’s stakes and tone. (The second half, dedicated to Dylan, has a great set-up and some touching moments but feels like an entirely different novel.) Arnold assembles some inventive set pieces and memorable characters here, but they don’t quite make a cohesive whole.

A thoroughly enjoyable—if sometimes bumpy—ride with a philosophical outlaw trucker.

Kirkus