Driver is not a criminal. At least not in the strictest sense. He is just the best stunt driver you can find in Hollywood. And sometimes he drives the getaway car during heists, although he isn't really that interested in it. Just as little as he is in Hollywood movies. He actually just wants to drive. But then one of these heists goes wrong, and Driver finds himself in a shabby motel in Arizona, with several corpses in the room and a bag full of cash. He should be dead too, as the heist was a setup. "Driver" by James Sallis is a literary stroke of luck: a gripping, atmospherically rich, and virtuously told crime novel, a homage to the classic noir novel that almost casually becomes great literature.