Synopses & Reviews
Sonny Barger: Motorcycle Legend and Bestselling Author Turns Novelist
Ralph "Sonny" Barger's latest book, "Dead in 5 Heartbeats, will be published this fall by Wm Morrow. It's his first adventure novel. The book's main character, Patch Kinkade, is a modern-day, Harley ridin' anti-hero/outlaw who finds himself caught in the crossfire of murder, betrayal, and an all-out street war among rival motorcycle clubs. Who better than Barger, an active 46-year member of a famous motorcycle club, could invent a brand new fiction genre -- the motorcycle thriller? DI5H is a chilling glimpse of a fascinating underworld of which Sonny is all too familiar. Barger, now the author of three books for Wm Morrow, was interviewed upon completion of "Dead in 5 Heartbeats.
"Dead in 5 Heartbeats has that same edginess as your autobiography, "Hell's Angel. Why write a thriller and stretch out into fiction?
Patch Kinkade is the bike-riding protagonist in "Dead in 5 Heartbeats. How closely is he based on you?
Do you enjoy writing thriller novels that resemble real life?
That's what's so cool about fiction. I can take a true story and then change it around to fit the tale I want to tell. In the end, it might not even resemble the original event. But you got your start from the true parts. "Hell's Angel was a lot of work to write, but in many ways, it was even harder to create a novel with a realistic, fast-paced story line and a cast of interesting characters.
How true is "Dead in 5 Heartbeats?
There's violence, murder, fights, and betrayal, but they are not true events. They're based on true events. Nothing in the book really happened. It's a thriller. Let's get that out of the way for all the cops and FBI agents who are going to read it.
How accurately is the action portrayed?
There's a whole lot of action in this book. In real life, most fights don't last more than forty or fifty seconds. Maybe something goes down for a minute-and-a-half, tops. That's how we portray some of the violence in this book. Fast and mean. In the book, for instance, there's a shoot-out in a casino. It's sort of funny. When someone shoots a pistol at the target range, they wear ear protectors and safety glasses. But when you're in the middle of a real-life shooting, actual gunfire resembles more of a popping sound, kinda like balloons breaking orfirecrackers.
In "Dead in 5 Heartbeats, one of the main characters is an aggressive federal agent. You've had scrapes with them in your past, fighting a RICO charge, for instance.
Bottom line, the FBI gets away with much more than the local police. That's why the FBI sends their agents to acting school: so they can be more believable in the courtroom. But quite often it works to their disadvantage when the judges or juries don't believe them. My only question is, what's the matter with the truth? If they sat on the stand and just told the truth, they'd be far more credible. That's the kind of stuff I was thinking about when I created the FBI character in the book.
The characters in "Dead in 5 Heartbeats deal with their disputes with rival motorcycle clubs without calling the police. Is that the case in your life?
Patch Kinkade carries a Sharpfinger knife, the same one you wear on your belt. Is the knife a sort of character in the book?
Kind of. A lot of people I ride with carry that knife. I actually prefer fixed blades -- like the Sharpfinger -- to a folded blade. Although I carry a folded blade too, with a fixed blade you don't have to reach inside your pocket. It's always handy, on your belt when you need it. I use my Sharpfinger as a tool. I do everything with it. I like knives with sharp points. You never know when you might want to pop a balloon or peel a banana.
As a kid, did you read a lot?
Do you prefer fiction or non-fiction?
I'll read anything except science fiction. I've just started a book about an American Indian warrior named Black Hawk. It was originally written in the early 1800s. Black Hawk, a Sauk Indian chief, was from the Illinois area and I guess he was the last Indian to go to war against the United States. When Abraham Lincoln fought in the Army, it was against Black Hawk. Somebody sent me the book after reading my books and figured I'd like it. The person who sent it felt Black Hawk's life ran parallel to my life with the Hell's Angels, considering the way the government messes with our club.
You now live and ride your motorcycle in Arizona. Are you a modern version of the Wild West cowboy?
I'm not a cowboy, but it's fun to ride horses. That's a new thing for me over the past two years. Someday I would like to be able to ride a horse like I ride a motorcycle. No matter what happens on the motorcycle, it's second nature to me. I react without thinking about what I'm doing. On the horse, I still hesitate and think because I haven't ridden long enough. In fact, that's the way I drive my truck; I think about every maneuver I make. But on my motorcycle, everything is natural.
Since your first two books were published, have you had a chance to meet many of your fans around the USA and the world?
I've been all over the United States and Europe -- Italy, Germany, England, Norway, Sweden, Denmark -- signing books. We're headed to Switzerland and Austria this year. Writing books has alsoallowed me to travel the world and meet people from the Club I hadn't met before. My problem is that I always forget to mention one country, then all my friends from there call me up and ask me, "Hey, what's the matter, you don't like us anymore?" "Hell's Angel has come out in thirteen countries. We just added Croatia, and a Spanish edition is coming out soon. It hasn't been translated into French yet, and the guys from the Club there are really mad about that.
Unlike most authors, you travel most of the year doing book-signings.
That's hard work. It takes seven or eight hours to sign hundreds of books and greet everybody and talk with them. Meeting a Hell's Angel is a big thing in some people's lives. We can and have sold a thousand books at a single signing. We can s
Synopsis
Ralph "Sonny" Barger first gained the attention of the book world with his bestselling memoir
Hell's Angel. Now he uses what hes learned from a life insidea subculture few will ever know to create his no-holds-barred first novel, giving readers a taste of thecamaraderie, the pain, and the thrills of what its like to live life on two wheels.
Everett John "Patch" Kinkade just wants to be left alone. The former president of the Infidelz, the most powerful motorcycle club in California, Patch has grown weary of the responsibilities and burdens that come with the mantle of leadership. He leaves California for Arizona, determined to start a new life and to put a few hundred miles between him and the tragedy that tore his family apart.
But it isn't long before a new crisis pulls Patch back to his old stomping grounds. Tension between the Infidelz and a rival club, the 2Wheelers, erupts one night in a lethal free-for-all, littering a casino with the corpses of club members and ordinary citizens alike. The newspapers call it a war, and Patch knows he must return to help the club, either by making peace or by charging into battle.Now it's not just his life at stake, but the lives of the rest of the Infidelz as well, and Patch would fight the Grim Reaper himself to protect his brothers. Prepared to destroy any man who crosses his path, even if it means confronting the demons from his past, Patch gases up his Harley, sharpens his blade, and heads out on the highway for what could be his final ride.
About the Author
Ralph "Sonny" Barger currently lives near Phoenix, Arizona, having moved from his longtime hometown of Oakland. He is now a member of the Cave Creek chapter of the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club. A master mechanic, he has been technical consultant on several biker films including Hell's Angels on Wheels and Hell's Angels '69, has served time in federal and state penitentiaries, and is developing a movie based on his autobiography. He rides his customized Harley-Davidson every day and bench-presses 285 pounds. Keith and Kent Zimmerman are a unique writing team of twin brothers. They are coauthors of Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs, written with John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols, a number one bestseller in Britain that was nominated for a Ralph J. Gleason Book Award. "The Zimmermen" also cowrote Daddy-O: Iguana Heads and Texas Tales, which delved into the life of Texas sculptor and photo-realist painter Robert "Daddy-O" Wade.