--- title: Review: Do-Gooders in Gangland in Ryan Gattis' 'Safe' description: Ryan Gattis' new novel, Safe, pits two narrators against each other — both of them bad guys trying to be good. canonical: https://time.com/4865976/ryan-gattis-safe-review/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-20T10:53:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:38:20.456Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Review: Do-Gooders in Gangland in Ryan Gattis' 'Safe' og:description: The novel pits two narrators against each other — both of them bad guys trying to be good og:url: https://time.com/4865976/ryan-gattis-safe-review/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt56b7afa5c12e9057/6988d678e76ad243f762e681/safe.jpg?branch=production&width=1120&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1120 og:image:height: 630 og:image:alt: safe og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Review: Do-Gooders in Gangland in Ryan Gattis' 'Safe' twitter:description: The novel pits two narrators against each other — both of them bad guys trying to be good twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt56b7afa5c12e9057/6988d678e76ad243f762e681/safe.jpg?branch=production&width=1120&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Review: Do-Gooders in Gangland in Ryan Gattis' _Safe_ > Sponsored content. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jul 20, 2017 10:53 AM UTC  MCD by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jul 20, 2017 10:53 AM UTC Ryan Gattis’ new novel, [_Safe_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0374253374/?tag=timecom-20), pits two narrators against each other — both of them bad guys trying to be good. Ricky Mendoza Jr., a.k.a. Ghost, a former addict who cracks safes for the DEA, has decided to go rogue in a “ghetto Robin Hood” plot to steal from gangsters to pay off mortgages of those in need. (It’s 2008, and the financial crisis looms.) This puts him at odds with Rudolfo “Rudy” Reyes, a.k.a. Glasses, a powerful gangster’s right-hand man who hopes to inform on his boss and start life fresh. At times, Gattis overexplains these men’s motivations. He needn’t–the pathos of their problems is inherently compelling. This macho, faster-than-a-speeding-bullet novel benefits from the extensive research Gattis has done on the L.A. gang scene — his previous novel, All Involved, was about the 1992 riots — and that deep knowledge informs electrifying plot twists. To navigate them, Ghost knows, he’s “got to put a saddle on all the stuff that makes me be me and ride it. Strategy. Lying. Cleverness. 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