Jim's prose is trippy and slangy, full of alliteration, rhyme and rhythm. Fun new vocab words are everywhere, from "trannies" (trans-gendered people), to "hags" ("crazy, rocker-pervert hellions outside even dyke society"). Some readers will at first find the email-casual style of Jim's voice a bit contrived; it may seem that she is trying hard to break every rule of grammar just for the sake of non-conformity. In fact Jim herself is dislikeable from any number of angles - she swindles her friends, cheats on lovers, has a penchant for violence and is generally an obnoxious self-congratulatory deadbeat. But once you've warmed up to the cadences of her messy syntax, it's hard to resist Jim's quirky charms, and she becomes a surprisingly appealing character.

Jim tells the tale of her journey with a series of snappy anecdotes about topics such as running rush-hour red lights on her bike; chatting with nude girls backstage at a strip club; finding a point of entry for her needle when her arm is already riddled with track marks; surfing beer and blood covered stages at punk shows; and yelling, "Yo Jersey!" at bad drivers in Manhattan. She peppers her narrative with tangential rants about cops and the system, philosophical asides about love and friendship, and childhood glimpses of her hilarious Dietrich-wannabe German mom.

Godspeed is full of action, but not all that much plot, at least until the last third of the novel. Although the main thread of the story appears to be Jim's relationship with stripper girlfriend Ally, the love of her life makes too few appearances for a reader to completely empathize with Jim's supposed devotion to her or understand why their connection is all that special. But it doesn't really matter - the novel works simply as a documentary, a roller-coaster-paced tour of Jim's world.

--- Christine Leahy