It all makes for a rather melancholy and — in its complicated investigations and its details — oddly wending-all-over-the-place novel, but also an interesting journey.
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A Long Way Off by Pascal Garnier
What an odd little book. Bills itself as noir but veers close to black comedy. It is French so perhaps I should have expected weird … :-)
Continue readingThe Eskimo Solution by Pascal Garnier
I usually stray away from noir-themed books due to their very nature, but this book intrigued me based on the plot. Like all noir novels, this is a bleak and depressing story. Despite the very dark nature, Garnier writes beautifully. He captures the scenes in the book perfectly by allowing the reader easily visualize the scenes.
Continue readingNickel Plated by Aric Davis
One of those experiments that works well for some, not at all for others, but can be appreciated by many. You may or may not buy the premise, but the unique style and perspective makes for an interesting read and an appreciation for the creativity and imagination of the author.
Continue readingThe Panda Theory by Pascal Garnier
An interesting literary novella that bills itself as noir but veers close to black comedy. Well done characters and setting but something of an awkward shift to set up the conclusion. Nevertheless, an odd but quick and enjoyable read.
Continue readingThis Is How You Fall by Keith Dixon
Dixon brings a literary sensibility to the story even as he uses these familiar structures and blends in the noir and heist elements. It is the elegance with which he describes the thoughts and emotions of his characters and the way he maps out the charged relationships. The interplay between Jake, his true love Sally and her dangerous sister Kimber is full of the messy, complex and shifting and potentially dangerous emotions of real life.
Continue readingLittle Elvises (The Junior Bender Series) by Timothy Hallinan
Junior Bender joins Poke Rafferty and Simeon Grist as Hallinan characters sure to have a cult following.
Continue readingFirst-rate detectives are like good lovers and good novelists
Tara McKelvey makes me want to read Jonathan Rabb’s The Second Son (Berlin Trilogy) based on the last two paragraphs of her review in the NYTRB.
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