The Singer by Cathi Unsworth
The Singer by Cathi Unsworth feels epic in scope but stays intimate with its character portrayals. Instead of regurgitating researched facts about the UK punk scene, Unsworth has instead absorbed all of the research, information, and knowledge of a time gone past and created the scene naturalistically, from the ground up. The story of Blood Simple feels unique and universal all at the same time. You’ll get lost in the world that Unsworth has created and marvel at how real the characters feel; and when the tragic ending hits, you’ll come away impressed and wanting to read more Unsworth.
The perfect counterpart to The Singer might be Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand.
The Devil’s Staircase by Helen Fitzgerald
Helen Fitzgerald is carving out her own place and doing something that no one else is doing. Others have described her work as a mixture of two unlikely genres, chick-lit and noir. And while this description may be reductive, it is somewhat serviceable in trying to name what she does. Bronny’s fish-out-of-water, coming-of-age story is warm and agreeable. Then, the book unexpectedly turns at the intersection of Fucked and Crazy, veering onto the sidewalk and mowing down a few pedestrians along the way. There is a much darker story lurking underneath the one that opens the novel, and it sneaks up on you and changes the makeup of the whole thing. The Devil’s Staircase is like an Allan Guthrie novel with ovaries. Helen Fitzgerald is an original, and you should be reading her.
Scalped: High Lonesome by Jason Aaron and RM Guera
The 5th volume of the best crime story going continues here. While the main characters continue to grow and this volume offers a bounty of riches, I do think that it has the odd mis-step for the series so far in the character Moses Johnson. He is unnecessary, under-used, a distraction, and his exit from the book hinges on a timely coincidence. It was a cul-de-sac subplot and probably best forgotten.
