NerdOfNoir
Fifty Grand by Adrian McKinty – review
An illegal immigrant is killed in a hit-and-run in Fairview, Colorado, a ski town for Hollywood types too cool for Vail. Nobody cares – what’s a dead Mexican when there’s another van-load no doubt on the way? Thing is, despite what his papers may say, the dead man wasn’t Mexican but Cuban, and somebody does care who murdered him, namely his estranged daughter, Detective Mercado of the Havana police.
Full review after the jump…
The Long Division by Derek Nikitas – review
With his second novel, Derek Nikitas wastes no time throwing you into the harrowing lives of four disparate characters. The Long Division hooks you early, then keeps the tension at eleven for three hundred pages. This book is intense, dark, and extremely painful. The violence hits home and hits often. The characters’ guilt and sad struggles for redemption will eat away at your insides like a gallon of muddy coffee, and when their connections to each other become clear, you can’t help but be horrified and filled with dread at what kind of disgusting tragedy no doubt lies ahead.
Full review after the jump…
The Longshot by Katie Kitamura – review
I’ve long believed that Cormac McCarthy’s The Road should be on every high school English syllabus in the world. It’s the perfect novel to ignite a spark in a certain type of young person’s mind, the type of book that can reach into your video-game-addled brain and shake and squish it until you realize that, “Hey, there’s something awesome going on in this world Teach calls modern literature.” And today I would like to add to that imaginary syllabus another modern work that can get kids to stop saying, “My name’s Todd, I’m 14, and I just love those video games.”
Full review after the jump…
The Deputy and Vampire A Go-Go by Victor Gischler – review
Victor Gischler has been spreading his genre wings as of late, venturing out of crime last year and into sci-fi territory with his post-apocalyptic romp Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse. This year he tackled horror with his usual hilarious gusto in Vampire A Go-Go, but next year he returns to crime again with The Deputy. Thing is, The Deputy shows some major muscle flexing as well, only this time it’s not from twisting the genre so much as playing it a little straighter and definitely darker. In other words, Victor Gischler is fast becoming a pulp renaissance man.
Full review after the jump…
Slammer by Allan Guthrie – review
Allan Guthrie knows how to keep the pages and your stomach turning like no other author working today, but with Slammer he proves a master at wrenching your heart as well. With his fifth and finest novel, Guthrie draws you into prison guard Nick Glass’s reality by jangling the holy hell out of your nerves, keeps you going with a wicked crime plot, then wraps it all up by leaving you absolutely devastated.
Full review after the jump…
Flight to Darkness by Gil Brewer – review
Indie publishers New Pulp Press get into the reissue game this week with their release of Gil Brewer’s 1952 novel Flight to Darkness. It’s the story of Eric Garth, a Korean War vet and newly freed mental patient still suffering from nightmares wherein he murders his brother, Frank. His sexy vamp nurse is leaving the asylum with him, though whether her interest is in Eric’s charm and good looks or the inheritance he stands to gain from his dying mother in Florida remains to be seen.
Full review after the jump…
Shadow Season by Tom Piccirilli – review
The Nerd of Noir returns with another must-read for all you basement noir crazies out there (you know who you are) in Tom Piccirilli’s Shadow Season. Piccirilli, an established horror writer, has been sneaking into mystery through the back door, and he doesn’t disappoint.
Find out why after the jump…
Last Known Address by Theresa Schwegel – review
Theresa Schwegel’s new police procedural Last Known Address contains few of the classic clichés we expect from a hard-boiled thriller. There’re no shootouts or car chases, no suspect beat downs, our protagonist doesn’t drink on the job – none of what noir fans have come to expect. Instead, what makes you plow through is Schwegel’s seemingly authentic approach to the job, strong character and place, and dead-on descriptions and dialogue. In other words, it’s about storytelling, not plot, and that’s just peachy with the Nerd.
Full review after the jump…
Dealing with the Troubles: The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville and Gallows Lane by Brian McGilloway – review
My BSC partners in crime (yes, I am not above such lame statements), Brian Lindenmuth and Keith Rawson, have already shouted to the heavens about the awesomeness that is The Ghosts of Belfast by first-time novelist Stuart Neville. But my blogjob on Neville’s masterpiece comes with a freebie on something you maybe haven’t heard enough about: the Inspector Benedict Devlin series from fellow Irishman Brian McGilloway, in particular the second in the series, Gallows Lane.
Read the double review after the jump…
Crime Comics for One and All (Except Cozy Fans, regrettably)!
If you’re all caught up with the big-name crime comics like Scalped and Criminal, indulge the Nerd of Noir while he slams some more awesome down on your TBR pile. He’s got three recs for you that cover three different subgenres of crime fiction. Yeah, it’s a tall order, but he’s serving it up.
Read more about the Nerd’s crime-comic special after the jump…
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn review
Gillian Flynn has her own nasty thing going, and the Nerd of Noir totally digs it. With just two novels, Sharp Objects and Dark Places, Flynn has carved out a space in the crime fiction world that is entirely her own. Her books are half gothic horror, half shock-twist thriller, and a hundred percent skin-crawlingly creepy.
Read the Nerd’s review of Dark Places after the jump!
Tower by Ken Bruen and Reed Farrel Coleman review
Tower tells of Nick and Todd, two best friends and fellow thugs-on-the-rise in the New York Irish mob. When word gets out that there’s a rat in the gang, friendship is tested and bad things happen.
Read why this book satisfied the Nerd of Noir like no other in recent weeks after the jump…
