.jpg)
“What would you say to a bottle of Tinto de Verano?”
“I’d say: I love you. Will you marry me?”
If you like your fiction hard-boiled then A Case Of Noir is a book for
you. The above example of sharp dialogue is just one a thousand examples of
crackling, punchy prose that weave through this book like a spider on speed.
The quips are so very well handled and serve many purposes – they colour the
characters, add zing, focus images and bring humour by the Sam Spade-load.
The atmosphere is hot and pregnant with lust (‘Lena was a
heat-seeking missile and I was the target.') and disaffection, with lowlife and
alcohol, with apathy and action and has
a soundtrack that would make a nice little compilation.
Follow Luke Case (the
eponymous anti-hero) as he trawls from one sordid experience to another. While
you there, you can also discover how killing really is and how it’s nothing
like it is on the TV. You’ll get to know parts of Europe that you may never
have visited and, if you’ve been there, you’re unlikely to have seen them in
this light:
Red Esperanto (Warsaw)Death On A Hot Afternoon (Madrid)
The Kelly Affair (Granada)
The Big Rain (Toulouse)
One Of Those Days In England (Cambridge)
Refreshingly straight and unpretentious stuff that brings a
new zing to an old favourite.
Really, what's not to like?
Thanks Nigel! Glad you enjoyed Luke's romps.
ReplyDeleteReally enjoyed the Bullets In The Bookshop wheeze and the hybrid Blackwell's/Waterstones shop.
ReplyDeleteCool review--I'll be checking this one out
ReplyDelete