My Bad, A Mile High Noir Mysterious Book Report No. 264 by John Dwaine McKenna The word noir (pronounced NWAR) comes from the French. Its literal translation is black, but it can be interpreted as dark or wicked. As it applies to the Mysterious Book Report, it’s a type of crime fiction that’s characterized by cynicism, fatalism and moral ambiguity. The noir genre has become so popular over the
Dangerous Boys by Greg F. Gifune Down & Out Books, PB, $17.95, 308 pages, ISBN 978-1-946502-52-0 In the summer of 1984, a series of heat waves blasted the northeast United States in rapid succession, one after another. It’s particularly hot in the old whaling port of New Bedford, Massachusetts, where the usual cooling ocean breezes have disappeared, leaving the city in a steaming humid mess of baking sidewalks, human
Robicheaux by James Lee Burke Simon & Schuster, $27.99, 445 pages, ISBN 978-1-5011-7684-3 Whenever a new book by James Lee Burke is released, I can’t wait to get my hands on it and promptly read it cover-to-cover. It’s been that way since the early 1990s, when I heard him speak on NPR about a character he’d created; a fictional Cajun detective from New Iberia, Louisiana. He was unique, this
Night Blind by Ragnar Jonasson Minotaur/ St. Martins, $25.99, 213 pages, ISBN 978-1-250-09609-8 Iceland sits just below the Arctic Circle, about midway between Greenland and Scandinavia. At the northernmost point of the volcanic island is the city of Siglufjördur . . . where in late November, “The darkness comes and curls around you like a furry black cat,” and it doesn’t even think about getting light again until sometime
The Ghosts of Galway by Ken Bruen Mysterious Press, $25.00, 330 pages, ISBN 978-0-8021-2733-4 We’re winding up the year here at the Mysterious Book Report with one of our favorite Irish authors. His name is Ken Bruen; a writer who’s witty, campy and filled to the brim with what can only be called Irish Noir. It’s a mixture of delicacy, violence, grief and guilt as depicted by his iconic,
The Smack by Richard Lange Muholland Books, Little Brown & Co, $26.00, 352 pages, ISBN 978-0-316-32762-6 The mean streets of Los Angeles are the setting for a new kind of novel that combines action with the troubles of the real world. It’s about people on the hustle, people who swindle others out of their money . . . they’re called grifters. Grifters have no conscience, no guilt, they’re only
The Shadow District by Arnaldur Indridason Thomas Dunne/Minotaur Books, $25.99, 344 pages ISBN 978-1-250-12402-9) Iceland, positioned at the top of the world between Europe and North America, is a land of active volcanoes, long winter nights and some of the best noir writers in the world. Case in point . . . the newest crime fiction thriller by international best-selling author Arnaldur Indridason is a meticulously plotted murder mystery
The Ways of Wolfe by James Carlos Blake The Mysterious Press, $25.00, 290 pages, ISBN 978-0-8021-2577-4 I always look forward to any new work by James Carlos Blake, because he’s a master of noir. He’s not the most prolific of authors, but he’s surely one of the most polished in all of crime fiction. He’s tackled historical figures such as John Wesley Hardin, Poncho Villa and John Dillinger, among
A Game of Ghosts by John Connolly Atria/Emily Bestler Books, $26.99, 464 pages, ISBN 978-1-5011-7189-5 We’ve saved the best for last. Our final submission for this years MBR Freak Fest is by the undisputed heavyweight king of Gothic Noir Crime Fiction. His name is John Connolly. He’s an Irish writer who’s been atop worldwide best sellers charts for ages. His Charlie Parker private eye series is noirish crime fiction
Bad Boy Boogie by Thomas Pluck Down and Out Books, PB, $17.95, 334 pages, ISBN 978-1-943402-59-5 For all of my adult life, New Jersey was a place I landed in and took off from at Newark International, rented a car and headed up the Garden State Parkway, bound for the family homestead in the Catskills. Jersey was a place overcrowded with traffic, bad roads and wretched, impatient, sue-happy drivers