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david_agranoff's review against another edition
5.0
In the wake of True Detective there was a rush of readers and interest in the various influences Nic Pizzolatto drew from in that first season. One of those influences was the often stunning cosmic horror of Alaskan ex-pat Laird Barron. Know in his early years for writing some of the most dread filled short stories in the weird lit field Barron is a house hold name in the horror lit world.
We didn’t need internet articles pointing us to these so called hidden gems that inspired the tone if not the story of True Detective. Look I like weird brooding cosmic horor Laird Barron as much as the next horror reader, but it is his last two novels that really spoke to me.
Black Mountain is the second in a series featuring ex-hitman Isiah Coleridge who is forced to leave Alaska and the Mob. Now serving as private detective we have Coleridge returning as the same interesting character in pleasantly different feeling book. The second book does not feel like a rehash that is perhaps the best news.
Let me go deeper on why that news will be music to the ears of Laird Barron’s readers. The dark tone and plot of this novel shows more of that super dark tone we all know Barron is capable of, while still delivering a fun crime read. Even as the story goes darker, a brutal serial killer that appears to be targeting mob killers is weird enough. Mix it with the fun sarcastic almost Elmore Leonard style dialogue and you have a great combo.
The serial killer part of the story certainly would have worked in its own novel even with a dark SEVEN like feel. Coleridge investigating the killer known as the Croatoan is interesting enough for a novel alone, this killer was thought to be dead long ago. But Coleridge and his attempts to leave violence behind is equally compelling and that is where the fun comes in.
Barron blends in a variety of influences that you don’t notice in the moment, but after you close the book it stays with you. That is when you smile thinking about the last pages feeling like Ellroy or Chandler. That is great, and plenty of writers do that, but how many can get a Harlan Ellison or Thomas Liggoti feel into that mix? Not many. I love reading a novel and getting a feeling for what their book shelves look like. That is a compliment even if some might not see it that way.
The first book Blood Standard took me by surprise a bit more, but that is to me expected when a author takes a big turn. Both these books are solid entries in a series that will have me locked in.
We didn’t need internet articles pointing us to these so called hidden gems that inspired the tone if not the story of True Detective. Look I like weird brooding cosmic horor Laird Barron as much as the next horror reader, but it is his last two novels that really spoke to me.
Black Mountain is the second in a series featuring ex-hitman Isiah Coleridge who is forced to leave Alaska and the Mob. Now serving as private detective we have Coleridge returning as the same interesting character in pleasantly different feeling book. The second book does not feel like a rehash that is perhaps the best news.
Let me go deeper on why that news will be music to the ears of Laird Barron’s readers. The dark tone and plot of this novel shows more of that super dark tone we all know Barron is capable of, while still delivering a fun crime read. Even as the story goes darker, a brutal serial killer that appears to be targeting mob killers is weird enough. Mix it with the fun sarcastic almost Elmore Leonard style dialogue and you have a great combo.
The serial killer part of the story certainly would have worked in its own novel even with a dark SEVEN like feel. Coleridge investigating the killer known as the Croatoan is interesting enough for a novel alone, this killer was thought to be dead long ago. But Coleridge and his attempts to leave violence behind is equally compelling and that is where the fun comes in.
Barron blends in a variety of influences that you don’t notice in the moment, but after you close the book it stays with you. That is when you smile thinking about the last pages feeling like Ellroy or Chandler. That is great, and plenty of writers do that, but how many can get a Harlan Ellison or Thomas Liggoti feel into that mix? Not many. I love reading a novel and getting a feeling for what their book shelves look like. That is a compliment even if some might not see it that way.
The first book Blood Standard took me by surprise a bit more, but that is to me expected when a author takes a big turn. Both these books are solid entries in a series that will have me locked in.
newsguy45's review against another edition
4.0
I do so enjoy Laird Barron's way with words. "The immensity of the night and darkness pressed against the rim of the world and trickled into my heart." Then there is Isaiah Coleridge, one bloody cool character. An excellent read.
pbanditp's review against another edition
3.0
This didn’t seem to have the same action as book one, Blood Standard. I didn’t feel the same connection to the characters and it seemed like a lot of the excitement was dampened because it was talked about after it happened in a conversation. The main bad guy that Isaiah and Lionel are after doesn’t really make much of an appearance but is just hypothesized about and is too mysterious to make an impression.
ethanjpollard's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
and_it_spoke's review against another edition
4.0
Super solid follow up to 'Blood Standard'. Expands and develops some already well established characters in a way that make them more endearing. It also manages to slide in Mr. Barron's occupation with weird fiction and horror is a wonderfully back door, organic way.
chukg's review against another edition
5.0
Very well done modern-day noir, this one is a bit closer to Barron's horror in some parts. It's a page turner, tight first-person and I don't know what to say about the ending.
misterkyle1901's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
nate_s's review against another edition
5.0
I have a goal of reading at least one entry from every popular (and some not so) detective/crime solver/cop/spy who has a book series. Jack Reacher, Spenser, Easy Rawlins, George Smiley, etc.
In the roll call of these characters, Laird Barron's Isaiah Coleridge is not well-known. In fact, judging by Goodreads review numbers (ranging from 250-1200 reviews), he's practical unheard of. This is a shame, but also frankly very surprising. Because these books are damn good in every way.
Laird Barron is an impeccable writer. His dialogue cuts like a blade. His characters are smartly drawn; highly literate, wise, foolish, impulsive, calculating, sympathetic, despicable, but always utterly credible. Barron creates story panoramas with the edges eaten away by a nameless evil, and still they manage to be some of the funniest books in the genre. I laugh out loud often. Mobster slang and detective lingo abounds but stays fresh. His brooding atmospheres loom over the plot like tangible doom. Isaiah Coleridge is a man fleeing a cold and terrible past (nothing new there); beyond his own demons waits a circle of criminals, sociopaths, corrupt corporations, wiseguys, questionable gov't entities, hit men, cult members, femme fatales, Cosa Nostra heavies, and serial killers all clawing to get their share by any means necessary. But beyond that is still another layer- the whisper of dark powers and unspeakable, ancient terrors just beyond sight. Occasionally consorted with but whose nature is only guessed at, like a camera panning across a landscape only to jolt backwards, a moment too late to see what caused the rustle in the bushes. In the Coleridge stories, I'm routinely led to wonder at what moment something will burst forth in its hideous anti-glory for all to see, like Cthulhu rising from the deep.
Barron made his initial mark in the Lovecraftian cosmic horror genre with works like The Croning (which remains my favorite novel of his) and a number of short story collections. The Isaiah Coleridge series of hard-boiled detective novels might seem on the surface to be a departure form this. That notion is quickly dispelled. The terror at the core of reality is more subtle in the Coleridge books, but it shapes their character no less.
This, I reckon, is how you bring an unreached audience under your spell. I'm calling it now- Isaiah Coleridge will be on the big or small screen soon enough. These books ought to be at least as popular as Jack Reacher. Give it a few more installments.
In the roll call of these characters, Laird Barron's Isaiah Coleridge is not well-known. In fact, judging by Goodreads review numbers (ranging from 250-1200 reviews), he's practical unheard of. This is a shame, but also frankly very surprising. Because these books are damn good in every way.
Laird Barron is an impeccable writer. His dialogue cuts like a blade. His characters are smartly drawn; highly literate, wise, foolish, impulsive, calculating, sympathetic, despicable, but always utterly credible. Barron creates story panoramas with the edges eaten away by a nameless evil, and still they manage to be some of the funniest books in the genre. I laugh out loud often. Mobster slang and detective lingo abounds but stays fresh. His brooding atmospheres loom over the plot like tangible doom. Isaiah Coleridge is a man fleeing a cold and terrible past (nothing new there); beyond his own demons waits a circle of criminals, sociopaths, corrupt corporations, wiseguys, questionable gov't entities, hit men, cult members, femme fatales, Cosa Nostra heavies, and serial killers all clawing to get their share by any means necessary. But beyond that is still another layer- the whisper of dark powers and unspeakable, ancient terrors just beyond sight. Occasionally consorted with but whose nature is only guessed at, like a camera panning across a landscape only to jolt backwards, a moment too late to see what caused the rustle in the bushes. In the Coleridge stories, I'm routinely led to wonder at what moment something will burst forth in its hideous anti-glory for all to see, like Cthulhu rising from the deep.
Barron made his initial mark in the Lovecraftian cosmic horror genre with works like The Croning (which remains my favorite novel of his) and a number of short story collections. The Isaiah Coleridge series of hard-boiled detective novels might seem on the surface to be a departure form this. That notion is quickly dispelled. The terror at the core of reality is more subtle in the Coleridge books, but it shapes their character no less.
This, I reckon, is how you bring an unreached audience under your spell. I'm calling it now- Isaiah Coleridge will be on the big or small screen soon enough. These books ought to be at least as popular as Jack Reacher. Give it a few more installments.
neilsb's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75