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grywhp's review against another edition
4.0
Satisfies the detective novel itch with a fresh perspective.
thevapidwench's review against another edition
3.0
Lew Griffin is a drunk - you know what? Life drives you to it. He's a tough guy, a private eye and his on/off girlfriend's a hooker, which pretty much douses this andric story in testosterone's cheap cologne. Griffin is no dullard or thug; what self-disrespecting PI is? He's a lover of heavy weight literature, and he likes to name drop.
Lew's your drunk- depressed friend - the kind who likes to start talking philosophy, in French, half way down the bourbon bottle. Except given the right motivation, this detective will kick a guy so hard, his balls will go into orbit.
The story is sporadic and compartmentalised, with cases scattered between New Orleans atmospherics, Lew's non-specific inner woe, and a delicate lacings of interwoven theme - though you can join the dots yourself, you lazy bums. The job is tough, almost James Ellroy tough, and no one gets away clean. Lew works overtime clocking up the hardboiled born mots; as beautiful and perspicacious as they are despairing.
The story begins with Lew as a youngish man, impenetrable and unlikeable, it ends with him older wiser, more open, less fractured. Even less likeable, for all that he's grown and become respectable. The story and spartan style got under my skin, but the heavy on the macho bullshit rubbed me up wrong thanks to stubble burn. That the author also wrote Drive comes as no surprise.
If you like a modern noir, or if you'd like to see what a stripped down James Ellroy reads like, this is the detective story for you. If there were more New Orleans and less Lew Griffith, it might have been the story for me too.
Lew's your drunk- depressed friend - the kind who likes to start talking philosophy, in French, half way down the bourbon bottle. Except given the right motivation, this detective will kick a guy so hard, his balls will go into orbit.
The story is sporadic and compartmentalised, with cases scattered between New Orleans atmospherics, Lew's non-specific inner woe, and a delicate lacings of interwoven theme - though you can join the dots yourself, you lazy bums. The job is tough, almost James Ellroy tough, and no one gets away clean. Lew works overtime clocking up the hardboiled born mots; as beautiful and perspicacious as they are despairing.
The story begins with Lew as a youngish man, impenetrable and unlikeable, it ends with him older wiser, more open, less fractured. Even less likeable, for all that he's grown and become respectable. The story and spartan style got under my skin, but the heavy on the macho bullshit rubbed me up wrong thanks to stubble burn. That the author also wrote Drive comes as no surprise.
If you like a modern noir, or if you'd like to see what a stripped down James Ellroy reads like, this is the detective story for you. If there were more New Orleans and less Lew Griffith, it might have been the story for me too.
katspectre67's review against another edition
3.0
Not your average crime tale at all. My first encounter with Sallis, and I have tucked him into the little appreciative corner occupied by crime writers who take the well-trodden path of noir-ish crime novel and nudge it along into somewhere unexpected. (Derek Raymond is another if slightly more twisted example) Note to self: Read more Sallis. There's something going on in there somewhere which might, just might, turn out to be kinda profound.
guiltyfeat's review
3.0
I didn't know before I started that PI Lew Griffin was black. Then I didn't find out until I'd finished that author James Sallis was white.
Maybe it doesn't matter, but I've read too many of Walter Mosley's books about Easy Rawlins, some of which share a historical setting with parts of this book, not to compare the two and be concerned about appropriation and authenticity.
Sure, Sallis is playing with narrative and storytelling, but I'm not sure that saves him. This was an unsettling read and I'm not sure if I shall try another.
Maybe it doesn't matter, but I've read too many of Walter Mosley's books about Easy Rawlins, some of which share a historical setting with parts of this book, not to compare the two and be concerned about appropriation and authenticity.
Sure, Sallis is playing with narrative and storytelling, but I'm not sure that saves him. This was an unsettling read and I'm not sure if I shall try another.
pattydsf's review
4.0
I wanted a new author to try as an audiobook. Sallis had two things going for him - We have the whole series on talking book and at least the first one is short. Sometimes I get lost in long talking books because it takes me awhile to listen to them.
Lew Griffin, the protagonist, is a black man reviewing his life from the 60's through the 90's. This is not necessarily a good time to be African-American and it is definitely not a good time to be Lew Griffin. He is angry, frustrated and an alcoholic. He is also supposed to be finding several missing persons.
I can't really do justice to James Sallis' writing. The way he uses words, the knowledge he puts in Griffin's head, the way he turns a phrase all add up to more than the sum of these parts. I thought I was reading a simple mystery, but by the end I knew I had met a unique character. I don't want to give away the ending, but this book really startled me. I think I just stared at the road for five minutes thinking about the conclusion.
G. Valmont Thomas is the perfect reader for the book. I had not heard him read before and may be that is why I could accept him as Lew Griffin. I certainly hope he reads the rest of the series.
I recommend this book to those who like to discover lost treasures, to those who like being inside characters' brains, to folks who know New Orleans and to may be interested in unexpected plot twists.
Lew Griffin, the protagonist, is a black man reviewing his life from the 60's through the 90's. This is not necessarily a good time to be African-American and it is definitely not a good time to be Lew Griffin. He is angry, frustrated and an alcoholic. He is also supposed to be finding several missing persons.
I can't really do justice to James Sallis' writing. The way he uses words, the knowledge he puts in Griffin's head, the way he turns a phrase all add up to more than the sum of these parts. I thought I was reading a simple mystery, but by the end I knew I had met a unique character. I don't want to give away the ending, but this book really startled me. I think I just stared at the road for five minutes thinking about the conclusion.
G. Valmont Thomas is the perfect reader for the book. I had not heard him read before and may be that is why I could accept him as Lew Griffin. I certainly hope he reads the rest of the series.
I recommend this book to those who like to discover lost treasures, to those who like being inside characters' brains, to folks who know New Orleans and to may be interested in unexpected plot twists.
cspiwak's review
5.0
stylistically, loved this book. Nice noir feel throughout. About a black P.I in New Orleans, with stories taking place in the 60's, 70's 80's and 890's. Or is it about New Orleans itself, or race, or the U.S. or the author. If you don't mind a bit of philosophy and have you tube to check out all the blues and jazz mentioned. well worth the read
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