I'll try to explain. I've just
published a new novel called THE MAN WHO DIED and it marks a great change of
direction for me. It is, as my previous five novels have been, a noir story.
Kind of. It is also a black comedy, and that is something that happened out of
necessity.
After writing five very dark novels
ranging from the icy North of The Mine to the dystopia of The Healer I felt I
had given all I had in that direction, at least for the time being. Thus, I
found myself at a crossroads. I needed to ask myself an honest question, the
only question a writer in this particular situation ultimately can ask himself:
what do you want to write. The answer can be found in a further question: what
do you love. In my case, noir and comedies.
What followed was pure fun. I watched
and re-watched new and old (favorite) movies – both comedies and noir – and got
back to the books that got me started in this writing life. I re-read Elmore
Leonard and Lawrence Block, both great writers and, I suspect, great
influences. I also went through my library and remembered the excitement and
enjoyment of discovery and the sheer fun of reading some of those novels that
me decide I would be a writer. Along the way, I came across some more or less
unknown noir/pulp gems and – excluding comedies this time – would like to
present a selection of three books.
The Name Of The Game Is Death by Dan J.
Marlowe
A stone-cold pulp classic. The
first-person narrator is Earl Drake, a professional robber,
The Woman Chaser by Charles Willeford
Somebody somewhere described some of
Willeford's books as psycho-pulp. The Hoke Moseley novels (Miami Blues and
others) are perhaps more in the way of traditional crime novels, but this one –
The Woman Chaser – certainly fits in the psycho-pulp department. The main
character is a man named Richard Hudson. He sells used cars, but wants to make
a movie. Needless to say, there are complications. Willeford was an exceptional
writer. He wrote mostly crime, some of it very good, some of it strange, but
always interesting, and he experimented. In the canon, The Woman Chaser is a
brilliant little noir novel.
The Confession by Domenic Stansberry
This was my first Stansberry. About as
noir as you can get. The Confession is the story of Jake Danser, a forensic
psychologist. His mistress (he has a wife and a family, naturally) is murdered
and he is a suspect. A great, dark, twisting puzzle of a story that also won an
Edgar. Most of Stansberry's stories (all those that I've read) take place in San
Francisco. If you've ever been there, these books bring it back, fully alive.
Stansberry writes wonderfully and with such a strong sense of place.
The Man Who Died by Antti Tuomainen. (Orenda Books)
A successful entrepreneur in the
mushroom industry, Jaakko Kaunismaa is a man in his prime. At just 37 years of
age, he is shocked when his doctor tells him that he’s dying. What is more, the
cause is discovered to be prolonged exposure to toxins; in other words, someone
has slowly but surely been poisoning him. Determined to find out who wants him
dead, Jaakko embarks on a suspenseful rollercoaster journey full of unusual
characters, bizarre situations and unexpected twists. With a nod to Fargo and
the best elements of the Scandinavian noir tradition, The Man Who Died is a page-turning thriller brimming with the
blackest comedy surrounding life and death, and love and betrayal, marking a
stunning new departure for the King of Helsinki Noir.
Buy it from SHOTS
A-Store
