Review: Expiration Date by Duane Swierczynski

Warning: some plot spoilers are included, though I’m not purposely giving away the plot’s twists and turns.

This is an outstanding example of modern noir, though, oddly, it’s also a time travel novel. Our protagonist Mickey Wade is a laid-off journalist living in Philadelphia – an old, corrupt, seedy city I‘ve always enjoyed visiting – whose personal situation is rapidly heading from bad to worse. He’s got no job, no real career prospects, no money, and he’s forced to move into his hospitalized grandfather’s ratty old walk-up. The book begins with this dark backdrop as we watch the protagonist descend further into the kind of personal hell that’s become all too common in these troubled financial times. Then he discovers that some pills in his grandfather’s medicine cabinet allow him to travel back to the same location in 1972, the year of his birth. That’s when things really start getting weird. The people he encounters there are all intimately tied in with his father’s murder, which he attempts to solve after learning that the version of the story he had heard isn’t exactly what happened. The more he discovers about the past, the messier things get. As with most time travel thrillers, there are a few dangling plot holes that can’t quite be resolved, but generally the treatment of paradox and causation are handled intelligently.

This is a fast-paced, fun read, despite its inherently dark subject matter, and I had a hard time putting it down. Characterization is smooth and the dialogue flows effortlessly. The sense of place is palpable as we watch what had been a fairly prosperous lower-middle-class Philly neighborhood in 1972 slowly transform into a dangerous rathole in 2010. Swierczynski clearly knows his craft as a writer. Evocative full-page illustrations every few chapters add to the experience.

Highly recommended for those who enjoy noir with a science fiction bent. (Not to worry, even if you have a marked allergy to science fiction as I know many crime fiction readers do, I don’t think you’ll object too much here.) This was the first of Duane Swierczynski’s books I’ve read, but it certainly won’t be the last.

Review copyright 2010 J. Andrew Byers

Review: Mixed Blood by Roger Smith

A modern day crime thriller set in Cape Town, South Africa. Comparisons with George Pelecanos’ various efforts set in DC are almost inevitable, as Mixed Blood includes all the elements we’ve come to know and love: relatively ordinary folks, down on their luck, who make a series of very bad choices in their lives, and pay the consequences; a setting where the urban sprawl in which the action takes place is as important as any of the characters; corrupt cops and brutal criminals; grim, bloody violence; a series of apocalyptic confrontations.

Mixed Blood follows a man named Jack Burn, who was involved in a bank heist that ending with Jack and family (pregnant wife and young son) having to give up their outwardly normal lives and flee to South Africa. Oh and Jack’s marriage is dissolving, his son is kidnapped, the South African police begin to pursue him (some for the two million in cash he stole), and he runs afoul of various criminal factions. Then the story gets really interesting.

There are quite an array of minor characters who populate Mixed Blood -- all fascinating in their own right -- but I was initially skeptical that they would all play vital roles. I am pleased to report that they are all well-integrated into the story and help keep the novel’s pace moving rapidly. Aside from Jack, the main lynchpins of the story are the corrupt cop chasing Jack and an ex-con night watchman. Both are fun characters and excellent additions to the story.

Weaknesses of the book: first, the protagonist’s background. It’s only hastily sketched. He was an “Army officer” of some kind, who after some time in Iraq, opened his own security system company. What exactly did he do in the Army? How did that translate into a security system job? How did he develop the fake identities he and his wife use? I’ve known and worked with a heck of a lot of military officers in various specialties and not a one has the necessary skillsets. Guess we just have to suspend disbelief. In any case, the Iraq bit seems tacked on in an effort to tap into the current zeitgeist. Also, we just kind of have to accept that the protagonist has a gambling problem and perhaps a bit of a drinking problem and that’s why he made the very bad decision that led to his current situation. That’s more or less par for the course with most crime fiction, but I always crave a bit more justification for the truly bad decisions that characters make. The finale -- I won’t spoil it for you here, but once you’ve read 50 pages you know how it’s going to end, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing – really had a sense of inevitability, and I guess that’s the point, but the way it happened just kind of came out of nowhere. That could have been finessed a bit. I also would have liked a bit more detail on South Africa. I know essentially nothing about what it’s like there, and while the city was portrayed interestingly, I wanted a lot more setting details. I didn’t quite feel like I knew what all the places described look like, or what daily life was like there. I’m sure if I had more familiarity with it, the details provided would have been sufficient, but for me, I wanted more.

I highly recommend this book if you like modern crime fiction. It’s fast-paced, well-written, and violent. All good things in my book. If you like thrillers and contemporary crime novels, I think you’ll enjoy this one. Heck, you might even learn a little about Cape Town, as I did.

Full disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program in exchange for a review. This has not influenced my review in any way.

4 stars out of 5

Review copyright 2010 J. Andrew Byers

Review: Drama City by George Pelecanos

Let's follow up yesterday's Pelecanos review with another.

Drama City isn't bad, it's just not as good of some of Pelecanos' other books. Don't get me wrong, I love George Pelecanos' book, writing style, characters, etc., but I was a little disappointed by this one. Maybe part of my frustration was that I didn't find any of the characters particularly engaging. Lorenzo Brown, the ex-con animal control officer, and his parole officer, Rachel Lopez, are Pelecanos' new protagonists of the book. I thought they were only loosely sketched out, and they didn't end up seeming as "human" or sympathetic as some of his other characters in previous works. Because of that, I was somewhat bored with the novel's pacing; it seems to plod along more than most of Pelecanos' other books.

I won't go over the plot or main characters in great detail, as you can find other reviews that do so at great length. The reader is presented with an almost inevitable outcome for the book -- doom. But that's clearly appropriate for Pelecanos' modern noir style. The book is written in Pelecanos' gritty, street-smart style, and his knowledge and portrayal of DC is as good as ever. He certainly can't be criticized on those accounts.

Having criticized the book at the start, however, I should note that it was an enjoyable read (significantly better than most modern crime fiction on the market) and I fully intend to read Mr. Pelecanos' future efforts. I'd recommend the book to any die-hard fans of Pelecanos or modern crime / noir fiction. Casual readers might be better advised to read some of Pelecanos' other books first in order to truly see how engaging of a writer he can be. I think if I'd simply liked the protagonists a bit more, I'd have rated this one higher; as is, I just didn't care about them enough.

3 stars out of 5

Review copyright 2008 J. Andrew Byers

Review: Shoedog by George Pelecanos

This is a terrific stand-alone Pelecanos heist novel. I guess every crime writer probably wants to write one of those (I know I certainly do), and this is his.

Shoedog was a fun book. The plot involves a drifter named Constantine who essentially randomly finds himself caught up in a scheme to rob two liquor stores nearly simultaneously. Constantine's fellow ne'er-do-wells are engaging written and the pace of the novel is action-packed. Shoedog doesn't involve any of Pelecanos' other signature characters (Nick Stefanos, Derek Strange, etc.) in a significant way, which is too bad, but the protagonists are interesting enough that you shouldn't mind too much. It is, however, set in Washington, DC, as are the rest of his books.

This was one Pelecanos' first novels, but his writing is still as polished as ever. I actually ended up reading this book after I had read all of his other, better known books and found myself enjoying it more than some of his latest. One very minor quibble: the title is a bit of a misnomer, because the "Shoedog" character is not actually the most developed -- he plays a decidedly second fiddle to Constantine, the protagonist.

The book ends with one of Pelecanos' traditional big finale shootouts, but is still entertaining for all that. I would highly recommend this book to any of Pelecanos' current fans, as well as anyone interested in reading a fun, engaging book about a heist that goes wrong (don't they all?).

5 stars out of 5

Review copyright 2008 J. Andrew Byers