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Guest Review by John A. Aragon:
Coarse, gritty, and brutal prose…
I "met" Blackie Noir on an online writers' forum
about four years ago. Over the years he occasionally gave us tantalizing
glimpses of his coarse, gritty, and brutal prose. Now he has finally published
some of his brilliant and savage novels.
REQUIEM FOR THE WIDOWMAKER is an astounding work. It offers a dark vision filled with fascinating, well developed characters from the underbelly of the Southern California biker culture, and from the universal and timeless perspective of homicide detectives.
This novel is action packed, tightly plotted, psychologically incisive, and, ultimately, life affirming, despite its unflinching view of the pain of human existence. It's a page turner--I couldn't put it down. This is a novel such as Charles Bukowski might have given us.
Detective Nadine Kozak and her partner, the aging, old school, Johnny Vance team up to hunt down a vigilante serial killer called the Widowmaker. Their quest will lead them to places in which they must face their own demons and question their most deeply held values.
Blackie Noir's writing is so much fun that some might say: "Yeah, but is it great literature?" My answer is; I don't know. But consider this passage and decide for yourself:
"Watching the water stretching out, it's darker indigo melding with the paler azure of the sky where they joined on the horizon. This early in the morning, both managed to maintain the illusion of pristine cleanliness. As the day wore on the truth would out, their faux virginity shattered, both sky and sea would reveal their true colors, the horizon becoming a pronounced line, as dreary beige met dismal gray. Vance sighed; metaphor for the career of an aging cop."
Noir, Blackie (2012-04-13). Requiem For The Widowmaker (Kindle Locations 5013-5016). . Kindle Edition.
REQUIEM FOR THE WIDOWMAKER is an astounding work. It offers a dark vision filled with fascinating, well developed characters from the underbelly of the Southern California biker culture, and from the universal and timeless perspective of homicide detectives.
This novel is action packed, tightly plotted, psychologically incisive, and, ultimately, life affirming, despite its unflinching view of the pain of human existence. It's a page turner--I couldn't put it down. This is a novel such as Charles Bukowski might have given us.
Detective Nadine Kozak and her partner, the aging, old school, Johnny Vance team up to hunt down a vigilante serial killer called the Widowmaker. Their quest will lead them to places in which they must face their own demons and question their most deeply held values.
Blackie Noir's writing is so much fun that some might say: "Yeah, but is it great literature?" My answer is; I don't know. But consider this passage and decide for yourself:
"Watching the water stretching out, it's darker indigo melding with the paler azure of the sky where they joined on the horizon. This early in the morning, both managed to maintain the illusion of pristine cleanliness. As the day wore on the truth would out, their faux virginity shattered, both sky and sea would reveal their true colors, the horizon becoming a pronounced line, as dreary beige met dismal gray. Vance sighed; metaphor for the career of an aging cop."
Noir, Blackie (2012-04-13). Requiem For The Widowmaker (Kindle Locations 5013-5016). . Kindle Edition.
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Special thanks for this week's review to
John A. Aragon, author, trial lawyer and all-round renaissance man.
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