What 50's noir should have been
The grim, gritty story of Josephine Flanagan, an ex-junkie turned private eye in 1950's NYC, who is hired to find a Barnard dropout - who her parents think is on "dope".
What starts out as a straightforward case - like most detective noir - turns out to be anything but. Tightly plotted, well written. Lots of details of addiction and the seedy, sad life which follows. No one escapes, even when they think they have, and "Joe" finds herself suffering betrayal after betrayal even to the very last page. I never saw the ending coming.
I loved this story. Her writing was mesmerizing, and the characters will stay with me for a long time.
It reminds me quite a bit of the movie Chinatown; if you liked that you'll like this as well.
The grim, gritty story of Josephine Flanagan, an ex-junkie turned private eye in 1950's NYC, who is hired to find a Barnard dropout - who her parents think is on "dope".
What starts out as a straightforward case - like most detective noir - turns out to be anything but. Tightly plotted, well written. Lots of details of addiction and the seedy, sad life which follows. No one escapes, even when they think they have, and "Joe" finds herself suffering betrayal after betrayal even to the very last page. I never saw the ending coming.
I loved this story. Her writing was mesmerizing, and the characters will stay with me for a long time.
It reminds me quite a bit of the movie Chinatown; if you liked that you'll like this as well.
Noir with a twist; the "detective" is a woman, a recovering junkie. A whole lot of nastiness!
Excellent and fast reading story with a twist in the plot!
Very good book which explores the drug underworld. The story has a very unexpected twist at the end, I never saw it coming. A quick read.
