Book Overview
Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each story is set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book.
Brand-new stories by: David Simon, Laura Lippman, Tim Cockey, Rob Hiaasen, Robert Ward, Sujata Massey, Jack Bludis, Rafael Alvarez, Marcia Talley, Joseph Wallace, Lisa Respers France, Charlie Stella, Sarah Weinman, Dan Fesperman, Jim Fusilli, and Ben Neihart.
From the introduction by Laura Lippman:
The writers in this collection eschew nostalgia without sacrificing affection. They confront the full irony that is Charm City, a place where you can go from the leafy beauty of the North Side neighborhoods to the gutted ghettos of the West Side in less than twenty minutes, then find your way to the revamped Inner Harbor in another ten. Homegrown Baltimore philosopher Virginia Baker once said: "If it ain't right and it ain't decent, stay the hell away from it." Alas, Virginia, Baltimore's not right. It's hardly even polite anymore. But for a Baltimore writer, escape is the one concept where the imagination steadfastly fails. We belong here.
Customer Reviews
Rated 5 starsGreat action novel about today's anti-hero.
This was the first Elvis Cole "series" I have read and I am hooked. Now starting with Monkey's Raincoat, I look forward to reading all the Cole novels. There seem to be a number of anti-hero sidekicks to todays PI's. Spenser has Hawk, Patrick Kenzie has Bubby for example. The character Joe Pike most reminds me of is a spitting image of Lee Child's Jack Reacher. Brutal, quiet loners. But for some reason, Pike seems a bit...
1Report
Rated 5 starsIt's up to ex-cop Joe Pike to protect her.
Robert Crais' THE WATCHMAN receives Chicago actor James Daniels' smooth and vivid narrative style as it tells of one Larkin Barkley, who is young, rich, and the sole witness to a secret federal investigation in the aftermath of a terrible accident. Her life is changed and it's up to ex-cop Joe Pike to protect her.
0Report
Rated 5 starsGrows on you as it builds up
Around page 100, I would have rated this just 3-4 stars. It ends up as a firm 5 by the end. There seem to me to be two distinct strands in thriller writing -- character builders and plot artists. Crais is more of a plotter than a character guy; I never quite get inside his two heroes, Pike and Cole -- they seem just a little artificial. But he is superb in plotting. What begins as a routine story line weaves, turns, double...
1Report
Rated 5 starsMan of Action
Joe Pike is the epitome of crime tough guys. Nobody does it better. He was a special forces soldier before he became an LAPD cop. He took the fall on charges that shouldn't have been dropped on him and was busted out of the LAPD. He became a mercenary and a some-time private eye that paired up with the World's Greatest Detective, Elvis Cole. He has red arrows pointing forward tattooed on his deltoids because Joe Pike...
2Report
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
