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[FionaG]

It's official; I've given up.

It's a very good book, but not a likeable one. The stories are extremely well written; each one is from a different pov and about a different character, and teh style changes to suit. There are some very clever twists, and some of the later stories pick up on threads from earlier ones, but from an unexpected angle.

But I found more to dislike than like. For starters it's liike Godfather III - everybody dies! Not only that, but the characters are so unlikeable that you don't really care. There wasn't a nice person in the whole book and the only one that was the least bit sympathetic died early on. The style changes, but the tone stays the same - unrelentingly dark, sleazy and miserable. I know this is noir, but by the end I was screaming for the odd flash of humour, the odd flicker of hope, even one character I could relate to and like.

Oddly, much of the violence takes place behind closed doors. For this particular delicate flower that was a relief <g> but in a book about violence and crime it felt like a cop-out. You might as well have an erotic book set in the world of porn films, and replace the sex scenes with asterisks.

And although the Birmingham setting is trumpeted on the cover, it actually didn't come across at all well. There are occasional mentions of local landmarks, and one story that made use of the Longbridge Rover plant shutting down. Other than that, it could have been any rough area in any city. Shame, that. I'd have liked more to really tie it to Brum.

He's a good writer, but my own feeling is that he lacks 'breadth'. I won't hurry to look for any more of his stuff.

[AnneBrooke]

Thanks for the tip - I won't add this to my list then ...!

A
xxx

[Shaz]

Welll, I don't read a lot of crime of any sort. I'll take your word on this.

[FionaG]

Of course, someone else might read it and love it.

I read one more story today and it was better. Written from the pov of Marlene Dietrich (yes, really!) and - nobody dies!! And that had a very nice twist at the end.