Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: noir

  • Consumed

    Consumed

    ‘Consumed’ can be considered the sequel to ‘Sixteen Horses’ (2021) Greg Buchanan’s debut novel, which was a resounding success, as forensic veterinarian Dr Cooper Allen is once again a central character. Although a few tough years have passed since the events in the earlier book, she is still haunted by them despite undergoing therapy, and yet, once again she has become obsessed by a new investigation.

    Reluctantly Cooper has agreed to join her estranged mother and sister for a family reunion in the rural picturesque town of Lethwick. She is asked by the local police to undertake the post-mortem on two pet pigs, who appear to have eaten their owner, 70 year old Sophie Bertilak, renowned retired photographer.

    Back in 1964, 17 year old Sophie had used her birthday camera to inadvertently take a photo of a girl who had been missing for three years and had never been seen again and another of a plastic pipe jutting out of the ground, which appeared to have the eyes of a child looking up; these photos effectively launched her career.

    The police consider Sophie’s death a tragic accident but Cooper isn’t too sure.  Why are the pigs so hastily euthanized? Cooper’s growing obsession with the victim’s life and against the police’ wishes, she does some unauthorized digging, which uncovers a complex web of secrets and lies.

    By moving the narrative smoothly between the present and the past, the author slowly builds up the story of Cooper and Sophie.  Readers who love atmospheric, slow burn crime fiction, will enjoy this dark chilling read with its menacing undercurrent, twists and turns and many red herrings.

  • The Pit

    The Pit

    There is a new wave of Australian crime books set in the harsh, unforgiving outback; the “Aussie noir”. Around the world this growing subgenre of crime fiction has been embraced by many talented relatively new authors; Peter Papathanasiou is no exception.   His fourth and latest book, “The Pit” is the third in his outback noir series, which sees Detective Sergeant George Manolis on leave and his off sider Senior Constable Sparrow take charge to ascertain the facts surrounding an unusual murder report.  

    Nearing the end of his life, 65 year old Bob, who is confined to a Perth nursing home, apparently trying to clear his conscience, reports a murder which he committed thirty years ago.  However, he will only reveal the facts of this homicide if Sparrow accompanies him on a road trip to the remote northern Kimberly mining region, where the body is buried; intrigued, Sparrow agrees.

    Luke, a thirty year old paralyzed motor bike accident victim, also a resident of the same nursing home, joins the pair as they embark on their harsh journey north of red dust, endless miles and stifling heat. What is the real reason that Luke is on this demanding road trip?

    If readers can accept that a Detective Sergeant will take his holidays to accompany an unwell, unknown self-declared murderer and his ‘friend’ on a long arduous road trip into the north; mysterious destination, then this book will keep them page turning to the end. 

    Not only does the author create a feeling of remoteness and an atmosphere of mystery, but the characters, who are of unquestionable morals are both interesting and at times amusing.  Each has their own story to tell.

  • Hideout

    Hideout

    Timothy Blake is back, not surprisingly as this seriously abstract character, morphing from the darkest regions of Jack Heath’s mind, has captured the imagination of readers who absolutely enjoy delving into the deep, psychological components of crime pushed to the extreme.

    In his latest case, Timothy Blake is out to commit murder for the first time in his rather extraordinary career with the FBI. He is after the leader of a group of totally depraved people known as the Guards; Frank is the target, but as Blake is to go in undercover as Lux, the outside link to the Dark Web, as well as a patron of the depravity offered by the Guards, time is of the essence.

    Blake feels terribly vulnerable as he does not know enough about Lux to be able to be Lux for too long without giving the game away and ending up with bullet in head for his troubles. There are also certain proclivities Blake would rather not have to deal with in this situation, as well which is causing him considerable concern.

    As the plot unfurls, so too does the suspense as Blake deals with what he considers are the true Monsters of society; the sick, sad and tragic people who live in real life as well as  vicariously through the emotions of torture, death and the macabre, but others who know his secret consider he is the real Monster!

    Realising all too soon the ringleader Fred is not the only one who needs to be ‘removed’, he decides to take each of the other five members of the Guards out one by one, which in theory seems like the best way forward, until he begins to suspect he may be a target one of the group, and that is when the amazingly intricate imagination of Jack Heath takes full flight once again, as Blake almost meets a grizzly end.

    Fans of Timothy Blake will enjoy every gruesome moment of Hideout as the gentle, yet dangerous and bizarre hero, with a taste for human flesh, sets out to right a serious wrong once again in his own inimitable style.

    AS the new Director of the FBI has issues with Blake but the CIA appear to be happy with his unique talents only time will tell whether Blake is back on a new case or not!

    Hideout is another addictive, best read in broad daylight story, based in the very dark, dark, side, from acclaimed master storyteller Jack Heath, laced with a wry slant on life and those who tread the unholy pathways of sadistic appetite and crime.

    Crime noir at its very best!

  • Hangman

    Hangman

    This is definitely not one for the faint hearted, but for those who love a little meat in their story, pardon the pun, of which you will soon begin to understand.

    Timothy Blake is considered a genius at solving unsolvable crimes and when a 14 year old boy goes missing and is held for ransom, with a time line that is impossible to achieve, the FBI go straight to Blake to find the solution.

    The trouble with Blake is he has a dark, dark secret which will require him to confront his worst fears and have to reconsider his options as a member of the human race. Each time Blake solves a crime and gets his man he takes a life, but not in the manner expected, which makes this perverse storyline gripping reading.

    The plot is well thought out, the characters all too real, leaving far too much for the imagination to create as Blake and his new partner, FBI Agent Thistle, set out to solve a crime in which Blake may simply have met his match.

    The killer on the loose is far more ruthless than Timothy Blake, who is considered a psychopath, and is placing both Blake, at the point of being discovered and his partner, a woman he has begun to have ‘feelings’ over, in jeopardy.

    Timothy Blake has been cast as a quite unassuming character that is perfectly happy with his lot in life, and when it all begins to look like coming undone, decides drastic measures need to be taken to safeguard not only himself, but others close to him.

    Gripping, dark, serious noir reading for those who love to get to the basis of criminal undertakings, by an author who certainly knows how to create an excellent storyline based on good research and some serious imagination.

    Please Note: this book is definitely not suitable for children but for Young Adults and above.

  • Atlantic Black

    Atlantic Black

    This story takes place over a whole day and night aboard the ship RMS Aquitania. It is on the 31st of December, 1938, that Katerina Kova finds she is alone, unchaperoned, on board the ship. Her every thought and action is described as she roams the ship, meeting and observing people who are crossing the Atlantic Ocean with her.

     Katerina is an Ambassador’s daughter, and she and her mother are travelling together on one of their frequent moves around the world. Anna, the mother, has a psychotic episode where she pulls out her eye, and so she has to be restrained in the hospital by the ship’s doctor. The daughter sits by her sedated mother for a while, but then begins to roam the ship. She helps to feed her father’s dogs, and gets bitten. Then she wanders around the deck, and sees a man she believes is contemplating suicide. They talk for a while and she realizes he is seriously unhappy.

     Next the girl goes down to the lower deck, but on the way sees a young sailor standing outside a cabin. He has been set to guard the room, as the male passenger, who occupied the room has died, and is surrounded by pornographic books. The sailor and the girl chat about how unfair it is that he has been left there, and joke that he should order a lunch to be sent down. Many of the meetings and conversations that she has are strange, as is an occurrence, where a page of the bible has been pushed under her door.

     Katerina is thinking of her mother, and her father who is Russian. She also has a brother who has joined the army but is being bullied mercilessly by those who don’t understand his poetry. As she meanders through the ship, meeting people at random and visiting various rooms, having sex in one, she becomes more introspective. Each of the characters she meets has an antisocial flaw, and a certain sadistic quality. There is no doubt, Katerina is trapped.

     The cover of this book is black. The contents show the blackest of human nature and thought. The ending is black, and as filled with mystery as the rest of the tale. Noir literature which is as challenging as the subject matter from which the author has derived the plot.

     

  • Cambodia Noir

    Cambodia Noir

    Freelance Photographer and burnt out, former war photographer Will Keller has sunk to an all all-time low as he struggles to survive in the steamy, corrupt city of Phnom Penh.

    Coming out of a booze filled nightmare, he records a drug bust that shows the head of the Police Force somewhere he should not be, obviously in league with Drug Lords and Barons, leaving Will wondering why he bothered to wake up and take the pictures.

    June is a journo working in Cambodia who has gone missing. Her sister Kara Saito has come looking for her, convincing Will to help find her. The more Will looks at the problem of the missing woman, he realises she worked for the same paper he does and that he has somehow, sub-let her flat. Discovering her diaries he begins to put together something he would rather not be involved with but can’t resist. Is this going to be his salvation or will it be the death of him? That is something to be discovered and only time and life will tell the ending.

    Trouble is he begins to ask questions in the wrong places and discovers that Kara Saito also has another life, which places both of them in a situation that is far more dangerous and reckless than anything Will ever signed up for. But then he is not really sure why he agreed to get mixed up in this situation anyway.

    His journey deeper into darkness takes in the streets of Phnom Penh, dives, bars and dive bars, corruption, drug filled nights and booze filled a days, all interwoven with violence and murder.

    There are times when the script is less than plausible but is rescued by the intriguing and complex puzzle that creates the seething, ancient essence of Asia, the seediness of life in Cambodia’s cities and the duplicity of the human psyche.

    The story line is basically simple, the twist and turns that of a Machiavellian mind with an eye for immense detail and a penchant for violence, placing this novel in a stand out place of its own; one that will engage the reader, taking them on a fast paced journey into a tomorrow that may not end as you look through the eyes of Will; still lost, still searching, still trying to find a reality with which he can live.

    Noir literature is certainly not for the fainthearted, but if you can handle the underbelly of life, the rawness and powerful description of what lies under the surface of any city should you care to look, Cambodia Noir is right up there with the best of the genre.

  • Beatlebone

    Beatlebone

    Deeply introverted and yet in your face, this complex and but creative novel is based on John Lennon stepping out of his everyday life to find himself.  The fact that this is based on John Lennon’s life is a little hard to establish in the early pages but does eventually become relevant later in the book, but that is apparently what it all about!

    All John wants is to have three days to be able to clear the crap in his life; to be able to scream and scream until all the hatred, misery, self-doubt and angst are gone from his system.

    He takes himself off to an Island, a place he has purchased some time before off the coast of County Mayo, Ireland, which is the setting for this ‘bloodletting’, this coming to terms with the inner self.

    The words used are concise and precise which gives a certain something to the prose that will either relate or grate, dependant on where you are at when reading this work.

    Stark reality coupled with a considerable amount of crudeness seems to be the basis to be able to look into John Lennon’s psyche; but as this is a work of fiction, anything can be considered a reality.

    Perhaps dysfunctional in the manner of writing it portrays a time in life when everything you consider is important comes into consideration, review and reconstruction; if this is an alternative basis for the work then well and good.

    It is darkly wry, takes a look inside what appears to be a troubled mind, but due to fractionalised construction of the writing gets very confusing, distractive and more than a little disturbing.

    There is an audience this will appeal too but it is specific, as the work could almost be considered to be formative of a ‘cult’ following. Not quite ‘noir’ but close!