Noir Novels...

No Happy Endings Here…

“It has been noted that noir isn’t a specific genre but rather a sort of dark music, a sensibility, a tune, an atmosphere. Starkly realist, free of romantic illusion, resigned.” Joyce Carol Oates

If you relish the thrillers and mysteries of today, you can be grateful to the tropes born out of classic crime noir fiction. The complex plot, dark atmosphere, dry humor, ambiguous moral compasses, and breathless suspense are just a few of the elements that permeate the brooding and gloomy ambience in these novels.

Noir offers an alternate reality, one rife with vice, temptation, corruption, and deep-seated desperation. At its best, noir fiction is a roadmap to the subversive. It is where the clarity of moral division disintegrates, where the black and white blur into gray. Where flawed characters are revered, and the truth wielded with blunt force.

These novels are not for the faint of heart or those looking for a happy ending. Or even a satisfying one. If you like your prose gritty, your verbs punchy, your settings darkly lit, your plots twisty and unpredictable, and your protagonists utterly, irrevocably doomed…here we go.

What Doesn’t Kill You

…buried secrets, sins of the past & treacherous lies

The Ministry Of Time – Kalaine Bradley

In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams to work on a project gathering “expats” from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible. Her job is as a bridge, living with, assisting, and monitoring her assignment, a commander from a doomed Arctic expedition in 1847. With a cast of charming characters, this is an original fusion of genres with a hints of noir thriller, speculative sci-fi and love story. Storytelling in a league all its own! So clever.

All The Sinners Bleed – S.A. Cosby

It came to me as I was reading this spectacular and provocative novel, that apparently, I love a small-town crime story. One that can be a narrative about murder, an exploration of trauma and a contemplation about the sins of the past, all rolled into one. Titus, the first Black Sheriff of Charon County, and his deputies are called to the scene of a reported school shooter. One who has killed a beloved teacher and is himself killed when officers believe he is going to turn his weapon on them. Sounds straightforward, a bad man killed a good man and then a good man killed the bad man, what more could there be to talk about? Turns out quite a bit.

Hurricane Blonde – Hailey Sutton

Hollywood loves a dead girl. Both on and off the screen. Salma, progeny of Hollywood elite, and a promising child actor, now spends her days as a guide for the Stars Six Feet Under tour, leading leering fans through star studded streets to the places where actresses of the past met their untimely, and often macabre, ends. She has intimate knowledge of this club of dead girls, having lost her sister to murder decades before, one that was never solved. When she stumbles across a body in the exact spot her sister died, posed in an eerily similar fashion, she finds herself pulled back into her obsessive desperation to expose the murderer.

Three Assassins – Kotaro Isaka

Suzuki is an ordinary man until his wife is murdered. To get answers and his revenge, he abandons his law-abiding lifestyle and takes a low-level job with a crime gang. Before long he is caught up in a network of quirky assassins. A knife expert, a pusher who nudges people into oncoming traffic and a man who whispers bleak thoughts to his victims until they are driven to take their lives. Intense and propulsive plotting that never lets up!

Bright Young Women – Jessica Knoll

A masterful blend of fiction and true crime that is both unflinching and evocative in its writing. It fearlessly takes on the tabloid fascination society has with serial killers and makes it about the women. Those snuffed out in their prime and those remaining in the wake of the horror. The book opens on a night in 1978, hours before a soon to be infamous murderer descends upon a Florida sorority house. As a result, two women are brought together by this monstrous violence, becoming allies as they pursue the justice that has eluded those that came before. A blistering portrayal of how law enforcement agencies across states and counties continuously dropped the ball in containing this killer and how the public enthrallment with this so called handsome and charming psychopath was utterly vile.

City On Fire – Don Winslow

Danny yearns for a more “legit” life, but as the bloody conflict between the criminal empire he was born into and the one they are warring against stacks up the bodies, it turns brother against brother. To save the friends he loves like family and the family he has sworn to protect, he gets pulled in even further. Becoming a master of a treacherous game when winners live, and losers die. A masterpiece in the tradition of The Godfather, this story explores the classic themes of betrayal and honor. An epic family saga of a different kind!

Drive A – Merritt Graves

In a near-future world, people can sell up to 49% of themselves in IPOs to cover expenses like tuition and housing payments, all of which have become unaffordable to the middle and working classes. Cable did it to save himself from a childhood nightmare and now works as an analyst that buys and short sells other people. When his first assignment, a disillusioned streaming star, starts off well he thinks he is set for life. Events soon reveal that the other side of the trade may have their own analysts at work. A timely and terrifying story with impressive scope!

Head Full Of Lies – Jordan Farmer

Harlan has returned to Appalachia, where his fiery history with a depraved cult has made him infamous. All he wants is to run his occult bookshop and move on, if only his unsettling visions would let him. When a fellow devote of the dark arts moves to town, his coveted grimoire is stolen, he’s pulled into a world deadlier than the one that already scarred his soul. Soon he finds himself on a nightmarish road trip seeking the foolish thieves with no idea what they have gotten themselves into. Gritty and captivating!

Girl In The Eagle’s Talons – Karin Smirnoff

Lisbeth has been named guardian to her niece Svala after her mother disappears, two things soon become clear, she is remarkably gifted, and someone is watching her. She runs into her old lover and friend Mikael as he is trying to unravel the rumors surrounding the man his daughter is about to marry. Soon they are navigating a world of conspiracy, betrayal, and brutality. And not for the first time. A fresh and fearless take that remains faithful to the original author’s series.

Blunt Force Drama

…dark crimes, disillusioned detectives & shadowy justice

Titanium Noir – Nick Harkaway

Cal is a detective working with the police on certain, shall we say, sensitive cases. Think of him as a fixer. When he’s called in to investigate a homicide, at first, he thinks it’s a mistake. That it’s just a run of the mill murder and not one that involves a Titan. Society’s richest, most powerful, medically enhanced and genetically altered elites. A dead Titan is big news. They don’t die easily, or often. Looks like Cal will have his work cut out for him. The world the author plops us into is shadowy and visceral, the plotting impeccable and the characters gleefully immoral. You never really know where you are going to end up, but the journey sure is fun!

The Ascent – Adam Plantinga

Kurt is an ex-street cop who can’t let injustice go. When he sees a young girl being dragged into an alley, he’s going to put a stop to whatever is about to come. But this time he does it in a corrupt town and gets thrown into prison for his troubles. When the security system malfunctions and releases a horde of prisoners, he must protect the innocent bystanders. A highly propulsive pace and badass narrator earn this debut author a spot on my writers to watch list! And that he’s witty is just a bonus.

The City – S.C. Mendes

A slick story that combines gumshoe noir and extreme horror? I am there for it! A series of ritualistic murders are discovered six months after Max turned in his badge. Victims of the media dubbed killer “Chinatown Surgeon” are little more than piles of skin, the bones missing. Police turn to Max for help solving these grisly murders but the path it sends him on might be one he can’t return from. Gritty and harrowing story that blends the best of the genres. Not for the faint of heart.

The Road To Heaven – Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson

Police academy burnout turned private eye Patrick works divorce cases, using his camera to catch the unfaithful and lonely looking for love in rented rooms. But his easy routine is shattered by the case of a missing girl. Before the end of the first day of his investigation he has caught a prowler in the victim’s backyard, stumbled into a creepy church with a belligerent minister, sparred with the client and been hit by a car. All before the first body is found. Set in Toronto!

Shifty’s Boys – Chris Offut

Returning home to Appalachia on leave, army cop Mick soon finds himself investigating when the body of the local heroin dealer is found in the center of town. Local cops have written it off, but Mick can never let a question lie. Soon he’s getting in his sister the Sheriff’s way and his own as he battles his demons and tries to adjust to his new life. A dark novel about grief, secrets and revenge that is awash in atmosphere. A stellar offering by a new author to the genre.

Someone To Watch Over Me – Dan Bronson

Jack is a former actor turned fixer who babysits the big studio stars and covers up their bad behavior. When sexpot star Savannah enters his life, everything changes. She is a deeply troubled woman prone to emotional outbursts and unexplained absences. When she disappears, Jack must find her without letting on that she is missing. An insider’s look at how tarnished the Hollywood dream was during the 1940’s. All the things that make up a noir story, this has them!

Twice The Trouble – Ash Clifton

Noland has earned a reputation as a private investigator who can find anyone, no matter how far they run or how well they hide. When he finds a dead body on his latest case, he recruits a friend to help him with the dirty work. When he discovers that the numbers inscribed on the dead dude are a clue, the chase is on. An unpredictable thrill ride with a hardboiled detective leading the charge, full of grit as well as wit.

The Rope Artist – Fuminori Nakamura

Two detectives. Two identical women. One dead body, then another, and another. All tangled up in Japan’s underground BDSM scene, awash with a complex cultural history. Togashi, a junior member of the police force, finds himself unable to resist his own transgressive desires. A trait that makes him clash with Hayama, his morally upright and brilliantly insightful partner. Unflinching, seedy, and visceral in a way only noir can be.

The Long Goodbye – Raymond Chandler

Cast with the renowned and quintessential private eye Philip Marlowe, this classic is not to be missed. When Marlowe finds out that the wife of the scarred war veteran he has befriended has a nymphomaniac wife, he thinks he might need new friends. When the women, who his friend has married and divorced a few times over, turns up dead he knows it means trouble. Masterful.

Road To Ruin

…moral struggles, poor choices & bad behaviour

The Confession – Charlotte Bigland

Elizabeth is not making good choices. Someone knows that she is killing people. And for reasons she can’t begin to fathom, other people are confessing to her crimes. All of them. Every time. She knows that she will eventually have to face the consequences of her actions. We first meet Elizabeth as she is trying to revive her brother, screaming for help from the witnesses. None of whom helped her. Not her other brother. Not her now dead brother’s so-called friends. Not even the random passersby. As she tries to come to grips with his death, her grief becomes all-consuming in ways you will never predict. Shocking and disquieting twists and turns follow, but none more so than the last one. Diabolical. I loved it!

Scorched Grace – Margot Douaihy

Sister Holiday, a chain smoking, heavily tattooed, queer nun, puts her amateur sleuthing skills to the test in this unique crime novel. Patience is a virtue, but punk rocker turned nun Sister Holiday isn’t willing to just wait around for officials to return her home and sanctuary to its former peace after a shocking spree of arsons. Not sure we could ask for a more fun new protagonist in the mystery genre, and that book cover? Outstanding!! Fun fact, this is the first book publishing under an imprint with Gillian Flynn’s (of Gone Girl fame) name on it. Do we need more reason to read it? I think not.

A Little Blood And Dancing – Tyler Parker

A tale as old as time: doomed romance, bloody revenge, fast food, and the voice of God. Sylvia owns a badass sword and is one dead uncle away from an inheritance that should set him and the love of his life, Lady Sixkiller, on the road to easy and living. Trouble is, neither may be cut out for the conventional life and uncles don’t always shuffle off this mortal coil in a timely fashion. Whip smart and hilariously funny!

All Souls Lost – Dan Moren

After two years trying to run away from his past, Mike is back in his office less than ten minutes when a persistent young woman shows up asking for help, her boyfriend’s been possessed by a demon. Which is exactly the kind of mess that drove him away in the first place. No sooner is he back in the game then the corpses start to pile up. A one-of-a-kind mashup of old-fashioned noir, necromancy, and espionage all in one cool package. Devilish good fun!

Untamed Shore – Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Viridiana spends her days in 1979 California under the harsh sun, her head full of dreams of romance, travel, and a fairytale future. When a wealthy writer and his friends arrive, she jumps at the offer of a job as his assistant and soon finds herself entangled in a glamourous lifestyle. When one of them dies she soon questions all her dreams, especially the one she thinks she is living. A coming-of-age noir with a hint of Patricia Highsmith, a shrewd choice!

Rouge – Mona Awad

For as long as she can remember, Belle has been obsessed with her skin and beauty regimens. When her estranged mother mysteriously dies, she is forced to grapple with all that is left behind. The stakes escalate when a strange woman appears at the funeral, teasing a clue about her mother’s demise. Belle soon finds herself lured into the dark embrace of a cult like spa with secrets that lurk around every corner. A modern noir tale that blends elements of a classic fairytale with a surreal descent into a horror of the seductive beauty industry. Mesmerizing at every turn!

Sing Her Down – Ivy Pochoda

Florence is not the hapless innocent she claims to be when she arrives at the Arizona women’s prison, or so her cellmate Dio keeps insinuating. She knows the truth about Flo’s crimes and understands the darkness that can live within woman. When an expected reprieve free’s both women, a deadly cat and mouse chase ensues as Dio’s fixation on Flo turns dark. Think No Country For Old Men meet’s Killing Eve, as entertaining as it is harrowing.

Altered Carbon – Richard Morgan

Four hundred years from now mankind is strung out across a region of interstellar space on Mars. Human consciousness has become digitally freighted between the stars and downloaded into bodies. When convict Takeshi has his consciousness and skills downloaded into the body of a nicotine addicted thug and presented with a catch-22 offer, he really shouldn’t be surprised. Next level speculative fiction that is as intelligent as it is humorous.

The Hunter – Richard Stark

Parker is a good who always get the job done. Nothing distracts the inscrutable man from his task, not sex or small talk or greed or haste. And when killing is the only answer, he doesn’t flinch. In this story he has been betrayed by the woman he loves and double crossed by his partner. His only option is to make his way cross county to exact his revenge and reclaim what was taken from him. The very definition of noir fiction.