Customer Reviews

The Heartbreak Lounge (Harry Rane)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There is a mystery novel titled THE LAST GOOD KISS by James Crumley. The work is revered by aficionados of the genre, many of whom establish their bona-fides with one another by demonstrating their ability to recite the opening paragraph of the book from memory. I shall now give these individuals cause to rend their garments at the blasphemy I'm about to commit, but commit it I must: the first six pages of THE HEARTBREAK LOUNGE by Wallace Stroby are just as good. Maybe even better. Pick up the book, test drive those pages, and see if you can stop reading, once you've brushed from your eyes the grit and gravel that you've accumulated as you stand with the newly released Johnny Harrow on the hot macadam of a Florida highway as he ostensibly attempts to hitchhike away from his past and into his future.

I somehow missed THE BARBED-WIRE KISS, Stroby's first effort, which introduced ex-New Jersey State Trooper Harry Rane. If you've already read THE BARBED-WIRE KISS, you don't need me to tell you any more. But if you're not familiar with Stroby, and Rane, you might want to hang with me for just a minute here. You won't be sorry.

Stroby's territory is the southern end of Central New Jersey, not the genteel Red Bank or even the deceptively laid back Monmouth, but Asbury Park and Neptune, municipalities that exude a quiet, dark uneasiness below the surface. It is to this area that Harrow is returning by way of Florida to settle old scores and to avenge what he considers, not without some merit, to be a number of wrongs wrought upon him. One of these involves a woman named Nikki Ellis, who gave birth to Harrow's son while Harrow was in prison and gave the baby up for adoption. Rane, for his part, is employed by a security agency run by one of his former state trooper colleagues. Ellis retains the agency for protection, an act that puts Rane and Harrow on a collision course.

Rane's tragic flaw is that he is a man who attracts violence while being reluctant to respond in kind. Harrow, on the other hand, has the cunning of a reservoir dog and the disposition to match. His behavior is erratic and unpredictable, with the effect of his actions radiating violently outward from his locus. When these two men ultimately collide, it is with the effect of an irresistible force meeting an immovable object.

With little fanfare Stroby is breaking new ground in the realm of noir literature. His descriptive abilities are breathtaking, and quite possibly without contemporary peer in the genre. THE HEARTBREAK LOUNGE demonstrates a talent that runs deep, dark and rich. Highest possible recommendation.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Our hero bleeds. Needs help to get out of a tight spot. Loses a fight. And still is the hero. A nice change from the supermen we encounter too often in thrillers these days. A good series.

I enjoyed this book a lot, and its predecessor THE BARBED WIRE KISS even more. Stroby (a Star-Ledger reporter & editor) captures the Jersey Shore atmosphere extremely well, especially the divide between the rich waterfront homeowners and the considerably poorer communities a bit more inland. So what I didn't understand is why he felt it necessary to virtually copy the dog-fight scene from George Pelecanos' novel HELL TO PAY. Both books depict an illegal dog fight on an out of the way street in a big city (DC in Pelecanos' book; Newark in Stroby's). Both have a minor character who owns the dog that loses. Both characters are young African American teens who are moved to tears when they have to kill the dog they raised. Stroby really had the chance to create his own mileau; no one else is writing this kind of crime novel set in this location. So why did he have to borrow so blatently from someone else's work?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend to anyone. I'm not sure why he isn't more famous. He has a new book which I will be reading next. Reminds me of Elmore Leonard and James Patterson.