Customer Reviews

No Human Involved

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Author Barbara Saranella's first novel, NO HUMAN INVOLVED, is an exceptional debut. In it, we have "Munch" Mancini, a street wise, world weary, over-the-top-cynical ex-prostitute and recovering heroin addict, hiding from both a brutal biker and Mace St. John, the latter a street wise and world weary cop investigating a series of murders in the Los Angeles of the 70's. Munch is a prime suspect in one of the slayings. She's also a crackerjack auto mechanic, a skill she utilizes to bring in a paycheck while she lies low. As for Mace, he lives in a lovingly restored, 1927-vintage Pullman car parked on a spur of unused Southern Pacific track in an unprepossessing part of town.

In so many works of this genre, the author attempts to create sympathetic characters, apparently using some arcane formula that only results in very two-dimensional personae. I can't tell you how many crime thrillers I've finished not caring one iota about the story's hero(es). Somehow, in her first time out, Saranella manages to transcend this trap, creating in Munch and Mace people I cared about from the very first page. This is so refreshing!

The plot of NO HUMAN INVOLVED is revealed to the reader in a manner as smooth and sharp as a scalpel's incision lays open the inside of a cadaver during an autopsy. There's even a bit of humor and pathos along the way in Mace's relationship with a new girlfriend, and with his aging father, the latter suffering a mental deterioration following several strokes. The manner in which Mace acquires two dogs near the book's conclusion is particularly amusing. The story's end involves a satisfying plot twist.

Judging from subsequent releases by the same author, Munch is to be the central character in a continuing series. Bravo! I, for one, immediately added Saranella's two latest books to my Wish List.

It is great writing and I pulled an all-nighter until I'd finished it. Wonderful technical detail, from botany to cars. The dialog is not Elmore Leonard standard. No drug-addicted prostitute I have ever known (and I've known a few) ever expressed herself in such terms as "hypothetically speaking couldn't the information the police sought be obtained over the phone." I liked finding that a witty and hard-boiled crime writer included a few decent, helpful, effective, and even sincerely religious, characters.

I didn't enjoy the 70s, and if I'd picked up earler that this story was set in 1977 urban Southern California, I probably would have given it a pass. A fortunate mistake.

Not that Seranella makes me feel nostalgic. If anything, she paints a bleaker picture than I remember. An asphalt lanscape, populated with self-satisfied, bigoted Angelenos, burned out junkies, cynical cops... And yet she forces us to acknowledge a certain strange beauty in this landscape, where strangers, or even enemies, casually help each other out, or a tough garage owner starts a garden in his parking lot, because he can't bear to uproot a struggling tree.

Then there's a cop who ignores orders to stop working on a horrifying serial murder -- but still finds time to look after an aging father and restore the old Pullman rail car he lifes in.

And most of all there's Munch. Junkie, prostitute, thief. The useless scum referred to in the title? Yes and no. Because she's also a genius -- a wizard at fixing cars, a savant who drinks up the contents of books the way ordinary people drink water. The best parts of this book are about her struggles. With addiction -- which she imagines to be an alter ego, whispering in her ear, "just a taste". With a life stacked against her. With an appalling sense of herself, that horrifying personal dissociation you see in survivors of abuse. And in the end, she's the one who saves the day with a momentous, heroic act.

The title and book cover are very deceiving at first glance. I had picked the paperback up three times and put it back before reading a few of the pages. It gives the impression of being a sci-fi/horror book. Instead, I was rewarded with a good, solid suspense mystery. Very good writing,original characters with humor to boot. Looking forward to reading "NO OFFENSE INTENDED.' Keep them coming, Barbara, 'cause you have a fan here.

This is another boonie dog book review by Wolfie and Kansas. We eagerly looked forward to reading Barbara Seranella's novel "No Human Involved". Both the title and the fact that the main character is named "Munch" gave rise to certain expectations.

Alas, it turned out that nearly all of the characters in this novel are noncanine animals of primate derivation. Even Munch is human. This novel has two saving graces, however. First, one of the lead characters, a police detective, does save two dogs from being "put to sleep" at the "humane shelter". Second, "No Human Involved" may be the best first novel in the crime fiction genre that we have ever read--and we had to think twice about including the word "first" in this sentence.

I liked the whole thing. It made me think and look back in the story at old information to try and solve it before the solution was given. I just plain out liked it. I liked the descriptiona nd information given about the Los Angeles area that I was able to relate to.

This is a wonderful first novel which is chock full of story(s), and great characters you really root for. There is something for everyone here from S/M to AA to Alzheimers, child abuse, drugs, motorcycle gangs, car chases, guns, a non-hokey romance,and even pets adopted from an animal shelter! Seranella's narrative flow keeps it all in the air and moving. She makes the whole thing almost believable, and she caught me with a nifty surprise ending. Despair is everywhere, but so is hope, and the reader is lead to believe these wonderful characters are headed for redemption. This is one of the top three books I've read this year, and I recommend it highly. P.S. It even has narrow margins!!!

The Poison Pen newsletter turned me on to this great mystery. The scenes between Mace and his father Digger are very touching. You just can't help not rooting for Munch to kick the habit and survive. A really really good mystery.

No Human Involved marked Barbara Seranella's debut of her Munch character. This book is terrific. Munch is a woman with piles of problems in her past, yet she's, in essence, a good gal. The mystery reads well, and this entire series is picking up speed with each fresh novel.

This book is well written, has interesting characters, satisfying plot, and all the ingredients of a really good crime/mystery book. Highly recommended.