Customer Reviews

Songs of Innocence (Hard Case Crime)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read Aleas' two books back to back. I really enjoyed Little Girl Lost, his first, and then was more than mildly disappointed by 'Songs of Innocence.' First of all, the whole story is awkwardly conceived. To fully understand what I am talking about you will have to have read both of the books. If you have, you cant help but notice that Aleas pretty much lifts the plot from his first story and re-uses it here. John Blake's love is found dead by himself and he tries to find out who killed her. Not only has this sap now had two of his women knocked off, but its left up to him to uncover what happened because no one else will give a damn. Coincidentally, both of his girl friends also led shady lives as adult entertainment practitioners. This fact brings Blake into contact with a host of dirty underworld figures.

Too much happenstance occurs here. Blake does not often detect, but events just happen to fall into his lap. The entire plot is crudely pieced together. The saving graces here are (A) the writing, and (B) the ending. Aleas is a gifted enough writer to stick around for as long as he wants. His stories are rich in mood and atmosphere. The ending is of the 'Dog Eat Dog' variety, unexpected and shockingly satisfying.

I hope that Aleas continues to try his hand at fictional writing. I look forwards to following his development as an author. However I would say that you would be better off staying away from this book. This is no where near as fun to read as 'Little Girl Lost' and the only reason I am bumping it up to three stars is the very good end.

Three years after private investigator John Blake solved the murder of his one-time ex-girlfriend-turned-stripper, he has retired from the business -- it simply took too much out of him. But when his close friend Dorrie Burke is found dead in her bathtub with a copy of Final Exit, and the police automatically rule it a suicide, Blake knows it must be murder. Because they had told each other that, if either felt that low, he or she would call the other and they would work through it together.

But when Dorrie's mother tries to hire him to find her daughter's killer, he refuses because he doesn't do that any more. Well, at least not for pay, as we soon find out when Blake throws himself into the New York underworld with the dedication and dumb courage of a man with nothing left to lose.

Reportedly, it took author Richard Aleas (an anagrammatic pseudonym of recent Edgar Allan Poe Award-winner, Charles Ardai) two months to write the first John Blake mystery, Little Girl Lost, and three years to complete its sequel, Songs of Innocence. (Incidentally, both are named after individual works by the main character's namesake, poet William Blake.)

Aleas's first novel was also one of the first released by then-upstart publisher Hard Case Crime (co-founded by Ardai). It didn't win the awards garnered by some of its fellows (though it was nominated for several), but it has stood the test of time better than most, and is now remembered as one of the best because, in addition to terrifically recapturing the detective novels of the past, it also embraces the present.

And it has something that others were missing -- a heart. Despite its flaws, Little Girl Lost was a fantastic read, and its deeply emotional center is what I believe has made it still the favorite of many of the publisher's multitude of dedicated followers. I really enjoyed it, too. It was a solid first novel (with a real grabber of an opening chapter), but it remained very much a debut work, with all the influences and framework still evident. But, even if you thought it was the best book you had ever read (and many did), you would have no basis for thinking that Songs of Innocence would be exponentially better.

But with this book, Aleas has really come into his own. Songs of Innocence has deeper characterizations, a more complex plot, an even more involving storyline, a darker tone, and a much greater feeling of originality, especially in the multi-layered way Aleas sets up the story. Top all this off with a completely unexpected shocker of an ending that will emotionally devastate those readers who allow themselves to get swept up by this wholly remarkable story, and the difference between the two books is huge -- it's like comparing the work of a first-year architecture student to that of Frank Lloyd Wright. It's a stunning achievement, and Aleas will be hard pressed to follow it up with an even better work -- but I'd love to watch him try.

Wow. Just wow. This is one of the best books I've read in the past year. it's about as dark as noir gets, beautifully written, with a gut-wrenching ending. This is the kind of book I start pressing on strangers in the street until they call the cops.

I'm fairly new to the Hard Case Crime series and was less than enamored with recent books like "The Vengeful Virgin" and "The Wounded And The Slain" HOWEVER, "Songs Of Innocence" completely blew me away! Without divulging too much information, I have to say that by the end of the book, I felt as though the floor had been ripped out from under me. I was heartbroken, physically shaken, and thoroughly satisfied at having embarked on John Blake's fictional journey. Through all of its twists and turns, stick with "Songs Of Innocence" till the end. You'll be glad you did...even if by that time you're not sure weather you want to cry or write Richard Aleas demanding a sequel! Well done, Mr. Aleas, well done, indeed!

This latest offering from Hard Case Crime is one of the best in the series so far. Unlike many of the Hard Case Crime stories, "Songs of Innocence" is a modern story, not a reprint or lost edition of a story from the 50's or 60's. The current day setting is a welcome change. Rather than chain smoking, scotch and broads you get cell phones, lap tops and Korean massage parlors. That aside, the story is as good as any in the series. The action is fast paced and violent, with the underground sex scene thrown in for good measure. The body count keeps rising right to the very end and I think the ending will astound most every reader.

Songs of Innocence is a damn fine detective novel, and that's coming from a guy who spends 95% of his time reading non-fiction.
I did not read Aleas' first crime novel, "Little Girl Lost," so I cannot comment on how this book compares to the first book. I will review "Songs of Innocence" strictly on its own merits...
I found this book engrossing from the first few paragraphs. John Blake is the kind of hard boiled, quick witted yet human detective that many other fictional detectives wish they could be. The author does a good job of pacing the story, allowing the reader the chance to experience the twists, turns, and action sequences along with the protagonist.
The Author earns an 8.5 out of 10 for modern day/NYC authenticity. When it comes to specific NYC locals and general city geography, Aleas brings a native New Yorkers' knowledge of the city to the table. He nails the specifics of Manhattan's neighborhoods and subway systems easily, without coming off like a know it all.
Aleas ends up sounding awkward, however, when he tries working laptops, DSL lines and Craigslist into the equation. While there weren't any truly cringe worthy moments, there were a few times when the narration sounded a step or two out of touch with modern technology and the thought processes necessary to make use of it. As a result, Blake ends up taking three or four steps to end up where the reader landed in two or less.
As they are the only real gripes, this reviewer can let these lapses slide. After all, Aleas does manage to pull off the difficult trick of updating the Noir genre for the year 2010, keeping the atmosphere dark and mysterious while maintaining the furious pace necessary to keep 21st century readers enthralled.
In summation, the classic elements of a great Noir detective story neatly meld with modern and true to life NYC details to deliver a gripping, enthralling, throwback of a novel. Twists abound, and the suspense is hard earned. At the end, the reader finally puts the book down with a sense of satisfaction, knowing that all loose ends have been tied up, knocked out by the book's dark conclusion.

Songs of Innocence is perhaps the most striking "mystery" novel I've ever read. It's obvious from the open paragraphs that Aleas (Adai) has developed his style: darker, more introspective. From there, the novel begins its accelerating descent into darkness, as much tragedy as mystery, flirting a bit with absurdity as the story progresses, but moving through that, gathering momentum for the finale, a finale which has haunted me for the several days since I read it. Wow.

I'm a big fan of Michael Connelly, but after reading Songs of Innocence, Connelly is going to seem light & fluffy in comparison. I wish I had another Aleas to read. Instead, I'm moving on to sample some of the other authors in the Hard Crimes series.

I view a "4-star" rating as an excellent book, "5-star" as worthy of teaching in a class on the genre. There's some serious "grade inflation" in Amazon reviews, an inflation I try to resist. But by any such standard, this one gets 5.

Richard Aleas' second John Blake mystery, Songs of Innocence, follows the same formula as the first, Little Girl Lost. In Little Girl Lost, Blake undertakes a quixotic mission to find out who killed his ex-girlfriend, a stripper named Miranda Sugarman. In Songs of Innocence, he again investigates an ex-girlfriend's murder. This time it's Dorrie Burke a practitioner of sensual massage.

When Blake, now no longer officially a private investigator, finds Dorrie's lifeless body, he's convinced she's been murdered even though all the evidence point to an open and shut case of suicide. His subsequent investigation, most of which he must carry out even as he himself is being hotly pursued by the authorities, takes him deep into the sad, slimy world of New York's massage parlor industry.

Aleas has written Songs of Innocence using a very gritty and compelling style. He skillfully touches all the requisite bases readers of hardboiled crime have come to expect. But this book is not just an example of competent, workmanlike writing. With Songs of Innocence, Aleas has modernized and elevated the hardboiled genre well beyond its mid 20th century roots. The unexpected ending is highly effective and serves to validate everything that has preceeded it, including the events described in Little Girl Lost. An enthusiastic 5 stars.

This is quite a book, you may not like it by the time you finish but you're unlikely to forget it. The first half is amazing, well paced and consistently interesting but the second half seems to get stuck deeper and deeper in the mud only to redeem itself in the end. Don't expect a fair play mystery here, I'll guarantee it doesn't end up anywhere near wherever you might think it will. And be advised that this book features a frank description of the New York sex trade and may offend some readers. Other reviewers have noted that it helps to read the Mr. Aleas' earlier book featuring the same character, LITTLE GIRL LOST, and they're right but the writing and story are strong enough to be read on its own although the missing back story will make it more difficult to understand how the protagonist ends up where he does. I just hope it won't be another three year wait until we can again visit the deeply dark mind of Richard Aleas.

Two things about the Hard Case Crime series caught my eye--the covers and the fact that Stephen King liked and believed in the series enough to write a short novel for them.

Those two things drew me in, but what's kept me interesting in this series is the novels themselves.

Richard Aleas's "Little Girl Lost" was one of the original novels in this series that drew me in. (The series alternates between new noir fiction and reprints of old, out of publication noir classics). So, when I heard there was a follow-up novel featuring John Blake, I was eager to read it.

It's been three years since the events of "Little Girl Lost" and Blake has left behind the life of a detective. He's working on a degree in fiction writing at a local university. It's here he meets and befriends Dorothy Burke, who is better known as Cassandra, a high-priced call-girl for hire. The novel begins with the funeral for Dorrie, who has apparently taken her own life and follows Blake's obsessive quest to find out who really killed her. The quest leads him down a dark path as he discovers what led to Dorrie's death and what role he played in the events.

Along the way, Blake has run ins with the seamier side of society, including several message businesses and the mafia behind them. The story twists and turns along as Blake comes closer and closer to the truth as to why Dorrie died. Aleas does a good job of foreshadowing what killed Dorrie and while the revelation of what led to her death should be shocking, it's not as much as it could be. Once a certain character appears, it's fairly obvious to see where the story is going.

What is a twist of an ending is where solving the case leads Blake in the final pages of the novel.

"Songs of Innocence" is an interesting noir mystery, steeped in the fine tradition of noir. Blake is a new-century hard-boiled private investigator and the story told from his first-person perspective moves along at a good rate, rarely going down too blind an alley or losing the reader's attention. The solution to what killed Dorrie and why is fairly obvious once certain characters come onto the scene, but the ending is a memorable one that will haunt readers long after the final pages have been turned. A good, hard-boiled, adult noir mystery.