THE LONG DRUNK [Kindle Edition]

Eric Coyote (Author)

Book Description

In Venice, California, the sun always shines, but that's not much help if you're a homeless drunk like James Murphy, a man with a past of shattered dreams and empty bottles. Murphy's life in the gutter was bad enough, but now bad gets worse. Murphy has one week to solve a cold-case murder that has police detectives stumped, or else his best friend dies. Inspired by Chandler, Steinbeck, and Quentin Tarantino, THE LONG DRUNK is a darkly comic crime/detective saga filled with sex, violence, booze, and plenty of foul street talk. Hard-boiled, heartbreaking, and gritty as hell, it thoroughly immerses the reader in the squalid yet resourceful underworld of the down-and-out. By juxtaposing the cruel realities of life on the street with the obscene wealth of the Hollywood elite, Eric Coyote creates an ultra noir masterpiece for the ages. THE LONG DRUNK, named to Kirkus Reviews' Best of 2012, will leave you crying, laughing, and begging for more.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An unshakable noir with a protagonist learning along the way, but beyond the more overt genre traits is a rewarding story of a man's unconditional love for his faithful companion." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review), named "Best of 2012." 

"An insanely great foul-mouthed drunken Raymond Chandler staggers through the cesspools of Venice Beach." -- Walt Morton, author of American Ghoul

Product Details

• File Size: 721 KB
• Print Length: 242 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Eric Coyote (November 22, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B006B99HXK
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #162,397 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars An intriguing window on Life in Venice Beach, CA March 17, 2012

By Raghu Nathan

Format:Kindle Edition

The trailer promoting the book calls it an 'ultra noir' murder mystery. Thanks to Google, I found out that I had already read an ultra noir novel (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) without knowing what the genre means. Compared with the Swedish mystery, 'The Long Drunk' feels a lot more 'noir', especially with the choice of its many homeless characters and the no-holds-barred, irreverent commentary on life in Venice Beach, California.

The novel is about James Murphy, a homeless guy in Venice, who suffers the misfortune of his beloved dog Betty being run over by an SUV and being badly maimed. Murphy takes the dog to Dr.Walters who tells him the still further bad news that Betty also suffers from acute Lymphoma and needs chemotherapy which would all end up costing Murphy some 15000 dollars. Murphy's love for his dog sets him on a course to find $15000 in one week. The rest of the story takes us through Murphy's attempts to get the $25000 prize money for solving the murder of a wannabe actor named Alan Tanner. Even though the story in part 1 ends rather sadly, since the author has billed this book as the first of his trilogy on the 'homeless detective', there is going be more to it than this.

The thing that appealed to me most in the book is the window it gave me on the life of the homeless in Venice. Not ever having been to LA to visit and never having had an opportunity to interact with the homeless in the US, I found the graphic descriptions of their lives, their street language and their drunken pre-occupations quite humorous, poignant and insightful. Coyote writes about them with much compassion and humor and is unsparing about the disparities of life in Venice between its genteel-half and that of the homeless. You laugh out loud as you read about the homeless finding discarded Hollywood screenplays in the garbage where they forage for food. There is a liberal sprinkling of vomit, urine, feces, blood as well as wine, vodka, yoga, art and sex in the book. I suppose that is what makes it noir.

The murder mystery part of the book failed to grab my attention that much. Murphy tries to set out on the case a la Raymond Chandler, but the various clues and his attempts at detective work fell short of grabbing my deep interest. I wish the author had put in more work on this aspect of the novel. Also, during these forays, the homeless Murphy ends up seamlessly blending with the genteel side of Venice - in art galleries, with yoga-teaching blondes and wannabe actors in Hollywood. He even ends up having sex with Jocelyn, a lovely actress in training, as well as from the sexy yoga instructor. Though the narration of all this is graphic and entertaining and direct, it stretched my credibility and made me feel that the good work done by the author in portraying 'Venice as it is' has been compromised somewhat.

The book is an easy and entertaining read and I am glad to have read a book in this genre. However, it does not do enough to make you that much intrigued to look forward to finding out what happens to James Murphy in the rest of the trilogy.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Unique and Eye-Opening April 28, 2012

By Meghan Ireland Sargent

Format:Kindle Edition

This is a quick, entertaining read. The main character is Murphy - a drunken, homeless, ex-NFL player. Murpy's beloved rottweiler Betty, is hit by an SUV. He rushes her to a vet, who stabilizes her but also discovers she has cancer. He informs Murphy the cost of the treatments will be $15,000, to which Murphy says he needs a week to get together. Earlier, Murphy and his homeless brethren were rounded up by the police for questioning about a murder, that for the past six months they've been unable to solve. While at the cop shop, Murphy sees a poster indicating a $25,000 reward will be dispensed to anyone who can solve the murder. So Murphy sets out to accomplish what the police haven't been able to.

The balance of this novel is a bit skewed. Given the quirky cast of characters, it's definitely a unique whodunit. I was fascinated by the depiction of the homeless sub-culture on Venice Beach and was propelled to keep reading because of their interactions, not to know the answer to the mystery. How well Eric Coyote conveys the gritty, gross reality of street living, as well as loyal camaraderie between Murphy and his homeless "family" tends to highlight the far-fetched aspects of the story, but not to a detrimental degree. It's easy enough to push aside the few quasi-believable parts because the characters are so strong. My heart broke for Murphy when he was faced with his impotence at being unable to do more for Betty. And since solving a murder requires interacting with mainstream society, no homeless person is going to accomplish much looking like a homeless person. I'm chagrin to admit it, but the makeover tickled me. I think that's just in the genetic make-up of being female, though. One place Murphy's investigation leads him to is an acting class. An acting exercise is to relate the most humiliating experience of your life. While the story Murphy relays is truly awful, it's one of the most poignant parts of the novel. It also leads to a sexual encounter, after which I chuckled to see the correct use of the word "santorum".

This story is worth your time, if you have the constitution. I don't limit myself with labels or categories, and want to experience all life has to offer - to a degree. After reading this book I've peripherally experienced what life is like for a transient, and have been awakened to aspects of that life I'd never even considered. I want to read more about Murphy. Perhaps the sophomore novel, if there is one, will have a mystery as engaging as the characters.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Modern Noir Meets Bukowski April 3, 2012

By RW High

Format:Kindle Edition

In "The Long Drunk," modern noir meets Bukowski...but it's better than "Pulp," Bukowski's own attempt at noir. This is a gritty, hardscrabble story of a football pro-turned-homeless guy who tries to put aside his drunkenness to (or use it to the advantage of) solving a murder. Though his ulterior motives are surprising and almost too unbelievably exaggerated, it serves well as the catalyst that starts and finishes the piece. Murph - the protagonist - makes a great "long drunk" speech at the end of the book that clinches his character. He's the perfect protagonist with that pleasant mix of good boy, bad boy that hooks us but lets us sympathize with and root for him. You'll see what I mean when you read it.

Which, if you have a Kindle and some time and a little taste for the gritty side of the City of Angels, then you should.

"The Long Drunk" is a good debut novel - I stumbled upon an advert for it in the LA Weekly and took a chance, seeing as it was an affordable, instant buy. Coyote's story shows a lot of promise and really draws me into the Venice/homeless community more than anything else. He had some uncompromising dialogue, scenarios, and no-nonsense, and parts of the story definitely gripped me. Because some parts of the story were so realistically gritty and uncompromising, it make the "forced/fake" portions that much more difficult to swallow. Parts seemed forced, fake, or overexaggerated. There was a lot of repetitious description of the protagonist's pre-homeless backstory as a college/NFL superstar who met an untimely career termination and ended up on the streets. I will definitely give the author a sophomore try, looking for him to smooth dialogue, cut descriptions, and not ultimately backfire on the grizzled realism he's trying so earnestly to portray.

The thing about the noir genre is, it's kind of unbelievable in that almost-real-but-not-quite that grips us, sells us, teaches us, and leaves us wanting more. It's kind of the epitome of noir, and it's nice to get some modern stuff that's not afraid to cuss and spit and give us a radical ending but still redeem itself in those secretly heartwarming nuances, those strokes of brilliant dialogue, and that spark of universal humanity. Even from the streets.

More About the Author

Author Eric Coyote currently lives in Venice, California, with two cats and his dog Pickle. The Long Drunk, named to Kirkus Reviews' Best of 2012, is his first novel. Eric can be reached via his website, www.ericcoyote.com, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/EricCoyote