Customer Reviews

Twisted City

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

 

 

To hear David Miller tell it, he's just a normal guy seeking a normal life. A new place in the country, a new girl, maybe a hobby like wine tasting, and things will start to right themselves. But you shouldn't trust the speaker, he's not to be trusted, since he doesn't even know himself. Jason Starr's dandy little noir, "Twisted City," is probably the closest thing I've read to a Jim Thompson novel yet. A short time back, I ran across a similarly impressive Thompson-like effort in Andrew Vachss's "The Getaway Man." The one distinction there however, was the voice of Eddie, criminal that he is, also something of a sweet victim. You don't see many of those in Thompson land. And it is in that sense that Starr is truer to the master. "Twisted City" is dark through and through, but leavened with comic (if black) humor and dialogue.

Miller, the speaker, is on surface a journalist coming off the loss of his sister. Like so many modern day city types, Miller compartmentalizes his life. But boy, what he sticks away in those hidden compartments (and wallet)! And don't push this seemingly rational man too far. He is capable of messing you up. But pressures are mounting in David's life, all triggered by the loss (theft) of his wallet. Junkies, blackmailers, a partying girlfriend with a past of her own, you hate to see Miller pick up the phone or open the door to find out what new curve ball is coming his way. Suddenly, carefully erected walls start to dissolve, and other realities begin to bleed through . Miller even starts having conversations with his dead sister Barbara. The voice here is remarkable, and reminiscent of various leading Thompson characters (Lou Ford from the "The Killer Inside Me" comes instantly to mind). One big secret you anticipate right away, but that's not the real surprise. It's the voice - and what it becomes. Kind of like watching a serpent's egg hatch.

I'm a huge noir fan (Hammett, Cain) and am always looking for new noir fiction by contemporary writers. Most of the time, I am disappointed to find that what is being marketed as "noir" really doesn't get the power and the style of the original form. Not so here. This is not a neo-noir knockoff, but a fantastic, twisted, intricately plotted book in the style of a classical noir work, but with a new and modern spin. It kind of knocked my socks off.

You shouldn't read this book (or any noir, really) if you are easily skeeved out. But if you like noir, you'll love this. The author has an original, accessible, extremely engaging style. I was drawn in from the beginning. You might be able to guess some of the themes of the book, or, as a reviewer said below, some of the protagonist's past history. But even if you do, really, that isn't even half the story. The fun is watching the plot unfold and ultimately getting inside - way inside - the narrator's head. I guarantee you won't see plenty of the twists coming, and the ending (even if you suspected it was coming) is written in a way that packs a major, creepy, darkly funny punch.

I liked this book so much that I came back here to put all the rest of the author's books in my Amazon cart. If you like dark fiction, mysteries, and old-time noir in particular, check out this book. Starr does the masters proud. Can't wait to read more of him.

The mark of a great writer is to move the reader. The emotion can be positive of negative. This story of a financial writer drawn into the dark underbelly of New York and into schemes that out of his league kept me up at night.

Jason Starr shows he is an outstanding writer with this gripping, terrifying ride into an odd and uncomfortable place. He makes you care about the poor guy whose luck goes from bad to worse.

I highly recommend this and any other book by Jason Starr.

Jason' Starr's writing is taunt and compelling and he weaves a twisted little plot well enough to keep me reading. The only real let-down for me is that this book seems to "stop" rather than end. After working his way through all of the twisted turns, Starr brings everything to an abrupt and unsatisfying halt. If the ending was supposed to be a surprise, it wasn't. An average reader will figure out (or at least strongly suspect) David's past history from the get-go. "Twisted City" is a good noir tale, but ultimately unsatisfying.

What a great book! Jason Starr has mastered the style of Jim Thompson in presenting the increasing paranoia and creeping psychosis of his narrator. The novel is almost impossible to put down as you follow the rush of events built on poor judgment and sociopathic reasoning. The narrator, David Miller, resembles a shell fired from an artillery piece, blasting its way into a hell of its own making.

If you like this, don't miss Starr's NOTHING PERSONAL.

This is a great modern noir tale of a life that spirals out of control (in the best possible way). Dark and involving you keep thinking, and often saying out loud, "Oh noooo!"
A great read like all of Starr's work.

I'm a big fan of the neo noir genre and after enjoying "The Follower", was looking forward to reading this.

My issue with this novel was the ending. This book was well written and fast paced (hence the 2 stars) but it lead nowhere. I felt like the author couldn't figure out an ending himself and so just left it as it was. It seemed like it was building up and up to a big bang and then it just fizzled away to nothing. I've read novels before with ambigous endings (King, Ellis) but it did not work here at all. I felt ripped off.

If you want some terrific neo noir, I suggest you check out the Kiss Me, Judas trilogy by William Christopher Baer.

A simple turn of events -- a guy gets his wallet stolen in a bar -- leads David Miller on a hellride through the darker side of Manhattan that finds him dealing with a maniacal girlfriend, a crack-addicted hooker and the hooker's dead boyfriend. Jason Starr is the modern equivalent of Jim Thompson or Charles Willeford, a master of dark, twisted noir. This one isn't as good as his last, but it's still darn good.

In TWISTED CITY, Starr does what he has done in a few of his other books--paricularly Hard Feelings and Cold Caller--inviting readers into the mind of a seemingly ordinarily protagonist with dark secrets, and making us care about the character's fate because of great writing and storytelling. But what I admire most about Starr as a writer is he never writes the same book twice--he constantly pushes the envelope and comes up with provocative ideas and new ways to tell his crime stories. In Twisted City, there is a new Starr twist, so to speak. Unlike the protagonists of Hard Feelings and Cold Caller, David Miller is not an instigator. In fact if the events of the first chapter didn't happen, Miller probably would have continued to live an average, uneventful life. And the sub plot of Miller's relationship with his dead sister is truly inspired...But go into this book like I did, without knowing many of the plot details, and get ready for an adrenaline-filled, all-night read...This is quite simply the best novel I've read all year.

even as a light read there is nothing original about this book.

it seems like this was written in 2 weeks in front of a tv.