Low Town: The Straight Razor Cure: The Straight Razor Cure
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Review
'I can't remember when I last enjoyed a fantasy book this much'
(Books Monthly )'Polansky's writing is confident and punchy from the offset. The action rips along at a brilliant pace allowing us to experience this gritty world through the eyes of a thrilling, dangerous, flawed, yet strangely endearing protagonist. This is modern, dark fantasy at its best and a debut to be envied.'
(British Fantasy Society )'Quite brilliant... The Straight Razor Cure is as good a debut as I've read in along time. [It] has it all - and as the name suggests, it is sharp, steely and viciously bloody. Highly recommended'
(John Berlyne, SF Revu )'Polansky hits all the right notes in his intelligent first novel, a blend of dystopian fantasy and hard-boiled crime... Sharp, noir-tinged dialogue and astute insights into class struggle mark Polansky as a writer with a future'
(Publishers Weekly )'A strong debut novel with a hero who doesn't waste time worrying about the moral implications of cutting someone's throat'
(Kirkus Reviews )'Polansky transplants his love of crime noir into a magic-steeped, secondary-world fantasy setting. It's an inherently troublesome mash-up that could only work in the hands of a silly satirist or a deft, sensitive dramatist with the blackest sense of humor. Polansky is wholeheartedly the latter - and Low Town is brilliant proof ... Wielding vivid characters and scalpel-sharp banter worthy of fellow dark fantasists Scott Lynch and Joe Abercrombie, Polansky ratchets up the pace ... Polansky has managed to craft an assured, roaring, and rollicking hybrid, a cross-genre free-for-all that relishes its tropes while spitting out their bones. And he does it all while spinning one hell of a gripping mystery'
(avclub.com )'Daniel Polansky has crafted a thrilling novel steeped in noir sensibilities and relentless action, and set in an original world of stunning imagination, leading to a gut-wrenching, unforeseeable conclusion. Low Town is an attention-grabbing debut that will leave readers riveted . . . and hungry for more'
(missiontoread.com )'An impossible to put down read, showing how dark fantasy can truly be' (thefoundingfields.com )
'The Straight Razor Cure is dark, eloquent work filled with a very real presence that permeates both the world and the characters within it. Polansky has created a wickedly delicious fantasy that leaves a profound impression on the reader. Despite the plague, murderers and dark magic, I can't wait to pay another visit to Low Town'
(mithrilwisdom.blogspot.com )Product Description
Welcome to Low Town.
Here, the criminal is king. The streets are filled with the screeching of fish hags, the cries of swindled merchants, the inviting murmurs of working girls. Here, people can disappear, and the lacklustre efforts of the guard ensure they are never found.
Warden is an ex-soldier who has seen the worst men have to offer; now a narcotics dealer with a rich, bloody past and a way of inviting danger. You'd struggle to find someone with a soul as dark and troubled as his.
But then a missing child, murdered and horribly mutilated, is discovered in an alley.
And then another.
With a mind as sharp as a blade and an old but powerful friend in the city, he's the only man with a hope of finding the killer.
If the killer doesn't find him first.
Here, the criminal is king. The streets are filled with the screeching of fish hags, the cries of swindled merchants, the inviting murmurs of working girls. Here, people can disappear, and the lacklustre efforts of the guard ensure they are never found.
Warden is an ex-soldier who has seen the worst men have to offer; now a narcotics dealer with a rich, bloody past and a way of inviting danger. You'd struggle to find someone with a soul as dark and troubled as his.
But then a missing child, murdered and horribly mutilated, is discovered in an alley.
And then another.
With a mind as sharp as a blade and an old but powerful friend in the city, he's the only man with a hope of finding the killer.
If the killer doesn't find him first.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Impressive and Gripping First Novel,
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This review is from: Low Town: The Straight Razor Cure (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
The author paints a convincing picture of Low Town, a grim, brutish, crime ridden place where violence is ever present. The story is narrated in the first person by a character who goes under the rather enigmatic name of the Warden. As a drug dealer with a taste for his own products, in particular pixie's breath and dreamvine, and an efficient, violent streak whether protecting his territory from criminal rivals or looking after his other interests, he fits perfectly into this environment. Although it would be hard to perceive him as a hero, he comes across as intelligent, persistent and single minded.When a child is murdered, he chooses to investigate the crime and then comes under suspicion himself when there is a further incident. He is obliged to continue his investigations to protect himself from the attentions of the authorities. Despite the reasonable assumption that life does not count for a lot in Low Town, the child killing creates quite a stir which suggests that the place has its own set of moral values. As a fantasy setting it probably takes about the first quarter of the book for the reader to be able to feel really familiar with the surroundings. After that the strong story line really takes hold and the book becomes quite a page turner. The writing is of high quality and the descriptions of people and places are particularly outstanding. This is an interesting blend of fantasy with a supernatural overlay and a little hint of romance thrown in. The climax is well thought out and logical though quite unexpected so the reader's interest is maintained to the end. This is a very impressive first novel from the author and clearly there is plenty of scope for future episodes of Low Town. I believe that this is the first of a three installment deal and I look forward to the next episode.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A good, dark tale,
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This review is from: Low Town: The Straight Razor Cure (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
Low Town: The Straight Razor Cure isn't going to set the world alight - it's hardly breaking new ground in the fantasy genre. However, it's a good read and the ending, if a little obvious, is quite a page turner.The tale is set in the Low Town, a slum area in Rigus. The protagonist, Warden, is a former intelligence agent, now turned underworld drug dealer. He's a pretty unsavoury character, but when he comes across a missing child murdered in the street, his old intelligence agent instincts flare up and he starts investigating. In the paranoid, police-state environment of Rigus these investigations cause him to bump up against his old boss, and quickly he finds himself making a deal that his life depends on. Interspersed in this tale are flashbacks that tell how Low Town came to be the slum that it is, and also how Warden fought through a world-wide conflict that has strong echoes of World War 2 (except it was fought against a shadowy lot called the Dren). My main criticism with the book is that, like a lot of fantasy writing, the plot is too often driven by, well, complete fantasy rather than any logic. For example, Celia, a magician and childhood friend of Warden's, implants a gem in his shoulder that remarkably appears to allow him to work out who is dabbling with dark magic by burning hot when he is in their presence. This plot device is simply invented by the author - no logic required. Having said that, it's an enjoyable read. The ending is pretty clear from about halfway through the novel, with the author dropping rather unsubtle hints throughout. Nevertheless, when it does come it is quite satisfying. Read it if you are already a fan of the fantasy genre - it's a good example of that genre but doesn't rise above it.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderfully edgy piece of dark fantasy...,
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This review is from: Low Town: The Straight Razor Cure (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
Low Town: The Straight Razor Cure is a sharp, intelligent and somewhat bleak novel. It centres around the fictional `Low Town', the run down, scabrous heart of a larger city. The people in Low Town are poor, oppressed by their betters, and have more than their fair share of crime and general urban misery. The atmosphere is grim, though not unrelentingly so, with sparks of hope and joy scattered throughout, and I was quickly drawn in amongst the grime, the grit, the crime and the blood.We are quickly introduced to `The Warden', a grizzled, pragmatic, emotionally wounded inhabitant of this city. He serves as our protagonist, as he begins to investigate (for entirely practical reasons), the murder of a child, which rapidly spins out of control. The investigation itself is convincing and well written - there are no leaps of faith, no requirements to suspend disbelief - the logic is, if not Holmesian, certainly sensible. Whilst there are unexpected twists and turns, none of them are dependent upon the framework of the setting; there are no cop-outs. The fantasy detective fiction idea isn't entirely new; I was reminded of Glen Cooks 'Garrett, P.I.' series. However, where Cook's text draws on the drawing room exploits of Nero Wolfe and other golden age detectives, `Low Town' carries a more obvious edge - rather than Wolfe, it shares a heritage with the likes of James Elroy. The supporting characters are plentiful, and recognisable, but it would have been nice for them to have had a little more depth; I suspect they'll be fleshed out as the series progresses. That said, part of this may be our restriction to the first-person view provided by The Warden - and some characters may just be unknowable. The plot is filled with action, double dealing, and the occasional revelation, wrapped around a core of moral ambiguity. Whilst `page-turner' is an overused phrase, I was certainly finding reasons to keep reading with every page, and ended up tearing through the text. Overall, this is an intelligent novel, with interesting themes running through it, with a compelling central character in a wonderfully evoked, morally ambiguous world. Well recommended.
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