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"...Jason Starr is terrific and Twisted City is one of his best. Starr knows what James M. Cain knew: that a whole world of evil lies right on the edge of the everyday world and you can cross the border in a city minute. His stuff is tough and real and brilliant..." - Andrew Klavan "...Jason Starr is one of the new voices of noir fiction, a writer capable of taking noir from what it has always been toward whatever it can become. He's got his own slant, his own slashing style, and the moral honesty true noir requires. I could go on, but just look at the proof, Twisted City..." - Daniel Woodrell "...Demonic, demented and truly ferocious and a flat out joy to read. In other words, a total feast. Like it?...I plain worshipped it..." - Ken Bruen "...Streamline as a model's hips, dark as the inside of a dog's gut, Twisted City is a hip, white collar update on the James Cain, Jim Thompson style novel with a seasoning all its own. Jason Starr is a unique talent, and Twisted City is one unique book..." - Joe R. Lansdale
Product Description
Times are tough for David Miller, a journalist for a second rate financial magazine who hates his boss, is tired of supporting his girlfriend's partying lifestyle, and recently lost his sister to cancer. But things are about to get much worse. When he loses his wallet in a neighbourhood bar, he finds himself being blackmailed by junkies, lying to his family and friends, and stumbling into a crime that may cost him his life.
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11 reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Jim Thompson 101
21 Aug 2004
Format:Paperback
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.
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.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Great dark book by great modern noir writer
8 May 2006
Format:Paperback
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.
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.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Twisted City is well, twisted
27 Oct 2004
Format:Paperback
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 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.
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