Cahokia Jazz

 

Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford 464 pages

 

I love this novel so much that I am going to claim that it will be one of the must-reads of 2024!

 

What Amazon says:  Francis Spufford’s Cahokia Jazz inhabits a different version of America, now through the lens of a subtly altered 1920s—a fully imagined world full of fog, cigarette smoke, dubious motives, danger, dark deeds. And in the main character of Joe Barrow, we have a hero of truly epic proportions, a troubled soul to fall in love with as you are swept along by a propulsive and brilliantly twisty plot.

On a snowy night at the end of winter, Barrow and his partner find a body on the roof of a skyscraper. Down below, streetcar bells ring, factory whistles blow, Americans drink in speakeasies and dance to the tempo of modern times. But this is Cahokia, the ancient indigenous city beside the Mississippi living on as a teeming industrial metropolis, filled with people of every race and creed. Among them, peace holds. Just about. But that corpse on the roof will spark a week of drama in which this altered world will spill its secrets and be brought, against a soundtrack of jazz clarinets and wailing streetcars, either to destruction or rebirth.

 

What I thought of it: This novel has it all! I was captivated by the opening scene that sets a harrowing stage of what is to come to the heartbreaking last scene. Part alternate history, part noir thriller, part mythology legends, with science, jazz, crime, mob scenes and the KKK all thrown in to make a highly readable novel.

 

Cahokia Jazz is a complicated, complex, easy to follow and fabulous novel. Therefore, it receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Blood Alley

Blood Alley by Tom Coffey   280 pages

New York – Middle of November 1946…Cub reporter and rewrite man Patrick Grimes works the graveyard shift at “The New York Examiner,” one of those sleazy tabloids that sensationalism. Tonight Grimes is sent to help cover the finding of a dead woman’s body down by the East River.  That area is a hell-hole of breweries and tenements. 

He arrives as Finkel the photographer does what he does best: manipulate the body to get the most sensational photograph. Nearby stands the man who called in the tip, William Anderson.  Just as Finkel is wrapping up, the police arrive with lights and sirens blasting. 

Anderson is arrested because he is in possession of a twenty dollar bill and he’s African-American. When police learn the woman is socialite Amanda Price, Anderson is charged and beaten until he signs a confession.

Grimes doesn’t believe that Anderson is guilty and launches his own investigation that takes him from the beautiful homes and  society to the underbelly of the city. Along the way, he learns that there is more to Amanda Price and the Price family than meets the eye.

This book has been sitting on my bookshelf for more than a decade, and I could just kick myself that hadn’t read it before now. What a shame Humphrey Bogart is no longer with us to play Grimes in the movie that should be made; it’s noir at its finest.

The language is real, with the “N” word being used as much as I suspect it was back then. The stereotypes of the newsroom and the boozy city editor are dead on and give the story an authentic feel…or at least as authentic as I have been conditioned to believe.

“Bloody Alley” receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Shouldn't You Be In School?

Shouldn't You Be In School? by Lemony Snicket     325 pages

Young Lemony Snicket investigates a rash of fires that have plagued the town of Stain'd-by-the-Sea, revealing secrets that involve the Department of Education and the notorious villain Hangfire.

This is my least favorite book, so far, in the series. It's still well written, the characters are still great, developing further, a few new characters that are interesting, but the storyline, I feel, is weaker. I do like the introduction of a fragmentary plan that Snicket introduces - it is a great example of V.F.D itself, and I like certain portions of the story, especially reading about Snicket's clear adoration of food. 

But the humor was there to a lesser degree and this portion of the slowly building plot to catch Hangfire is not as enjoyable in this one. Maybe because there's more Ellington Feint than I'd like (as she's my least favorite character). But whatever the case, still good, just not as good as the other books in the series. I'm looking forward to seeing how Snicket will wrap it all up in the last installment.

When Did You See Her Last?

When Did You See Her Last? By Lemony Snicket     277 pages


In the fading town of Stain'd-by-the-Sea, young apprentice Lemony Snicket has a new case to solve when he and his chaperone are hired to find a missing girl. Is the girl a runaway? Or was she kidnapped? Was she seen last at the grocery store? Or could she have stopped at the diner? Is it really any of your business? These are All The Wrong Questions.

This is the second book in the "All the Wrong Questions" series by Lemony Snicket. It's a parody of the noir genre and it's chock full of humor, strange people/places/things, and a mystery. I liked this book as much as the first. I'd read it before, but I haven't read the last two books in the series, so I'm looking forward to how this story unfolds to its completion.

Who Could that Be at This Hour?

Who Could That Be at This Hour? by Lemony Snicket     258 pages

The adventure began in a fading town. Far from anyone he knew or trusted, a young Lemony Snicket started an apprenticeship for a secret organization shrouded in mystery and secrecy. He asked questions that shouldn't have been on his mind. Now he has written an account that should not be published that shouldn't be read. Not even by you. Seriously, we recommend that you do NOT ask your parents for this, the first book in his new ALL THE WRONG QUESTIONS series.

This was a re-read for me. I haven't yet finished this series and I only read the first two books, so in order to refresh my memory before reading the last two, I wanted to revisit the first and second book of this series. It's a play at noir fiction for kids. I love the setting, the characters, and the absurd/strange mystery surrounding the town of Stained by the Sea. Lemony Snicket was one of my favorite authors to read as I was growing up, so it's nice to return (somewhat) to the world of A Series of Unfortunate Events, this time following the author of the series - Lemony - at the beginning of his career. Full of humor and an oddball cast of characters, this book is a hoot and a half.

Blacksad: Amarillo

Blacksad: Amarillo (Blacksad #5), by Juan Diaz Canales, ill Juanjo Guarnido

Everyone's favorite cat-man-detective Blacksad is back on the case.  This time, he's got a sweet gig driving a beautiful car across the country- so maybe his never-ending bad luck has ended?  Oh, you sweet, wrong individual- of course not.  First the car gets stolen and then the hijinks turn, as they always do, in the direction of murder. 

As usual, the illustrations are really well-done, the story is bittersweet, and you will be VERY interested to see who the translator was (hint: she works here! and is super talented!)

California Bones

California Bones by Greg Van Eekhout
302 Pages

In this fictional universe, magic reigns in the state of California which is no longer part of the United States.  The magic used the most is osteomancy which gets power through the bones of ancient and extinct creatures. The Hierarch is an osteomancer and periodically he cleans house of other osteomancers who might be able to challenge his power.  Daniel Blackland is an outlaw osteomancer who was trained by his father who was killed in one of the Hierarch's purges.  Now Daniel is part of a group seeking to steal rare bones from the Hierarch's vault while avoiding capture.

A well-fleshed out plot and universe make this book a pleasure to read and leaves the door open for a sequel.  Part fantasy, part dark noir, part heist-story, the book has something for everyone with engaging characters and devious bad guys.

Storm Front

Storm Front by Jim Butcher, 322 pages

Harry Dresden is a wizard, but not the Harry Potter type or the Gandalf type. Rather, he's a wizard-for-hire (but not for parties) more akin to a private detective. Just like any good noir detective novel, Dresden is a couple months behind on rent when hard-nosed police officer Karrin Murphy calls on him to help solve a gruesome double murder, almost certainly done by magical means. And just like any good noir novel, Dresden's poking around in Chicago's seedy underbelly (this time with vampires!) pulls the murderer's focus onto Dresden, making for some tough and dangerous situations.

This is the first book in Butcher's Dresden Files series (of which there are supposed to be, when all is finished, something like 30), and it serves as a decent introduction. I wouldn't call this the end-all, be-all of either fantasy or noir, but it's fun and I can tell that Butcher has a lot of room to work with and a lot of stories to tell in the world he's created. That said, the world of Harry Dresden is remarkably similar to that of Angel, the Buffy spin-off show about an L.A.-based private detective office run by a vampire with a soul. As I've been watching Angel recently, it's a bit unnerving to me, though as I've had plenty of people sing the praises of the Dresden Files, I hope that feeling fades as I read more of the series.

Blacksad

Blacksad by Juan Diaz Canales, art by Juanjo Guarnido, 176 pages

Told in classic noir style, Blacksad follows the escapades of 1940s-era private investigator John Blacksad as he looks into three separate cases: the murder of a Hollywood starlet (who happens to be his ex-girlfriend); a missing black child during a time of high racial tensions; and a murder-filled Communist plot complete with a McCarthy figure. The stories are interesting, though sometimes a bit too on-the-nose, and the artwork is phenomenal. Guarnido's attention to detail is astounding, and his style is perfect for this noir story.

That said, I wasn't a huge fan of this episodic graphic novel, and that all lies in one issue. Blacksad and the other characters are animals. Rather, their heads are animals, but their bodies are mostly human. Blacksad is a cat, the McCarthy figure is a cocker spaniel, and everything from mice to lizards to polar bears feature in these stories. For some, this isn't a problem (the series, which was originally published in France, has received many accolades), but I couldn't wrap my mind around a mostly nude woman with a cat head.

But if you can get past the human-animal mash-up, this would be great for fans of noir.