Order THE INGLORIOUS DEAD here
(also reviewed)
Order THE STORM WITHOUT here
In Ayr, like every other small town, people talked. They talked about who you were and what you were. Mostly - it might have been a peculiarly west-coast thing - they liked to talk about people who were somebody. If you made money, you were somebody and if you made the headlines, you were somebody. Ayr liked to know who was walking its streets or liked to think it did.
I have the most inexplicable disdain for everything British. Ask me to choose between a British and an American novel, and I'm inevitably going to choose the American one without a valid reason. Same thing with movies. It's stupid because British art is almost always awesome. They created LUTHER and BROADCHURCH. They have writers such as Allan Guthrie, Ray Banks, Richard Godwin and Tony Black. I've learned my lesson with that Black guy, though. He is GOOD. I thought the world of THE STORM WITHOUT, the first novel featuring his lyrical hardboiled protagonist Doug Michie, so I was ecstatic to hear he was making a comeback in THE INGLORIOUS DEAD, a novel that both stands out by its technical prowess and its crackling tension.
Doug Michie's still struggling with his decision to move back to Ayr, a hometown that never had anything for him. He's living in his dead parents' house alone, simmering in old hauntings, career failures (he used to be a cop) and being miserable. One particularly difficult day, he gets cold called by his friend Andy who wants to discuss an investigation he might throw his way. Doug doesn't want to get involved in Ayr's internal business again, but the pull of his vocation is tear him apart. The son of an Orange Order leader was murdered a couple years ago, but the investigation was closed with nebulous conclusions. Who's better than the toughest, most stubborn investigator in all Scotland to unearth the ugly truth?
Here's how clever Tony Black's writing is. In the first two chapters of THE INGLORIOUS DEAD, Doug Michie decides to get the old family dog out put down. It's a classic storytelling move that's meant to lend pathos to an otherwise bland narrative. In THE INGLORIOUS DEAD, the logic of this idea is reversed. It's not the dog's looming death that's sad. The poor thing seems past its expiration date. Tony Black so aptly describes Doug Michie's isolation and unspoken feeling of abandonment that you can't help feeling for the guy and thinking she shouldn't have to go through such an emotionally crushing ordeal alone. Turning a such cliché scene into a gut-wrenching ordeal is a storytelling stunt can only be achieved by some kind of bushido, black belt writing master.
''If you're thinking of noising me up, pal, you might as well pick the window you'd like to leave through now...''
Tony Black is also very adept at playing with the notion of contrasts in THE INGLORIOUS DEAD. The use of first person point of view is very deliberate here. It serves at creating a separation between Doug Michie's crumbling inner life and his social persona of a shit disturber. Being so tough and relentless in the face of evil has took its toll on ol' Doug, who struggles to piece together a life he actually want for himself. He knows better than to show vulnerability though, but whenever he sputters a badass line in public or takes care of a volatile situation, Tony Black spent so much time building his tormented inner life that you can't help but feel proud of Doug like he was your little brother or something. Black builds such a complex and compelling character from contrasting ideas. It seems simple enough, but the end product is rich, layered and subtle.
I can already tell you what the main bit of criticism about THE INGLORIOUS DEAD is going to be: some readers will claim that nothing happens. It's a typical piece of criticism that usually stems from people who can't appreciate suspense and tenson, and THE INGLORIOUS DEAD is literally built from these two concepts. Read it for Doug Michie, though. Read it for this fantastic, blown-up hardboiled realism that Tony Black is so good at. I don't know any other author who can mix technicall prowess, creativity, cleverness and lyricism the way Black does. The Doug Michie series is the best kept series in contemporary hardboiled fiction and I hope you're not overlooking it because it's British. That would be, in the immortal words of GOB Bluth, a huge mistake.
BADASS
I can already tell you what the main bit of criticism about THE INGLORIOUS DEAD is going to be: some readers will claim that nothing happens. It's a typical piece of criticism that usually stems from people who can't appreciate suspense and tenson, and THE INGLORIOUS DEAD is literally built from these two concepts. Read it for Doug Michie, though. Read it for this fantastic, blown-up hardboiled realism that Tony Black is so good at. I don't know any other author who can mix technicall prowess, creativity, cleverness and lyricism the way Black does. The Doug Michie series is the best kept series in contemporary hardboiled fiction and I hope you're not overlooking it because it's British. That would be, in the immortal words of GOB Bluth, a huge mistake.
BADASS