The writing in 's latest novel will hit you like a freight train. There is power there, speed, and a fluid economy of words. But underlying it all is the sensation of being transported back in time to the heyday of crime fiction, when men were Marlowe, and dames were deadly.
Swierczynski is no mere pastiche writer, however. Severance Package hammers and stabs at what a crime thriller can and should be. While you can feel Swierczynski's love for the classics of pulp and hard-boiled era, this is very much a work of his own.
The story moves deftly from one point of view to another in a narrative that takes place over a matter of hours. The short time frame adds a frenetic sense of urgency to a novel that reads like the best action film you've ever watched.
When some cubicle jockeys go to work on a Saturday for a meeting, their boss informs them the office is closing, permanently. To emphasize this he offers them the choice of spiked mamosas or a bullet. As each character gets knocked off, the reader is treated to a full page list of names in a handwritten typefont with the dead stroked out. Stark full page illustrations punctuate many of the confrontations.
I've been meaning to read Swierczynski for some time now, and after reading Severance Package, his other two novels -- The Blonde and The Wheelman -- immediately went to the top of my reading pile.
See also:
Duane Swierczynski is Immortal (Iron Fist That Is)
| Categories: Reviews, Mystery & Crime |
Jamie DeBroux’s boss has called a special meeting for all “key personnel” at 9:00 a.m. on a hot Saturday in August. When Jamie arrives, the conference room is stocked with cookies and ...
Meet Lennon, a mute Irish getaway driver who has fallen in with the wrong heist team on the wrong day at the wrong bank. Betrayed, his money stolen and his battered carcass left for dead,...
The night before a big meeting, Jack Eisley is sitting in an airport bar in Philadelphia, chatting up a pretty young blonde. Sure, Jack has a wife and daughter at home, but this is just a...
In the tradition of Quirk's The Crimes of Dr. Watson, this interactive mystery pits a legendary detective—Batman—against a shocking and seemingly inexplicable crime. When a constructi...
Every year brings another book about the legendary detective Sherlock Holmes. Now Quirk is unveiling The Crimes of Dr. Watson, the first completely interactive Sherlock Holmes mystery. Th...
