Synopses & Reviews
“It was one of those summer Tuesday afternoons when you begin to wonder if the earth has stopped revolving.” So begins a new novel featuring Philip Marlowe — yes, that Philip Marlowe. Channeling Raymond Chandler, Benjamin Black has brought Marlowe back to life for a new adventure on the mean streets of Bay City, California. It is the early 1950s, Marlowe is as restless and lonely as ever, and business is a little slow. Then a new client is shown in: blond, beautiful, and expensively dressed, she wants Marlowe to find her former lover. Almost immediately, Marlowe discovers that the mans disappearance is merely the first in a series of bewildering events, and soon he is tangling with one of Bay City's richest — and most ruthless — families.
Only Benjamin Black, a modern master of the genre, could write a new Philip Marlowe novel that has all the panache and charm of the originals while delivering a story that is as sharp and fresh as today's best crime fiction.
Review
"[Black] offers a stylish homage to Raymond Chandler in this tightly
written caper . . . The focus . . . is on style and mood, and the
Irishman, perhaps surprisingly, nails both. The homage game is a tricky
game to play, but Black makes all the right moves. Great fun for
Chandlerians." Booklist
Review
"It's vintage L.A., toots: The hot summer, rain on the asphalt, the woman
with the lipstick, cigarette ash and alienation, V8 coupes, tough guys,
snub-nosed pistols, the ice melting in the bourbon . . . The results
are Chandleresque, sure, but you can see [Black's] sense of fun." The Washington Post
Review
"Terrific fun . . . The Black-Eyed Blonde could be passed off as a
newly discovered Chandler manuscript found in some dusty La Jolla
closet . . . Any fan of Chandler's work is going to enjoy it." The New York Times Book Review
Review
"Somewhere Raymond Chandler is smiling, because this is a beautifully
rendered hardboiled novel that echoes Chandler's melancholy at perfect
pitch. The story is great, but what amazed me is how [Black] caught the
cumulative effect Chandler's prose had on readers. It's hard to
quantify, but it's also what separated the Marlowe novels from the
general run of noir (which included some damn fine novelists, like David
Goodis and Jim Thompson). The sadness runs deep. I loved this book. It
was like having an old friend, one you assumed was dead, walk into the
room. Kind of like Terry Lennox, hiding behind those drapes." Stephen King
Review
"A first-rate noir . . . [Benjamin Black] does an uncannily good job of
filling Marlowe's legendary gumshoes . . . It's remarkable how fresh this
book feels while still hewing close to the material on which it's based .
. . Mr. Black has . . . hit a bulls-eye." Janet Maslin, The New York Times
About the Author
Benjamin Black is the pen name of the Man Booker Prize-winning novelist John Banville. The author of the bestselling and critically acclaimed series of Quirke novels — including Christine Falls, Vengeance, and Holy Orders — he lives in Dublin.