I was warned.
Right there in the book blurb, printed in italics so you couldn’t miss it: There are no truly happy endings in Noir.
Did I heed the warning, did I even understand it? No.
If I had paid more attention to the author’s alert—”for mature readers who enjoy the darkness and moral ambiguity of noir stories.”
If I’d been less intrigued by the line—”Cole fell for the suave Leo Mancini the day they met, but is it ever really possible to trust a liar—especially when Mancini makes a murder suggestion sound like a marriage proposal?”
I would have missed not just a beautifully crafted story, but a visceral experience.
Dark?
Yes, yes, and God, yes.
Leighton Greene spins you into a roller-coaster of a ride. Hurtles you through a tunnel of deceit and deception, lies and liars, and dumps you into an inescapable pit of despair. The ending stays with you, and the more you think about it, the worse it gets until you’re curled up under the covers, telling yourself that it’s only fiction.
Happy? No.
The most well-written, absorbing, provocative book I’ve read in years? Yes.
Incubus. Read it, if you dare.
AimerBoyz 
Wasn’t there a chapter where his brother is revealed to be Henry Mancini, and “Moon River” was inspired by Leo’s river of blood?
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LOL! Sounds about right, maybe in the sequel?
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Very Intriguing review. Still, I’m way too much of a wimp to read this. 😞
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Me too! Have no idea why I thought I could handle this. Did you ever see Edwards Scissorhands? That scene at the end of the movie, where he’s all alone, and probably going to live forever? I thought that was so sad, and this, this is worse. Like Twilight Zone sad. As amazingly written as it was, I think I’ll stay away from Noir from now on 🙂
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Wow. What a great review of the book. I’m scared to read it but you sucked me right in. Thanks for the recommendation, I think. Lol.
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I don’t usually post reviews on my blog, but this book left such an impression. I had to write it out. Cathartic.
Let me know if you ever wander into the dark side with this one 🙂
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I like dark, but I also like a little spark of hope at the end. Ha. That said, I might give it a try.
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LOL! Curious now, right?
I like happy endings, there’s enough of the other kind in real life 🙂
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