Reviewed by Allan Guthrie

"I have an idea. I’m going to take a vast sample of important texts in American and British noir literature from the 20s to date and discuss exactly what it is that makes them noir."

"What do you mean by ‘vast’? Forty, fifty, sixty?"

"No."

"A hundred?"

"I was thinking more like three hundred and fifty, give or take a Gold Medal or two."

"Right. Isn’t that just a bit ambitious, Al?"

"Well, it’s certainly a massive undertaking, but if you give me about fifty years I should have the first draft written. I've got it all planned, see.  I'm going to split the book into three chronological sections: 1920-45, 1945-1970 and 1970-2000. And within those sections I’ll focus on key types, you know, like in section one it’ll be hard-boiled investigators, big-shot gangsters and small-time crooks, victims of circumstance. Section two I was thinking along the lines of fatal men, fatal women, strangers and outcasts. And the third part: players, voyeurs and consumers."

"Fine, but aren’t you forgetting something?"

"What?"

"Sci-fi."

"Oh, right. Noir sci-fi. Okay. Call it "Pasts and Futures." You with me so far?"

"Sounds good. Sounds bloody unlikely, though. You aware that the scope of this project is, frankly, ridiculous?"

"Think so? I'm going to do it.  I'll find a way."

"You could skimp on the detail, I suppose."

"Bollocks to that. I’ll just write concisely. Convey in a couple of sentences what most academics take a couple of pages to say. I’m figuring on around three hundred pages. Three hundred succinct pages, each one stuffed full of observational detail and insight."

"Easier said than done."

"You think so?"

"Practise on me. Come on. Give me an example."

"Put me on the spot, why don't you?"

"Well?"

"Since you insist. Okay, let me think a minute. How about this? The psychopathic protagonists of Jim Thompson's The Killer Inside Me and Pop. 1280 kill people because murder is the logical conclusion of their verbal critiques of small-town American society."

"Not bad. Not bad at all. Give me another."

"Not now."

"Why not?"

"You'll have to read the book."

"Walked into that one. Fine. Let me ask you. Does that Jim Thompson example reflect the calibre of writer you're going to discuss?"

"Jim Thompson, David Goodis, Mickey Spillane, James Cain, Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Cornell Woolrich."

"Thought so."

"I'll certainly be discussing them. They're important noir writers. But I'll also be examining the novels of John Lodwick, Gerald Butler, Ace Capelli, Darcy Glinto, Al Bocca."

"Who? You lost me after the first two."

"You want the full list? How long have you got? I'm going to cover one hundred and fifty authors, all of whom contributed to the growth of the noir thriller. Let's see. There's..."

"You don't need to list them all. Honestly. I believe you, even if I've never heard of those guys you just mentioned."

"If some of them are sadly forgotten, hopefully my book will generate some renewed interest."

"You know what, Al? I’d buy it. Really, I would. There’s just one problem."

"What?"

"You're too late. Lee Horsley’s already written it."

***

Don't believe the hype? Read Vengeance Is Mine, an extract from Lee Horsley’s absolutely brilliant (couldn't have done it better myself) The Noir Thriller

You can contact Allan Guthrie by clicking here

Read Allan Guthrie's interview with James Reasoner

Read Allan Guthrie's article on James McKimmey

Read Allan Guthrie's hardboiled/noir parody Little Red Riding Hood