BOOK REVIEW: LIGHTS OUT

When I returned from the mystery conference Bouchercon, I came home with a shitload of books to read. So I decided that I'd review some of them. Of course, it's kind of strange because many of the authors I've gotten to know really well, but I was a fan in the first place.

I recently finished Jason Starr's latest novel Lights Out. Starr has been known as the "white collar noir" writer. I've read his previous novels Twisted City and Cold Caller and I understand why. He's got a knack for portraying the regular guy, in a dead end job, who is eventually pushed to edge, ends up committing a nasty crime and then things spiral out of control.

With Lights Out, he takes a completely different direction. Set in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn (instead of his usual haunt: Manhattan), the novel tells the story of Ryan Rosetti, a once hot shot High School baseball player who now works as a house painter. Ryan's old rival, Jake Thomas, one of the most promising players in the Major Leagues, is returning to Brooklyn to see his fiancee Christina, who Ryan is having an affair with. Once Jake, the ultimate narcissist arrives, a lot of really bad things start to happen...

The novel takes several point of views through the eyes of multiple characters. Violent, wickedly funny, suspenseful and extremely self assured, Lights Out is full of breath taking twists and turns.

What impressed me the most about the writing was Starr's portrait of his African American character Saiquan (as well as others) and life in the ghetto. Starr pulls it off brilliantly. Reading the sequences involving Saiquain and his "baby's mama" often made me laugh out loud because they were so authentic. Starr's ear for interior monologue is flawless. Starr also uses hip hop songs, creating a pulsating soundtrack for the narrative.

I think Starr has really hit his stride as a writer with Lights Out. Painting a much broader, multi-ethnic canvas, he delivers one of the best noir novels of the year.