By Mike Badilla

Anytime I see a book description selling itself as "noir," I'm instantly more interested. Probably one of my favorite genres. That's not to say, however, that there isn't a metric ton of garbage out there labeled in this way. This book, in my opinion, is far from garbage. Dirty? Yes. Trash? No. Let's start from the very beginning; I love the cover. It looks exactly like those pulp noir novels, even down to the classic looking "Hard Case Crime" banner at the top. This looks like a book that would have been on a spinner rack 40 or so years ago, which hooked me instantly. Not only the classic look but the art on the cover is fantastic and makes you feel like you're right there in grimy [enter your favorite grimy city] on a rainy night in the shady part of town. Let's get to the story.