Dispatches From Noir

Once upon a time, I dreamed of being an author. I thought I would write a great noir novel. That never happened, but I still admire the spare, descriptive prose and retro sensibilities of the hard-boiled detective.

I also see people every day. Sometimes I can't help but wonder what Chandler, Hammett, Leonard, Cain or even Fleming might have to say about them. So I take a stab at it. Here is the rogue's gallery of the novels and stories I never wrote. Meet the villains, bystanders, toughs and low-lifes that would populate them.

This is also a journal of my own journeys through the wonderful world of hardboiled/noir crime fiction. I review books and movies, and I’m happy to answer crime fiction questions and give recommendations. I'm also starting to think I might just be able to write some fiction of my own. I don't know how that will turn out. I do know that anything that appears on this page is just a dispatch from the great land of Noir.

A great many excellent writers have written hardboiled or noir fiction, and these art forms have spread worldwide. Nevertheless, the hardboiled detective and the doomed noir protagonist are rooted in America’s Jazz Age. The Fourth of July is a good time to examine how hardboiled and noir fiction has developed since Hammett, Chandler and Cain. Here are a few current American writers that have written excellent hardboiled or noir fiction. All of them continue to write and illuminate various geographical areas in the United States of America, and important themes of American history…

Today at CFL, I celebrate the Fourth of July by listing 5 American authors writing in the hardboiled tradition. I take a look at writers who have written about different regions of the country and explored different aspects of the American experience. So check it out. And leave a comment there or here letting me know what you think of my choices.