Books: Noir By Christopher Moore (2018)

“It’s not every afternoon that an enigmatic, comely blonde named Stilton (like the cheese) walks into the scruffy gin joint where Sammy "Two Toes" Tiffin tends bar. It’s love at first sight, but before Sammy can make his move, an Air Force general named Remy arrives with some urgent business. ’Cause when you need something done, Sammy is the guy to go to; he’s got the connections on the street. Meanwhile, a suspicious flying object has been spotted up the Pacific coast in Washington State near Mount Rainer, followed by a mysterious plane crash in a distant patch of desert in New Mexico that goes by the name Roswell. But the real weirdness is happening on the streets of the City by the Bay. When one of Sammy’s schemes goes south and the Cheese mysteriously vanishes, Sammy is forced to contend with his own dark secrets—and more than a few strange goings on—if he wants to find his girl.”

While Christopher Moore continues to be a reliable funny writer of human quirks, his latest novel, Noir, suffers from a somewhat muddled plot that seems to a while to kick in. The book starts off great, with the writer’s patent zingers and one-liners bouncing around and hitting their targets to make me smile. Not laugh out loud, as he used to do, but enough for me to enjoy at least half the book.

While satirizing a genre that is noir, he is able to bring the atmosphere of San Francisco of 1947 alive. Its heavy fog, its cold summers and reliable weirdness come off the pages and wrap its tendrils around you. But that’s as close as it comes to the classic genre. And while it has a lot of Moore’s trademark wit, it really does not feel like Moore books of the past (something I’ve felt for a while). Which is good for new readers, but makes me wonder where the writer of Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal diverged. He still has well researched books, appealing characters, and the sparkling jokes, but I don’t think he’s talking a risk anymore. Then again, when he started publishing novels back in 1992, not many people were doing what he did –books about men and women’s relationships, mixing the supernatural and satire to create some funny novels. Those early books, Practical Demonkeeping, Coyote Blue, Island of the Sequined Love Nun, The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove and Lamb seemed to more original and even risky. Now, well, we see a lot out there.

Still, even his weakest books are still good, and I’ll still recommend it.