The Top 10 Most Subversive Noir Novels Ever Written
Do you find yourself drawn to hardboiled protagonists battling venal, corrupt systems in dark landscapes filled with femme fatales and moral ambiguity that confound gender roles and societal norms? If so, you might be a fan of noir. So, whether you’re a connoisseur of the genre or just finished your first Chander or Hammett and now you want to dive deeper take a look at this list of grim treasures. Go ahead, try it, just this once. Let me help you out. What’s the worst that could happen? Nobody needs to get hurt. No one else needs to know.
Get Carter, Ted Lewis – A pitch perfect glimpse into the British criminal underworld. London mobster, Jack Carter, refuses to believe his brother died in an accident and returns to their hometown to investigate for himself.
Pick-Up, Charles Willeford – Two struggling alcoholics meet and soon enter into a suicide pact and this novel doesn’t get much more uplifting from there. A grim but brilliant and relevant book with one of the best endings in crime fiction.
About the Author
Sam Garonzik graduated from Duke University and worked in finance before he started writing. He lives in New York with his wife and two children. A Rough Way to Go is his first novel.
Peter Greene spends his days taking care of his toddler, Luke; staying on the right side of The Moms in his local beach town; and hanging out with his surf buddy, Frank. Isolated from his former life in finance, and frustrated by his current “out of work” existence, he worries that if he sits around the house for much longer, his workaholic wife might start to lose patience with him. He has few escapes aside from surfing and the love he has for his son.
But when the body of wealthy Wall Street investor Robert Townsend washes up on shore one morning, nothing about the incident makes sense to Pete, and he’s completely bewildered when the death is ruled an accidental drowning. But when he takes his concerns to the police, they ignore him—so he decides to investigate on his own. Sustained only by the unquestioning devotion of his three-year-old sidekick, Pete starts looking into Townsend’s eccentric relatives and employer, the ruthless and secretive private equity firm GDR. But has Pete deluded himself with this misguided quest for redemption? Or has he uncovered something sinister enough to risk his life, and even his family?
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