Noir: A Novel

Christopher Moore

Apr 2018 · Sold by HarperCollins

About this ebook

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

The absurdly outrageous, sarcastically satiric, and always entertaining New York Times bestselling author Christopher Moore returns in finest madcap form with this zany noir set on the mean streets of post-World War II San Francisco, and featuring a diverse cast of characters, including a hapless bartender; his Chinese sidekick; a doll with sharp angles and dangerous curves; a tight-lipped Air Force general; a wisecracking waif; Petey, a black mamba; and many more.

San Francisco. Summer, 1947. A dame walks into a saloon . . .

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.

Think Raymond Chandler meets Damon Runyon with more than a dash of Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes All Stars. It’s all very, very Noir. It’s all very, very Christopher Moore.

Ratings and reviews

I really like most of Christopher Moore's books and I've recently finished "Noir." Moore's efforts to create a noir novel fell victim to his efforts to relentlessly reproduce believable noir dialogue and an ambient noir mood on the tough side of 1940's San Francisco after WW II. He is no Dashiell Hammett. "Noir" is a cute love story with the Bohemian Club as an ominous villain and is a bit cliché. "Noir" doesn't even come close to the Joe Gores' 2009 novel "Spade & Archer."

Having read all of Christopher Moore's books (starting with Love Sucks, then Dirty Jobs, then Lamb), I'd like to think I'm a connoisseur of Moore. But that'd be pretentious and uppity, so I'll just say I love his books and feel confident in that. My favorite book of his is a tie between Fool and Lamb. They're both hilarious, entertaining, and absolutely brilliant. With that said, Noir is not on the same level as Lamb and Fool, but it is most definitely up there with Dirty Job and Sacre Bleu.

...I mean, it wasn't really my cup of snake piss, but that doesn't make it a bad book. The last 70 or so pages were a real gas. A hoot. Reeeaaal swell, indeed. "The Kid" in this story is worth 3 stars on his own merits. He's a real wallaby.

About the author

Christopher Moore is the author of eighteen previous novels, including Razzmatazz, Shakespeare for Squirrels, Noir, Secondhand Souls, Sacré Bleu, Fool, and Lamb. He lives in San Francisco, California.