Dead Girl Blues
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
DEAD GIRL BLUES is a dark novel about a crime that appears to go undetected. Why don't I let these people tell you about it?
"Dark and cold as the far side of the moon, but with prose as lean as a starving model, DEAD GIRL BLUES is like the dead body you can't help but look at. I couldn't quit reading, and damn sure didn't want to. A grim masterpiece of storytelling."
~ Joe R. Lansdale
"The book is so dark it veers into the ultraviolet. But it's also fearless, and it does what art is supposed to do. If you're willing to be horrified by what you see and by the lens through which you see it, maybe LB will sing you those DEAD GIRL BLUES.
~Warren Moore
"DEAD GIRL BLUES still claws at me. It's a time-release dread capsule that locked me in someone's shoes and made my gut twist all along the ride. Maybe his best book, and that's saying something."
~Tom Straw
"It's been a long time since I read anything this hard-hitting and thought-provoking. DEAD GIRL BLUES is daringly original, both shocking and brilliantly told."
~ David Morrell
"DEAD GIRL BLUES will surely offend some readers, but I loved it. It's wonderfully written and pitch-perfect, comfortable and unsettling at the same time. If you are into dark noir, this book is for you."
~Lee Goldberg
"This is an astonishing novel, the most profound examination and evisceration of identity I've encountered in decades. A stunning and terminally unsettling work."
~Barry N. Malzberg
"It's a meditation on dark impulses that is going to haunt me for a good long while. Some people have already noted that this is one of Block's best books, and you can add me to that list."
~Kemper's Book Blog
"When the novel turned out to be a weirdly gentle story of a man who may have gotten away with worse than murder—well, it surprised me. It's that throttling sense of not knowing that makes this bizarre book so fantastic. Come for the violence. Stay for the if."
~Kevin Quigley
"Lawrence Block's first published novel hit the shelves in 1958. The author has published books in eight different decades. Even more remarkable: the quality of his work hasn't slipped a bit. He's still got the magic."
~Tom Simon @ Paperback Warrior
"Ed Gorman said that Block writes the best sentences in the business. That's still true. This is a book that may not be for everybody, since it's a little squirm-inducing in places, but it's also heartwarming. I really liked it."
~James Reasoner @ Rough Edges
"It's a horrible book, and an absolute triumph, by turns chilling, warming, disturbingly erotic. It's about the monster in all of us, and what happens when that monster gets loose. One of the best books he's ever written."
~Derek Farrell @ Do Some Damage
"One of the most powerful books Block has written. The scary part is the way the sociopath proceeds to acquire the veneer of socialization and become a pillar of his community. Oh, and it rings true. I have two sociopathic relatives, and the portrayal resonates very closely to how they behave."
~Deb Wunder @ Goodreads
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This unnerving narrative from MWA Grand Master Block (The Girl with the Deep Blue Eyes) opens in 1968 at a honky-tonk bar in Bakersfield, Calif., where Roger Edward Borden, a gas station attendant in his mid-20s, charms a drunken woman into accompanying him home. He later murders the woman, defiles the corpse, and dumps the body. Borden then flees the state, assumes a new identity, and settles in Lima, Ohio. Haunted by his past, and in perpetual fear of arrest, the sociopath works determinedly to establish himself as a successful businessman, family man, and pillar of society, all the while fighting to suppress his dark impulses and atone for his sins. The thin plot, which takes the form of journal entries, includes tepid familial scenes in which Borden's wife and son appear untroubled by his revelations. This distasteful tale necessarily has limited appeal, but fans of dark noir will appreciate Block's hard-hitting prose and his character's despicable, emotively perverse meditations. (Self-published)
Customer Reviews
Dead Girl Blues
I have always enjoyed Block’s writing, but this is really and truly a piece of garbage. He should be ashamed to end his writing career with this. Do not buy it; it is an embarrassment.