London Boulevard

November 23, 2009
First published in the U.K. in 2001 and presently being adapted for the movies, Bruen's gritty reimagining of Billy Wilder's "Sunset Boulevard" transplants the action from glitzy Hollywood to the rough and tumble London streets. Fresh out of prison after serving three years for an assault he can't remember, Mitchell tries unsuccessfully to steer clear of his old life, even as friends pressure him to get back in the crime game. Looking for an honest job, Mitchell finds work as a handyman for a wealthy and reclusive former stage beauty, Lillian Palmer, who lives in a sprawling estate with her taciturn butler, Jordan. Soon, Mitchell's increasingly complicated relationship with Palmer becomes inextricably intertwined with his violent past. While Mitchell and Palmer obviously evoke "Sunset"'s Joe Gillis and Norma Desmond, Bruen ("Once Were Cops") adds his own cast of supporting characters, notably Mitchell's eccentric sister, Briony. Noir fans will enjoy this rapid-fire thrill ride. "(Dec.)" .

November 1, 2009
An ex-con, an ex-actress and an excess of gore star in Bruen's latest exercise in dark-as-it-gets noir.

After three years, Mitchell is out of jail and back on London's mean streets, knowing one thing for sure: He's not going back. The difficulty, of course, is how to keep his nose clean when everything it sniffs reeks of gangsters. For instance, Mitch's old buddy Billy Norton wants him to join a flourishing loan-sharking operation that he can't help seeing as a slippery slope. Still, ex-cons have so few choices that something like Billy's deal seems inevitable. Enter opportunity in the surprisingly lissome form of Lillian Palmer, an aging actress who can still do wonders for a dormant libido. She hires Mitch as a handyman for all reasons, and soon enough, in an extended echo of Sunset Boulevard, they become intimate. Mitch seems to be settling in, with a cushy job, a lady who interests him and a perfectly gorgeous Rolls-Royce more or less at his disposal. But a man whose mantra is"I don't do friendly" has a way of unleashing hostile forces; soon bullets are flying and body bags filling, all too often with those Mitch loves.

Mindless violence masquerading as noir. Bruen (Once Were Cops, 2008, etc.) has done much better.

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Starred review from November 1, 2009
This is a strong solo effort from Irish noir master Bruen, whose prose floats like a butterfly and stings like bejesus. Mitchell has just been sprung after serving three years for aggravated battery. On his own, he visits his vulnerable sister, makes out with a perfect Irish colleen, and takes up with his old mates, soon settling comfortably into the round of pints and casual thuggery that constitutes South London culture. But then he's hired on as jack of all trades for Lillian Palmer, a faded stage actress who lives lavishly in her Holland Park mansion, attended by her manservant/driver/sometime husband, while to Mitchell falls the task of servicing her. It seems Mitchell has never seen "Sunset Boulevard", or he'd realize he's sauntering down a dead-end street. VERDICT After several collaborationswith Jason Starr ("The Max") and Reed Farrel Coleman ("Tower")this, too, is a collaborative effort of sorts, with Bruen in top form doing a mad Irish jig with the shades of Gloria Swanson and Erich von Stroheim. A film version currently in production with Colin Farrell and Keira Knightley will insure interest here. [See Prepub Mystery, "LJ" 9/1/09; library marketing campaign.]Bob Lunn, Kansas City, MO

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