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Felonious Jazz
When a client of a Raleigh, N.C., law firm finds his McMansion burglarized -- and his new wife's dog dead -- he suspects his ex-wife. But firm investigator Jeff Davis Swaine senses this is someone far more dangerous. As Swaine takes the case, washed-up bassist Leonard Noblac watches. He's performing the tracks on his "jazz album of felonies" to punish the "zeros" who live in this quiet suburb.
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First published May 8, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 9, 2010
Well, what to say here. A new author but experienced writer, who I happened upon in the aisles of a Raleigh bookstore. This was cool, the chance to get an author to sell their book to me. Bryan managed it, his enthusiasm was infectious and I happily parted with my hard earned pounds dollars.
So, how did it go? An uneasy start for me, not the initial unexpected violence, but the feeling that I was jumping in to the middle of a story and I ought to know more about these characters. It soon settled down though into a steady and thoroughly puzzling mystery. Well, puzzling for the good guys, we are given every thought and action of the bad guy too.
I hadn't realised it but the characters were developing very strongly and by the second half I was enthralled and it became quite the page turner. The ending didn't disappoint and was followed by epilogue type chapters, nice. Ah, and that last chapter...
Very good, more of these characters please Bryan. Recommended to all.
So, how did it go? An uneasy start for me, not the initial unexpected violence, but the feeling that I was jumping in to the middle of a story and I ought to know more about these characters. It soon settled down though into a steady and thoroughly puzzling mystery. Well, puzzling for the good guys, we are given every thought and action of the bad guy too.
I hadn't realised it but the characters were developing very strongly and by the second half I was enthralled and it became quite the page turner. The ending didn't disappoint and was followed by epilogue type chapters, nice. Ah, and that last chapter...
Very good, more of these characters please Bryan. Recommended to all.
August 29, 2011
This is the first audiobook I’ve listened to but even though I’m an inexperienced audiobook listener, I would have to say that there could not have been a better narrator for this than the author himself. The author, knowing his characters best, is able to portray each character’s personality differently through the use of varying accents and a changing tone of voice.
The book starts off with a burglary scene in the upper-class suburb of Rocky Falls, a fictitious town in North Carolina, during which Leonard Noblack, a middle-aged Jazz artist with hopes of making it big is busy carrying out his own twisted form of justice by killing a terminally ill pet cat belonging to the family whose home he has broken into. Leonard makes for an interesting character, with his strange addiction to waterless hand sanitizer and its alcohol content and his vague, senseless justification for his nefarious activities.
We soon shift to a scene with the book’s main character, J. Davis Swain III, who is an investigator with a major law firm arriving at the scene of the crime and trying to figure out what the cryptic messages left by the burglar on the walls might mean. After similar burglaries occur, with all appearing to be connected and are obviously carried out by the same person, Jeff is forced to speed up his investigation and soon comes to a shocking realisation about just how close to home this criminal’s target is. With circumstances getting more serious and the level of danger escalating after an accidental death, sparking the idea for a kidnapping and even an attempted rape, Jeff is forced to mobilise all resources at his disposal and even team up with a nosy local reporter he has a one-night stand with, while feeling guilty for keeping it from his girlfriend who he no longer has any feelings for, and even manages to handle a visiting ex-girlfriend that he’s not quite over and who’s been added into the mix after being a target of Leonard’s all while fearing for his safety and for the safety of those associated with him. Along the way, we get a glimpse into the twisted mind of a jazz artist of no special talent who refuses to come to terms with his situation in life and seeks to obtain some measure of recognition for his work through engaging in dangerous criminal activity.
I enjoyed this novel immensely and was quite shocked at the way it ended because it left me with so many questions, making me think that this may be the beginning of a series written by an exceptionally talented debut author.
The book starts off with a burglary scene in the upper-class suburb of Rocky Falls, a fictitious town in North Carolina, during which Leonard Noblack, a middle-aged Jazz artist with hopes of making it big is busy carrying out his own twisted form of justice by killing a terminally ill pet cat belonging to the family whose home he has broken into. Leonard makes for an interesting character, with his strange addiction to waterless hand sanitizer and its alcohol content and his vague, senseless justification for his nefarious activities.
We soon shift to a scene with the book’s main character, J. Davis Swain III, who is an investigator with a major law firm arriving at the scene of the crime and trying to figure out what the cryptic messages left by the burglar on the walls might mean. After similar burglaries occur, with all appearing to be connected and are obviously carried out by the same person, Jeff is forced to speed up his investigation and soon comes to a shocking realisation about just how close to home this criminal’s target is. With circumstances getting more serious and the level of danger escalating after an accidental death, sparking the idea for a kidnapping and even an attempted rape, Jeff is forced to mobilise all resources at his disposal and even team up with a nosy local reporter he has a one-night stand with, while feeling guilty for keeping it from his girlfriend who he no longer has any feelings for, and even manages to handle a visiting ex-girlfriend that he’s not quite over and who’s been added into the mix after being a target of Leonard’s all while fearing for his safety and for the safety of those associated with him. Along the way, we get a glimpse into the twisted mind of a jazz artist of no special talent who refuses to come to terms with his situation in life and seeks to obtain some measure of recognition for his work through engaging in dangerous criminal activity.
I enjoyed this novel immensely and was quite shocked at the way it ended because it left me with so many questions, making me think that this may be the beginning of a series written by an exceptionally talented debut author.
April 30, 2012
Leonard Noblac, a jazz bassist with an inability to improvise, is working on his new album. He's found a source of inspiration - crime. How Leonard learns to improvise through his crime spree is both disturbing and fascinating. He is a richly complex character that you can't help but sympathize with, even as you cringe for his descent into madness.
Leonard's genius, coupled with his lack of ability to improvise and his diminished empathy made me wonder if he was somewhere on the autism spectrum.
The investigator who uncovers Leonard's crimes, Jeff Davis Swaine, isn't quite as compelling as the criminal, but still a solid offering in his own right. He's got a personal life and a past trauma he's juggling while trying to make sense of the spree that's going on.
Supporting characters are also very well written - Leonard's ex-wife, and the babysitter he 'hires' are both presented as strong and capable.
The plot has some moments where you just shake your head at Leonard's sense of justice - both because it's outrageous, and because it makes a certain twisted sense.
The issues with society that Leonard pokes at will remain with you after you've read the book, as will the character. I'm hoping he returns in a sequel.
I read the Kindle version, but there is also an audiobook that I would like to pick up at some point because I enjoyed the story to the point I would like to hear it read by its author.
Leonard's genius, coupled with his lack of ability to improvise and his diminished empathy made me wonder if he was somewhere on the autism spectrum.
The investigator who uncovers Leonard's crimes, Jeff Davis Swaine, isn't quite as compelling as the criminal, but still a solid offering in his own right. He's got a personal life and a past trauma he's juggling while trying to make sense of the spree that's going on.
Supporting characters are also very well written - Leonard's ex-wife, and the babysitter he 'hires' are both presented as strong and capable.
The plot has some moments where you just shake your head at Leonard's sense of justice - both because it's outrageous, and because it makes a certain twisted sense.
The issues with society that Leonard pokes at will remain with you after you've read the book, as will the character. I'm hoping he returns in a sequel.
I read the Kindle version, but there is also an audiobook that I would like to pick up at some point because I enjoyed the story to the point I would like to hear it read by its author.
June 26, 2009
This was a crime caper type book. It was set in the Raleigh area so that was really fun for me to read about placed I know. It was a bit longer and drawn out than it needed to be though. But overall it was a good, fun read.
May 6, 2012
Good book, with a twist at the end
December 6, 2013
Kind of demented, but a good story.
February 15, 2016
While I really enjoyed the mystery of this book the main character was way too much of a Mary Sue for me to give it a good rating.
October 3, 2016
Very interesting protagonist, action, jazz (obviously) sprinkled throughout the book , and a flawed antagonist. I'd definitely read another by the same author.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews