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Taco Noir
Walk the mean streets of a nameless city alongside a no-name detective as he matches wits with the likes of the notorious Sweet Jesse Vasquez, the lovely and dangerous Maria Del Toro, and Jimmy Two-Fingers, the second story man with a heart of gold. Go head-to-head with the best and worst the Federal Bureau of Investigation has to offer. Thrill to the cases of the Undercover Mulligan, the Hard-Boiled Monte Cristo, and the Absent Artifact. And of course, learn the secret to delicious Tacos de Pollo.
- GenresCooking
196 pages, Paperback
First published May 13, 2012
131 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 17, 2013
The sun visited as frequently as a paying client, but unlike those same clients, when it showed up it came like gangbusters. It beat through the clouds and filled the city with an unfamiliar sensation that I can only take as hope.
Man, I LOVE the way this guy writes! Old-school noir at its finest, AND he's got the gritty, snappy dialogue down pat. You can smell the cigarette smoke and cheap perfume, and see the mist drifting in from the docks, where the body of some poor schmuck floats face-down in the filthy water.
There are about a dozen short stories here that are a fine tribute to old-school noir. Gomez has the gritty, snappy dialogue down pat, and his tales are peppered with humor that make them fun to read.
“Youse aren’t welcome here,” said the monolith, a dark haired, mustached slab whose eyebrows met in the center of his forehead and embraced like old prep school chums.
And:
...the place was filling up faster than a crooked charity Santa’s pockets during the holiday shopping season.
And:
Jimmy Two-Fingers was a short, wiry little second-story man I knew from the neighborhood. I had known Jimmy for most of my life, back even when he was known as Jimmy Four-Fingers.
Great, huh? So why only three stars? Well, each one of the stories ends in a recipe. In fact, some of the stories don't end so much as step aside to make room for the recipe. I'm pretty sure some of the tales were written BECAUSE OF the recipe.
As the author explains in his intro: The detective’s world is defined by the places people eat, drink, and congregate. Our hero crashes cocktail parties, meets informants at dive bars, and gets his heart started every morning in the local hash-house with coffee every bit as bitter as he.
That may be so, but I found hard-boiled fiction AND cooking to be an uncomfortable mix.
There is real talent here, but next time, I hope Gomez's private eye spends more time in his trench coat, and less time wearing an apron.
Man, I LOVE the way this guy writes! Old-school noir at its finest, AND he's got the gritty, snappy dialogue down pat. You can smell the cigarette smoke and cheap perfume, and see the mist drifting in from the docks, where the body of some poor schmuck floats face-down in the filthy water.
There are about a dozen short stories here that are a fine tribute to old-school noir. Gomez has the gritty, snappy dialogue down pat, and his tales are peppered with humor that make them fun to read.
“Youse aren’t welcome here,” said the monolith, a dark haired, mustached slab whose eyebrows met in the center of his forehead and embraced like old prep school chums.
And:
...the place was filling up faster than a crooked charity Santa’s pockets during the holiday shopping season.
And:
Jimmy Two-Fingers was a short, wiry little second-story man I knew from the neighborhood. I had known Jimmy for most of my life, back even when he was known as Jimmy Four-Fingers.
Great, huh? So why only three stars? Well, each one of the stories ends in a recipe. In fact, some of the stories don't end so much as step aside to make room for the recipe. I'm pretty sure some of the tales were written BECAUSE OF the recipe.
As the author explains in his intro: The detective’s world is defined by the places people eat, drink, and congregate. Our hero crashes cocktail parties, meets informants at dive bars, and gets his heart started every morning in the local hash-house with coffee every bit as bitter as he.
That may be so, but I found hard-boiled fiction AND cooking to be an uncomfortable mix.
There is real talent here, but next time, I hope Gomez's private eye spends more time in his trench coat, and less time wearing an apron.
June 2, 2012
A fun detective book that KICKS!
I bought the book in the tasting room of a winery in the foothills and just fell in love with it! I was talking to the woman behind the counter about fun food books that weren’t just dry cookbooks and she put this in my hand. I started reading it over lunch at a local bakery and couldn’t put it down. I finished it in one day and can’t wait to try some of the recipes.
I also heard that the writer is hosting a mystery dinner in town. This is definitely a MUST GO for me and the family.
The thirteen stories in the book are lighthearted without being satirical, and the recipes are written in the voice of the main character.
So - if you're a fan of either genre (hard-boiled detective stories or cooking), I can't recommend this book enough. Taco Noir has the feel of an old-fashioned, dark alley detective story as well as the fun!
I bought the book in the tasting room of a winery in the foothills and just fell in love with it! I was talking to the woman behind the counter about fun food books that weren’t just dry cookbooks and she put this in my hand. I started reading it over lunch at a local bakery and couldn’t put it down. I finished it in one day and can’t wait to try some of the recipes.
I also heard that the writer is hosting a mystery dinner in town. This is definitely a MUST GO for me and the family.
The thirteen stories in the book are lighthearted without being satirical, and the recipes are written in the voice of the main character.
So - if you're a fan of either genre (hard-boiled detective stories or cooking), I can't recommend this book enough. Taco Noir has the feel of an old-fashioned, dark alley detective story as well as the fun!
April 3, 2013
I got this book and a little book mark from a GoodReads giveaway. It is a collection of short mysteries featuring food themes. Like other food/themed mysteries I found this to be an enjoyable read. I usually don't read a lot of short stories since I would rather see more character development. But these were a nice little read before bedtime. I look forward to more from this author.
Bonus: There are recipes scattered though-out the book. It is a great bonus.
Bonus: There are recipes scattered though-out the book. It is a great bonus.
March 22, 2013
I won this through first reads
This was a great book. The combination of the noir short stories leading into story-related recipes was innovative and well-done.I greatly enjoyed this book. I highly recommend Taco Noir!
This was a great book. The combination of the noir short stories leading into story-related recipes was innovative and well-done.I greatly enjoyed this book. I highly recommend Taco Noir!
October 8, 2020
I have been looking forward to this book for quite some time. Nothing like a bit of noir fiction to cleanse the palette, especially when there is good stuff for your palette. This is a collection of very short stories starring a no-name detective with a taste for solving crimes and food. Each short story is followed up with a recipe. The recipes are something more than the average gumshoe's hot pastrami on rye. There is some good stuff in here from Mulligan's stew to pizza doe, tacos to sweet cherry pie. There is even stuff for vegetarians like me: falafels and Baba Ghanouj. These also are not your average instructions on cooking either. For Falafels, roll the mixture like a delinquent would roll a tourist. The recipes are as fun to read as the stories.
A wonderful blend of shady characters and good eats.
(Strictly read for fun and not for a required review)
A wonderful blend of shady characters and good eats.
(Strictly read for fun and not for a required review)
March 7, 2013
Did you ever notice how most detective stories talk about food at least once? Steven Gomez did and made that the focus of his delightful collection of short stories in TACO NOIR. As he states in his introduction: The letter of the law is almost always broken and its spirit might suffer, but more often than not, justice is served. And it is served with the appropriate side dish
Twelve of the chapters feature the nameless private eye tackling one assignment in a few pages. Each one features a specific dish with the recipe provided at the end. The thirteenth chapter, following the same model, stars a character from a previous chapter. Most of the missions include murder or missing people or objects,
While the plots are somewhat thin, the words provide great fun. They also include almost every cliche phrase found in detective stories, especially those of the mid-twentieth century. The phrases include “wide, innocent baby blues” “stuffed our pie-holes with pie” “The stiffs were busy making nice with each other” “Is strictly second fiddle” “the daily rag” “The ladies were trying to get out of Dodge.” “They drove off into the sunset.” “Hot foot it over” “Sleeping giant of the city” “Palookas” and “What is a mug like me can do for a dame like you?”
Gomez sets up some wonderful word pictures to describe characters actions and personalities. After a hefty character collapsed onto a sofa, he observed, “The sofa groaned a little, but held up its end of the bargain.” One character “made his money the old-fashioned way, through dead relatives.” “[She] took the silver spoon out of her mouth on weekends and used it in a soup kitchen on the East Side.” “The smell of gin was so thick on her breath I was surprised the wallpaper adhered to the walls.” “Hughie threw back his drink, because that’s what he saw detectives do in the movies. I spent the next ten minutes slapping him on the back as he fought for air.” He described one character as “a guy in his fifties with salt and pepper hair and a mustache that made him look as if he tied young women to the railroad tracks and laughed maniacally in his spare time.” And, one funny dialogue went “Three months ago, Professor Martin Path made the discovery of a lifetime in Egypt.” “A kosher deli?”
The recipes, all of which are plausible, continue the playful style instructing the cook to “break up the butter to the size of large buckshot” “If the dough crumbles and doesn’t cooperate, slowly add more water, tablespoon by tablespoon, until the dough shows you some respect.” “Put it aside for about ten minutes or so, or approximately two or three chapters of a Mickey Spillane novel.” “Knead the dough until it takes on a smooth consistency; just the opposite of what you would look like under similar circumstances.” “It should be fatter than a bookie’s wallet after the Derby.” Ingredients include “2 bottles of cheap beer.” “Top with ...dashed dreams. Whatever floats your boat.”
TACO NOIR is a delightful escape from the mundane by an author who doesn’t allow us to take things too seriously.
While I received this book through a free Amazon download, had I known how much I would enjoy it I would have paid for it.
Twelve of the chapters feature the nameless private eye tackling one assignment in a few pages. Each one features a specific dish with the recipe provided at the end. The thirteenth chapter, following the same model, stars a character from a previous chapter. Most of the missions include murder or missing people or objects,
While the plots are somewhat thin, the words provide great fun. They also include almost every cliche phrase found in detective stories, especially those of the mid-twentieth century. The phrases include “wide, innocent baby blues” “stuffed our pie-holes with pie” “The stiffs were busy making nice with each other” “Is strictly second fiddle” “the daily rag” “The ladies were trying to get out of Dodge.” “They drove off into the sunset.” “Hot foot it over” “Sleeping giant of the city” “Palookas” and “What is a mug like me can do for a dame like you?”
Gomez sets up some wonderful word pictures to describe characters actions and personalities. After a hefty character collapsed onto a sofa, he observed, “The sofa groaned a little, but held up its end of the bargain.” One character “made his money the old-fashioned way, through dead relatives.” “[She] took the silver spoon out of her mouth on weekends and used it in a soup kitchen on the East Side.” “The smell of gin was so thick on her breath I was surprised the wallpaper adhered to the walls.” “Hughie threw back his drink, because that’s what he saw detectives do in the movies. I spent the next ten minutes slapping him on the back as he fought for air.” He described one character as “a guy in his fifties with salt and pepper hair and a mustache that made him look as if he tied young women to the railroad tracks and laughed maniacally in his spare time.” And, one funny dialogue went “Three months ago, Professor Martin Path made the discovery of a lifetime in Egypt.” “A kosher deli?”
The recipes, all of which are plausible, continue the playful style instructing the cook to “break up the butter to the size of large buckshot” “If the dough crumbles and doesn’t cooperate, slowly add more water, tablespoon by tablespoon, until the dough shows you some respect.” “Put it aside for about ten minutes or so, or approximately two or three chapters of a Mickey Spillane novel.” “Knead the dough until it takes on a smooth consistency; just the opposite of what you would look like under similar circumstances.” “It should be fatter than a bookie’s wallet after the Derby.” Ingredients include “2 bottles of cheap beer.” “Top with ...dashed dreams. Whatever floats your boat.”
TACO NOIR is a delightful escape from the mundane by an author who doesn’t allow us to take things too seriously.
While I received this book through a free Amazon download, had I known how much I would enjoy it I would have paid for it.
May 8, 2013
I won this in a Goodreads Giveaway.
This is my first time reading any sort of novel like this. Food themes and mystery? Quite interesting interweaving.
This is my first time reading any sort of novel like this. Food themes and mystery? Quite interesting interweaving.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews