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When It All Comes Down to Dust (Phoenix Noir) by Barry Graham
A MYSTERY PEOPLE BEST BOOK OF THE YEARLaura Ponto wouldn't mind watching Frank del Rio being strapped to the executioner's gurney, even if her job is to find mitigating evidence in death penalty cases. Frank's not a client, but a long time ago he did unspeakable things to children - and Laura was one of them. Now Frank is being released on parole, and they will both learn that their lives are still intertwined. Their story will end in a place even darker than it began in a shattering noir novel of suspense, sex, violence, love and death in the urban desert of Phoenix, Arizona.
- GenresNoir
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 10, 2012
2 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
About the author
Barry Graham
61 books50 followersBarry Graham is what Foucault called an Author Function.
More than a dozen books.
Published in magazines including Harper's, Salon, Narratively, PANK, Northwords Now, Flaunt, Parabola, The Big Click and Nerve.
More than a dozen books.
Published in magazines including Harper's, Salon, Narratively, PANK, Northwords Now, Flaunt, Parabola, The Big Click and Nerve.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 20, 2012
Laura Ponto is an ex-cop with a short fuse, a trait that has gotten her into trouble on more than one occasion. Now she's working for the Federal Public Defender's Office in Phoenix, and her job is to try to find evidence in death penalty cases that might spare the lives of convicted killers. But she feels no such compassion for Frank Del Rio, who years ago was convicted and sent to prison for committing sexual crimes against children. One of his victims was Laura herself, and when Del Rio is paroled, Laura serves him with a blunt warning: if she sees him anywhere, even by accident, she will shoot him in the face.
After serving notice on Del Rio, Laura is pursued by David Regier, a reporter who wants her story and whom she believes to be an obnoxious jerk. But a chance encounter at a night club (Phoenix's iconic Rhythm Room) leads her to rethink her gut reaction and before long, Laura and David are testing the waters of a potential new relationship.
What follows is the unfolding story of the relationship between Laura and Frank Del Rio as well as that between Laura and David as all three characters struggle to find their place in life and in relationship to each other. The characters are fully formed and wonderfully drawn, and the book raises some very interesting questions about the nature of love, compassion and forgiveness. This is a gripping story with a lot of unexpected twists and turns, set in the dry heat of Phoenix, Arizona. Graham is a Phoenix resident and former local reporter. Like a lot of Phoenicians, he appears to have a love/hate relationship with the city, but the setting becomes a major character in and of itself. Those who like their crime fiction lean and dark will certainly enjoy this novel.
After serving notice on Del Rio, Laura is pursued by David Regier, a reporter who wants her story and whom she believes to be an obnoxious jerk. But a chance encounter at a night club (Phoenix's iconic Rhythm Room) leads her to rethink her gut reaction and before long, Laura and David are testing the waters of a potential new relationship.
What follows is the unfolding story of the relationship between Laura and Frank Del Rio as well as that between Laura and David as all three characters struggle to find their place in life and in relationship to each other. The characters are fully formed and wonderfully drawn, and the book raises some very interesting questions about the nature of love, compassion and forgiveness. This is a gripping story with a lot of unexpected twists and turns, set in the dry heat of Phoenix, Arizona. Graham is a Phoenix resident and former local reporter. Like a lot of Phoenicians, he appears to have a love/hate relationship with the city, but the setting becomes a major character in and of itself. Those who like their crime fiction lean and dark will certainly enjoy this novel.
February 16, 2013
WHEN IT ALL COMES DOWN TO DUST is a wholly engrossing tale of three lives connected by a single event – a moment in time that bloodies the definition of predator and victim.
Laura – a fractured protagonist whose iron will and determination creates a façade of normalcy to an anything but normal life. Author Barry Graham couldn’t have defined this character any better. Laura will draw upon all your emotions as her sordid past is sliced open with revelation after revelation building and knocking down the walls of a traditional protagonist.
Frank – a monster who took advantage of a young Laura yet wasn’t able to silence her. Now released from prison and apparently reformed, Laura’s past collides with the present with the only possible outcome; one last breath, one last bullet, one shot at a new life.
David - a journalist becomes involved with the object of his attention. After following Laura’s story and printing her privacy for all to read, David’s empathy and emotionally deep sense of self come to the forefront instilling him within Laura’s everyday life while also stabilising his often unpredictable professional life.
The characters and plot itself rival the greats of noir in James M Cain and Cornell Woolrich. The tale Graham weaves spans what seems a lifetime from Laura’s lost childhood, encounter with Frank, to adult relationships while also providing a glimpse into David’s world and the causative factors that lead him to rethink his occupation.
WHEN IT ALL COMES DOWN TO DUST is a modern day classic noir – a story driven by solid characters that act on emotion and are glued by a sinister event which not only bloodies the past but stains the future. A must read for fans of noir.
Laura – a fractured protagonist whose iron will and determination creates a façade of normalcy to an anything but normal life. Author Barry Graham couldn’t have defined this character any better. Laura will draw upon all your emotions as her sordid past is sliced open with revelation after revelation building and knocking down the walls of a traditional protagonist.
Frank – a monster who took advantage of a young Laura yet wasn’t able to silence her. Now released from prison and apparently reformed, Laura’s past collides with the present with the only possible outcome; one last breath, one last bullet, one shot at a new life.
David - a journalist becomes involved with the object of his attention. After following Laura’s story and printing her privacy for all to read, David’s empathy and emotionally deep sense of self come to the forefront instilling him within Laura’s everyday life while also stabilising his often unpredictable professional life.
The characters and plot itself rival the greats of noir in James M Cain and Cornell Woolrich. The tale Graham weaves spans what seems a lifetime from Laura’s lost childhood, encounter with Frank, to adult relationships while also providing a glimpse into David’s world and the causative factors that lead him to rethink his occupation.
WHEN IT ALL COMES DOWN TO DUST is a modern day classic noir – a story driven by solid characters that act on emotion and are glued by a sinister event which not only bloodies the past but stains the future. A must read for fans of noir.
September 3, 2014
The first thing that came up to my mind when I finished WHEN IT ALL COMES DOWN TO DUST is that I'm glad that people like Barry Graham exist. People who keep things in perspective and who understand that life is complex and flowing thing, like a river. Even better, he wrote a book of fiction about it to make his point.
WHEN IT ALL COMES DOWN TO DUST is part novel, part character study and part existential meditation on loneliness and loves. It's an ambitious novel (that's sometime a little too ambition) that has both gusto and wisdom. The flowing structure is a little confusing at times, but Barry Graham's tremendous command of dialogue and powerful understanding of compassion are going to win you over. Very good book.
WHEN IT ALL COMES DOWN TO DUST is part novel, part character study and part existential meditation on loneliness and loves. It's an ambitious novel (that's sometime a little too ambition) that has both gusto and wisdom. The flowing structure is a little confusing at times, but Barry Graham's tremendous command of dialogue and powerful understanding of compassion are going to win you over. Very good book.
June 8, 2017
A book full of psychologically disturbed characters and their interactions, ultimately left me a bit unsettled.
October 5, 2015
Warning, don't buy a stack of Barry Graham's books and start them on a Saturday night, because when you look up it will be Monday morning and you've just read through the lot of them! Compelling in such a way that you breath the dust of the Southwest, feel the lives of the characters and get lost in the at times hopeless but always riveting lives they lead. Why this absolute gem of a book and author are not more well known is beyond me.
October 19, 2013
read to 26%
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews