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Broken Glass Waltzes
Broken Glass Waltzes is a crime thriller set in the heavy metal club scene of the Midwest of the late 80s/early 90s. It’s a story of lust, violence and madness with a heavy metal beat. Jim Thompson meets Alice Cooper. Metallica reading James M. Cain.
PRAISE: “Warren Moore’s Broken Glass Waltzes is as relentless as Tony Iommi’s guitar and pounds at the reader’s brain like Dave Lombardo’s machine gun drums. A Heavy Metal Noir ride replete with sex, drugs, rock n’ roll—and a murder conceived in insanity—this wicked gem moves at a breakneck pace from the moment Cincinnati’s number one metal drummer meets the girl of his nightmares to the shocking climax. Two sets of devil horns, high up.” —Ed Kurtz, author of Bleed, Control, and A Wind of Knives
PRAISE: “Warren Moore’s Broken Glass Waltzes is as relentless as Tony Iommi’s guitar and pounds at the reader’s brain like Dave Lombardo’s machine gun drums. A Heavy Metal Noir ride replete with sex, drugs, rock n’ roll—and a murder conceived in insanity—this wicked gem moves at a breakneck pace from the moment Cincinnati’s number one metal drummer meets the girl of his nightmares to the shocking climax. Two sets of devil horns, high up.” —Ed Kurtz, author of Bleed, Control, and A Wind of Knives
208 pages, Paperback
First published February 28, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 29, 2014
Kenny's in a metal band that plays cover tunes all over the Cincinnati area. He gets tangled up with a groupie named Jean, who turns out to be very married and a crazy-ass bitch, to boot. Or is she?
Was she once a victim of childhood abuse now looking for payback, or is that just a lie to keep Kenny at her side? Perhaps she really is, as Kenny puts it, "...ten pounds of weird in a five pound sack."
Much of this woeful tale seems familiar, though the music scene backdrop added a nice touch - think Body Heat with a Blue Oyster Cult soundtrack. Plus, it was enough of a page-turner that my husband received my withering-look-of-death every time he tried to snatch his Kindle back from me.
It's not a bad read, though a bit predictable. Watching the interesting characters perform their doomed mating dance makes this one worth a look.
Was she once a victim of childhood abuse now looking for payback, or is that just a lie to keep Kenny at her side? Perhaps she really is, as Kenny puts it, "...ten pounds of weird in a five pound sack."
Much of this woeful tale seems familiar, though the music scene backdrop added a nice touch - think Body Heat with a Blue Oyster Cult soundtrack. Plus, it was enough of a page-turner that my husband received my withering-look-of-death every time he tried to snatch his Kindle back from me.
It's not a bad read, though a bit predictable. Watching the interesting characters perform their doomed mating dance makes this one worth a look.
June 17, 2013
BROKEN GLASS WALTZES definitively wasn't what I expected. I thought it would be a raucous, grandiose rock n' roll odyssey, but instead I got a claustrophobic, Shakespearean story of unfathomable, unexplainable human longings.
That said, it wasn't bad at all.
I was just surprised at the peculiar, nostalgic setting while the story might've gained to have none, to leave its character on a blank, abstract slate. Jean is quite the literary creation. Warren Moore expertly pulls the cover on her little by little, keeping important parts of her veiled until key moments. She is the motor of the story in many regards.
Warren Moore understand the dynamics of human need very well, as well as their crushing power over the self. I thought there were hiccups here and there, but nothing that kept BROKEN GLASS WALTZES from being a strong first novel.
That said, it wasn't bad at all.
I was just surprised at the peculiar, nostalgic setting while the story might've gained to have none, to leave its character on a blank, abstract slate. Jean is quite the literary creation. Warren Moore expertly pulls the cover on her little by little, keeping important parts of her veiled until key moments. She is the motor of the story in many regards.
Warren Moore understand the dynamics of human need very well, as well as their crushing power over the self. I thought there were hiccups here and there, but nothing that kept BROKEN GLASS WALTZES from being a strong first novel.
July 2, 2014
Boy in band. Boy meets girl. Girl loves boy. Maybe a little too much. Things get crazy.
Broken Glass Waltzes takes you all around the metal scene in 1990s Cincinnati. Our narrator Kenny, drummer for the band The Selekt, lives the rock and roll lifestyle: practice, gigs, parties, girls. He meets Jean, who may be just another groupie at a gig. However, Kenny soon realizes that when Jean latches on to something, she doesn’t let go very easily. Jean is, according to Kenny, “three steps past the Twilight Zone.” And, Jean appears to have quite a few secrets. Kenny tries to figure out Jean, what is true and what is illusion, but as he does so, he gets further and further into an unstable, reckless world.
Things get a little complicated, and murderous.
Broken Glass Waltzes comes around and becomes quite a different tale than I thought it would be. Sure, you can see some plot developments coming, but there is a definite progression from beginning to end, with some edgy cynicism, dark humor and philosophy thrown in. The title itself, Broken Glass Waltzes, is such an appropriate name because it comes to be a bit of a metaphor for these two lost and woeful souls holding each other, trying to find their bearings, while things crumble around and about them.
Even though there is an element of bleakness in Broken Glass Waltzes, there is also a flair for humor in the way of Kenny’s cynicism and insight into metal bands, the metal and club scene, and the reckless rock and roll lifestyle.
If there was one problem I saw, I think at points there is too much focus on Kenny and Jean’s exploits, as these moments get a little too gratuitous and detailed than what was necessary.
Still, Broken Glass Waltzes is a high-charged noir that has a unique setting and a plot that takes you along to a fitting conclusion.
If you read, make sure you hold on tight.
Broken Glass Waltzes takes you all around the metal scene in 1990s Cincinnati. Our narrator Kenny, drummer for the band The Selekt, lives the rock and roll lifestyle: practice, gigs, parties, girls. He meets Jean, who may be just another groupie at a gig. However, Kenny soon realizes that when Jean latches on to something, she doesn’t let go very easily. Jean is, according to Kenny, “three steps past the Twilight Zone.” And, Jean appears to have quite a few secrets. Kenny tries to figure out Jean, what is true and what is illusion, but as he does so, he gets further and further into an unstable, reckless world.
Things get a little complicated, and murderous.
Broken Glass Waltzes comes around and becomes quite a different tale than I thought it would be. Sure, you can see some plot developments coming, but there is a definite progression from beginning to end, with some edgy cynicism, dark humor and philosophy thrown in. The title itself, Broken Glass Waltzes, is such an appropriate name because it comes to be a bit of a metaphor for these two lost and woeful souls holding each other, trying to find their bearings, while things crumble around and about them.
Even though there is an element of bleakness in Broken Glass Waltzes, there is also a flair for humor in the way of Kenny’s cynicism and insight into metal bands, the metal and club scene, and the reckless rock and roll lifestyle.
If there was one problem I saw, I think at points there is too much focus on Kenny and Jean’s exploits, as these moments get a little too gratuitous and detailed than what was necessary.
Still, Broken Glass Waltzes is a high-charged noir that has a unique setting and a plot that takes you along to a fitting conclusion.
If you read, make sure you hold on tight.
June 9, 2014
This was the choice of a Pulp Fiction book club I'm in, and a book and author that I had never heard of. Right from the start the voice of the main character, Kenny Rockford a.k.a. Robbie Rock, grabs you and pulls you along for the ride. Kenny is the drummer of a metal band in Cincinnati, and the group is about as successful as a local group can get playing covers of other band's hits. Life may not be great, but life is pretty good for Kenny. He gets to play music for enough money to keep a roof over his head and gets his pick of the rocker chicks that come to the clubs he plays in. Kenny's life gets shaken to it's foundation when he meets Jean, a woman that might be crazy or she might be the love of Kenny's life, maybe both. You can guess pretty early on where the story is going, but Kenny's voice keeps you interested, as he makes observation after observation on life and all that goes with it. I found the journey quite enjoyable and exactly the kind of book I hoped to find when I joined the pulp fiction group.
November 11, 2017
I can't give this five stars only because of personal embarrassment. There's a lot of sexual content in this book, a lot more than I am strictly comfortable with, but if I set that aside it is really just a wild, dark ride with a driving beat. The twisted love story of Kenny and Jean is like a terrible car wreck you just can't look away from even though you're pretty sure you're going to catch a glimpse of gray matter smeared on the pavement and it's going to change you.
October 23, 2017
Before you read this book, buckle yourself in, because it's a wild and rough ride. It's all about sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll. And violence. If all that's your jam, you'll love it. Our hapless and slightly bored protagonist is in Cincinnati in the 1980's, a drummer in a metal cover band. Sex seems more like a chore than a pleasure, until he meets a special woman who rocks his world. Complications ensue. This book is gritty, down and dirty, and smacks of lives of going-nowhere desperation. Some clever setups in the narrative hint at outcomes. It's an adrenaline-fueled chronicle of lives gone bad, and choices even worse. It'll hook ya.
August 16, 2013
SPOILER WARNING: I'm not usually one for the noir genre, and after reading this, I can confirm that this is still not my favorite genre. Not that the story or the writing was bad. In fact, both were actually quite good. Warren Moore has an easy and elegant writing style. It flows smoothly and the pages turn easily. But after the novel ended, I felt the story was a bit wanting. There was so much more that I think the story needed and which Moore could have easily told. Now, for those who would say that this is true of any book, my reply would be ... yes, of course, but sometimes character development requires more to elucidate core characteristics that are clearly introduced as important to the main protagonists. I found that I knew very little about the interior life of Kenny (the main protagonist), beyond his interest in music, his work in a band, and his hyper-sexual relationship (described perhaps a bit to regularly, graphically, and gratuitously) with the crazy Jean. There's absolutely nothing that would ever indicate that Kenny is capable first of cold-blooded murder, and then of a casual murder-suicide. I wanted to know more about Kenny, about those things in his life that would explain this seemingly uncharacteristic behavior. I mean, he's basically a very nice, sane, seemingly happy, even compassionate guy who inexplicably does a couple of very uncharacteristically violent things -- without even the hint of any kind of mental or psychological illness. Unlike Jean, whom we come to know as a disturbed person, there is nothing truly disturbing at all about Kenny. I also think the ending was a bit rushed and actually seemed forced, as if Moore just reached a point where he felt he had to end the book without really having arrived at the appropriate moment in the character development and story narrative for its conclusion. But I gave this book a 4-star ranking because Moore's talent as a writer in the "nuts-and-bolts" sense of style, form, language use, narrative structure, etc., is very good and very polished.
June 13, 2013
This story is like a rip current -- before you know it, the undertow has swept you far, far out to sea. At times, Kenny (the main character) feels like he is drowning. You may feel the same way. But at least you know as a reader that the sea will be merciful and deposit you on the beach once more when you are finished with the story.
The word "noir" gets tossed around a lot. It's become kind of a catch-all. But "Broken Glass Waltzes" is really true to the spirit of the black-and-white flicks from the late '40s and early '50s. The hero is amiable but not especially strong-willed. He steps into the web of the femme fatale and cannot escape its sticky threads. The harder he tries, the worse he is enmeshed.
The psychology behind Jean and what she has become is also quite convincing without being heavy-handed. It'll be a while before I shake off the feeling of dread that pervades this novel.
The word "noir" gets tossed around a lot. It's become kind of a catch-all. But "Broken Glass Waltzes" is really true to the spirit of the black-and-white flicks from the late '40s and early '50s. The hero is amiable but not especially strong-willed. He steps into the web of the femme fatale and cannot escape its sticky threads. The harder he tries, the worse he is enmeshed.
The psychology behind Jean and what she has become is also quite convincing without being heavy-handed. It'll be a while before I shake off the feeling of dread that pervades this novel.
June 10, 2013
Noir happens. In this case, it happens in Cincinnati in 1994. Twenty-five-year-old narrator Kenny Rockford (a.k.a. Robbie Rock) has escaped life as a carpet salesman and has peaked as the drummer for The Selekt, the top metal cover band in town. Kenny’s life has become routine: practicing, performing, listening to music, following the Reds, eating, and sleeping. Lots of sleeping. Even plucking another spandexed woman from Babe Row has become routine. But femmes fatale lurk everywhere, even at Andrew’s, Cincinnati, 1994. When Kenny takes the wrong woman home, his life is suddenly anything but routine. Broken Glass Waltzes is noir of the purest sort: a man, a woman, darkness.
July 29, 2013
AS the main characters dance their waltz, we are drawn into a world of the local (Cincinnati) rock and roll bar scene where the vortex of Jean and Kenny spins us faster and faster. The ending is expertly played and written, even though, since it's a crime-noir novel, you know what's coming. Very nice read.
March 15, 2026
Great crime thriller based in the heavy metal scene of Cincinnati.
July 8, 2013
So, the other day I was going to buy that giant cinder block of a book Louder Than Hell, the "definitive oral history of heavy metal," but it was a million dollars or something down at the bookstore, so I spent a buck and snagged this instead. First off, it’s first-person, which I love. I know it’s not trendy (at least that’s what literary types keep telling us), but I’m a fan. And when done well with a distinct voice (like it is here), anything the professionals say you’re losing by not going with third-person is certainly worth the sacrifice. Plus, who ever heard of an oral history that wasn’t first-person, am I right? So what we got here is drummer Kenny Rockford’s own oral history of the Cincinnati metal scene, and even though this takes place in the late ‘80s, there’s definitely a knowing wink as the narrator describes his bar hopping and sexual exploits, more than a bit like Mickey Rourke's Wrestler actually, as this distance gives you the best of both worlds; a chronicle of the times from the POV of the small-time glam rocker, while simultaneously acknowledging these days are slipping away (okay, maybe I was imagining the weariness of Rockford’s dutiful chest shavings before his gigs, but the Justin Bieber reference was a red flag). Other characters are memorably written, too. Besides Rockford, whose musings are really more hard-boiled than lunkhead metal (“I couldn’t have fit a playing card between us,” and “I took the law into my own hands, and a couple minutes later, the makings of a doctor, lawyer, or architect were swirling down the drain” are a couple noir-y favorites), there’s the femme fatale, Jean, his broken-glass dancer. She’s not what she seems, but everything you'd expect, and she's the catalyst to the main plot and bloody antics. Good book. I smiled a lot, loved all the Blue Öyster Cult references, and you can read this thing in about as long as it takes to listen to a double album. I’d have paid more.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews