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The Hit
Vietnam veteran Luke Carr seeks revenge on his ex-lover, Kinnerly Morris, after returning from the war by plotting to steal her art collection, but his plans are sidetracked by a mysterious request to perform a murder-for-hire. A first novel. Reprint.
304 pages, Paperback
Published May 4, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 30, 2010
Southern noir at its best. It's a shame this book doesn't get more notice, but if interested, it can be had cheap at Amazon. Hoar knows the genre well. So well, that he's unafraid of well worn cliched language, since he places it within a strong plot of cross and double-cross. For example, check out this late in the novel dialogue between the plotting lovers Luke and Kinnerly:
"You ever play chess, Luke?"
"I've never played the game."
"Answer this. If you put real money in there, what are ou going to do if the worst you think is true? Track me to South America and kill me?"
"I wouldn't let you get away with it. You're right about that and about me sending you ahead to see if I can trust you. But the money is real. It wouldn't be a test if it wasn't."
"We thought we were going to get through this, and still and love trust each other, too. But you're rotten, Luke."
"We're a pair. Don't tell me you haven't figured out that if we get caught I'll go to the chair."
"Yes, I thought of that." Her profile in the dash lights, with her hair blown back, looked as valiant as a ship's figurehead.
-- Sound familiar. You bet it does. Whether it comes from From Out of the Past, Touch of Evil, Chinatown, or Lost Highway, such dialogue captures best the dark romanticism of the American night. Too often modern writers of noir mock their tradition through deliberately goofy plotting or the use of similar dialogue and setting done in a tongue in cheek manner (the over rated Crumley comes to mind). With The Hit Hoar writes in the tradition with a select few of the past and present.
"You ever play chess, Luke?"
"I've never played the game."
"Answer this. If you put real money in there, what are ou going to do if the worst you think is true? Track me to South America and kill me?"
"I wouldn't let you get away with it. You're right about that and about me sending you ahead to see if I can trust you. But the money is real. It wouldn't be a test if it wasn't."
"We thought we were going to get through this, and still and love trust each other, too. But you're rotten, Luke."
"We're a pair. Don't tell me you haven't figured out that if we get caught I'll go to the chair."
"Yes, I thought of that." Her profile in the dash lights, with her hair blown back, looked as valiant as a ship's figurehead.
-- Sound familiar. You bet it does. Whether it comes from From Out of the Past, Touch of Evil, Chinatown, or Lost Highway, such dialogue captures best the dark romanticism of the American night. Too often modern writers of noir mock their tradition through deliberately goofy plotting or the use of similar dialogue and setting done in a tongue in cheek manner (the over rated Crumley comes to mind). With The Hit Hoar writes in the tradition with a select few of the past and present.
October 16, 2023
Why doesn’t this book have more reviews than this?!? Stumbled upon this gem at a bookstore that was closing and I’m so glad I did. This book needs to get around. First novel and it was so good. John Grisham said he’d wish he had written this book! It was twisted!! A war vet, who doesn’t like to be bothered starts getting noticed around town. He has history with a well known gorgeous lady and her husband has just died. Was it an accident or was he murdered. Very suspicious death. Word is getting around and his name is being brought up and he’s not too happy about it.
The book starts off with him in the office of his psychologist and it unfolds with the “diary entries” in his notebook. We soon find out why he’s seeing a psychologist and just how twisted life could be. Just when you think you know somebody.
The book starts off with him in the office of his psychologist and it unfolds with the “diary entries” in his notebook. We soon find out why he’s seeing a psychologist and just how twisted life could be. Just when you think you know somebody.
February 2, 2009
I stumbled on this literally by accident in a reading room on Pitt's campus.
And I was grateful. It was amazing latter-day, modern whatever the time adjective, pure hardboiled, heart-wrenching fun.
And I was grateful. It was amazing latter-day, modern whatever the time adjective, pure hardboiled, heart-wrenching fun.
March 13, 2013
It's great when you stumble across a book in a used book store, read the inner sleeve, buy the book, and it turns out to be as great as this one was for me. Pure enjoyment from a great talent.
August 29, 2021
Hoar is an excellent writer. It's fast paced and adheres to the straightforward style of other classic Southern writers whose works I've enjoyed.
I'd give it more stars, but I couldn't get into the story. I found it an unorginal plot. It felt like a story that has been worked over so many times in draft after draft after draft that it lost its original grittyness. I'm assuming it was set it the 1970s based on Luke's age, but it was difficult to assess because so many modern details were thrown in that wouldn't have been around in the 70s. At first I thought this was part of the narrative and the questioning of whether or not Luke's notebooks were a real account of the story or if he was actually in a POW camp imagining all of this and the psychiatrist was actually his torturer.
This is a concept I love in a novel where it's fun to figure out what's real and what isn't, but in this case it literally felt like bad information not being edited out in a draft.
The more the story progressed the less I cared about any of the charcters and that's when the noir concept loses its power because Luke and Kinnerly both become boring.
I think it was worth reading and I would recommend it because the writing is good.
I'd give it more stars, but I couldn't get into the story. I found it an unorginal plot. It felt like a story that has been worked over so many times in draft after draft after draft that it lost its original grittyness. I'm assuming it was set it the 1970s based on Luke's age, but it was difficult to assess because so many modern details were thrown in that wouldn't have been around in the 70s. At first I thought this was part of the narrative and the questioning of whether or not Luke's notebooks were a real account of the story or if he was actually in a POW camp imagining all of this and the psychiatrist was actually his torturer.
This is a concept I love in a novel where it's fun to figure out what's real and what isn't, but in this case it literally felt like bad information not being edited out in a draft.
The more the story progressed the less I cared about any of the charcters and that's when the noir concept loses its power because Luke and Kinnerly both become boring.
I think it was worth reading and I would recommend it because the writing is good.
November 5, 2010
While this book showed hints of promise and was engaging at times, it really did scream "first novel!" in a muddled, annoyingly convoluted way. And I know that typos are an inevitability in the publishing industry, but one passage really jumped out at me: at a point where the narrator lists some of his favorite hard-boiled authors, he gets James M. Cain's middle initial wrong. Sure, N is next to M on a keyboard, but here's what bugs me: if you're an author of detective and/or crime fiction, how do you get James Cain's middle initial wrong? (Which is confounded by the fact that it's given correctly in the acknowledgments section.) And secondly, if you're an editor of detective and/or crime fiction, how do you get James Cain's middle initial wrong? Glaring shizz like that tends to make me question the verisimilitude of everything else in a book. Typographical quip aside, this book started strong with a fairly distinctive voice, but maybe a more active editorial hand was needed. Anyways, I do look forward to seeing what this author comes up with next.
August 16, 2015
PROTAGONIST: Luke Carr, Vietnam vet
SETTING: Mississippi
RATING: 3.75
WHY: Luke Carr is a Vietnam vet suffering from PTSD who has returned to his hometown. He's living in an isolated cabin on the edge of a national forest with his bird dog, Adel. He soon hooks up with his lover from college, Kinnerly Morris. They have an unhealthy obsession with each other. He's planned a scheme to steal her husband's art; she wants Luke to eliminate him. Luke has good reason not to trust Kinnerly, and things get darker and darker. A good first effort.
SETTING: Mississippi
RATING: 3.75
WHY: Luke Carr is a Vietnam vet suffering from PTSD who has returned to his hometown. He's living in an isolated cabin on the edge of a national forest with his bird dog, Adel. He soon hooks up with his lover from college, Kinnerly Morris. They have an unhealthy obsession with each other. He's planned a scheme to steal her husband's art; she wants Luke to eliminate him. Luke has good reason not to trust Kinnerly, and things get darker and darker. A good first effort.
May 3, 2013
I was disappointed that the suggestion in the prolog about different coloured pencils for different levels of certainty was not followed through in the body of the book. I still want to read that book! However I did enjoy the story as it was told.
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January 18, 200801/17/08 rec via bookmooch
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews