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Last Dance in Phoenix
Kent should have it made. He has a decent job, a beautiful wife and a nice home in a trendy part of the city. Everything seems to be in its right place, at least until an old childhood friend re-emerges. Kent's life quickly begins disintegrating, starting with blackmail and progressing into murder. Someone is trying to ruin Kent's cozy little setup, and Kent isn't about to go down without a fight.
268 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 22, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
January 6, 2019
(Full review 1/6/19)
One of the very best crime novels I've read in recent memory. I didn't think it could top Reichenbaugh's debut, Sirens, but I was wrong. Full review to come. For real. I can't not talk about this one.
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I knew after reading Sirens last month that I was going to devour Reichenbaugh's* entire oeuvre, and I've completed my mission. He only has the two novels, and I've read them, and now I don't know what to do. Start badgering him to write more, I suppose.
Whereas Sirens was a supernatural horror novel with noir-ish undertones, this one's straight-up noir in the tradition of Charles Williams' and Gil Brewer's "guy gets in way over his head and everything spirals out of control"-type thrillers. There's a bit of black humor here as well -- usually at the expense of our narrator, Kent -- and it works despite the fact that he isn't exactly likable. In fact, his punchable face (or so I imagined) allowed me to get a bigger kick out of his situation. If I liked him I probably wouldn't find it so funny.
Kent's an accountant by day, and womanizer by day, and night, even though he's married. Of course he gets involved with the wrong woman, and soon after things begin to go completely sideways. He starts receiving emails from an old friend he hasn't spoken to in decades, and these emails are vaguely threatening. One contains a picture of Kent's current mistress, implying that old friend Roy will expose his extramarital affairs to his wife if he doesn't answer his emails. You see, Kent and Roy had a bit of a falling out back in their late teen years, but it looks like Roy wants to be friends again. Kent wants nothing to do with him, but he's forced to act. By his own rules.
When people start ending up dead, Kent is the prime suspect and now he's got three spinning plates: dealing with the police; figuring out what Roy wants; and keeping everything from his wife. The situation is so dire that I found myself sympathizing with Kent even though I was laughing at him behind his back. It had me furiously turning the pages, not to see what happens to Kent, but just to see what HAPPENS. What the hell is going on? Usually I don't get this invested when I have zero empathy for the main character, but it's such an engaging, well-paced story that I found it hard to put down.
It's been nearly four years since this was published, and I can only assume that Reichenbaugh, having already mastered horror and noir, is in the midst of writing an epic high fantasy series that will blow Tolkien and Martin out of the water. Maybe a space opera. I can't wait, no matter what genre it actually is. As long as there eventually IS another novel.
Read this before the author gets his eventual seven figure deal from some major film studio. That way you can say, "I liked his early stuff way more, before he sold out." And you'll be cool.
5 Stars.
*I recently became GR friends with him, but this didn't affect my review. My love for pulpy crime novels probably did, though.
One of the very best crime novels I've read in recent memory. I didn't think it could top Reichenbaugh's debut, Sirens, but I was wrong. Full review to come. For real. I can't not talk about this one.
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I knew after reading Sirens last month that I was going to devour Reichenbaugh's* entire oeuvre, and I've completed my mission. He only has the two novels, and I've read them, and now I don't know what to do. Start badgering him to write more, I suppose.
Whereas Sirens was a supernatural horror novel with noir-ish undertones, this one's straight-up noir in the tradition of Charles Williams' and Gil Brewer's "guy gets in way over his head and everything spirals out of control"-type thrillers. There's a bit of black humor here as well -- usually at the expense of our narrator, Kent -- and it works despite the fact that he isn't exactly likable. In fact, his punchable face (or so I imagined) allowed me to get a bigger kick out of his situation. If I liked him I probably wouldn't find it so funny.
Kent's an accountant by day, and womanizer by day, and night, even though he's married. Of course he gets involved with the wrong woman, and soon after things begin to go completely sideways. He starts receiving emails from an old friend he hasn't spoken to in decades, and these emails are vaguely threatening. One contains a picture of Kent's current mistress, implying that old friend Roy will expose his extramarital affairs to his wife if he doesn't answer his emails. You see, Kent and Roy had a bit of a falling out back in their late teen years, but it looks like Roy wants to be friends again. Kent wants nothing to do with him, but he's forced to act. By his own rules.
When people start ending up dead, Kent is the prime suspect and now he's got three spinning plates: dealing with the police; figuring out what Roy wants; and keeping everything from his wife. The situation is so dire that I found myself sympathizing with Kent even though I was laughing at him behind his back. It had me furiously turning the pages, not to see what happens to Kent, but just to see what HAPPENS. What the hell is going on? Usually I don't get this invested when I have zero empathy for the main character, but it's such an engaging, well-paced story that I found it hard to put down.
It's been nearly four years since this was published, and I can only assume that Reichenbaugh, having already mastered horror and noir, is in the midst of writing an epic high fantasy series that will blow Tolkien and Martin out of the water. Maybe a space opera. I can't wait, no matter what genre it actually is. As long as there eventually IS another novel.
Read this before the author gets his eventual seven figure deal from some major film studio. That way you can say, "I liked his early stuff way more, before he sold out." And you'll be cool.
5 Stars.
*I recently became GR friends with him, but this didn't affect my review. My love for pulpy crime novels probably did, though.
May 22, 2015
In 2013, Kurt Reichenbaugh gave us Sirens, a hugely entertaining mash-up of several genres set on the Florida Gulf Coast in the late 1970s. He now returns with Last Dance in Phoenix, a taut, gritty novel in the hard-boiled tradition set in the present day.
At the center of the book is an accountant, Kent Starling, who labors day by day in his cubicle, moving numbers around from one column to another in a constant effort to arrange them in ways that will please his bosses, whom Starling believes are all basically clueless idiots. His fellow employees don’t rank much higher in his estimation and so, perhaps needless to say, the job is something less than challenging or inspiring.
Things aren’t all that much better on the home front. Kent’s marriage to his wife, Denise, lost its spark some time ago and has settled into the proverbial rut; he can barely even remember the last time they had either sex or a meaningful conversation. Thus disappointed with virtually every aspect of his life, Starling makes the classic noir mistake and gets involved with The Wrong Woman, and from that point on his life begins to spiral steadily downward into a gigantic disastrous mess.
Shortly after beginning this affair, Starling receives a social media friend request from Roy Biddles, who was perhaps his closest childhood friend back when Kent was growing up in Florida. Roy was something of a loser and never much of a real friend and so when Kent joined the Air Force and left Florida, he lost track of Roy. Suddenly, though, Roy is back, demanding to be a part of Kent’s life again. He seems to somehow know a great deal about Kent’s life in Phoenix, including the fact that he’s having an affair, and he’s making only thinly veiled sinister threats about what might happen should Kent choose to ignore him.
Obviously, this cannot end well. Before long, someone will be dead and Kent Starling will have made enough stupid mistakes to be the prime suspect. Things will continue to go from bad to worse and before long, it’s apparent that not only is Starling’s freedom on the line but perhaps his life as well.
Starling confesses at one point that he doesn’t read crime fiction and that he doesn’t watch cop shows on television. Had he done so, he might have known enough not to keep making one stupid blunder after another, thus getting himself deeper and deeper into trouble.
Fortunately for the reader, though, Kurt Reichenbauch obviously has read a lot of crime fiction and knows this genre very well. The result is a fast-paced and gripping tale that will engage and entertain even those readers who are well-versed in the field—a very good read.
At the center of the book is an accountant, Kent Starling, who labors day by day in his cubicle, moving numbers around from one column to another in a constant effort to arrange them in ways that will please his bosses, whom Starling believes are all basically clueless idiots. His fellow employees don’t rank much higher in his estimation and so, perhaps needless to say, the job is something less than challenging or inspiring.
Things aren’t all that much better on the home front. Kent’s marriage to his wife, Denise, lost its spark some time ago and has settled into the proverbial rut; he can barely even remember the last time they had either sex or a meaningful conversation. Thus disappointed with virtually every aspect of his life, Starling makes the classic noir mistake and gets involved with The Wrong Woman, and from that point on his life begins to spiral steadily downward into a gigantic disastrous mess.
Shortly after beginning this affair, Starling receives a social media friend request from Roy Biddles, who was perhaps his closest childhood friend back when Kent was growing up in Florida. Roy was something of a loser and never much of a real friend and so when Kent joined the Air Force and left Florida, he lost track of Roy. Suddenly, though, Roy is back, demanding to be a part of Kent’s life again. He seems to somehow know a great deal about Kent’s life in Phoenix, including the fact that he’s having an affair, and he’s making only thinly veiled sinister threats about what might happen should Kent choose to ignore him.
Obviously, this cannot end well. Before long, someone will be dead and Kent Starling will have made enough stupid mistakes to be the prime suspect. Things will continue to go from bad to worse and before long, it’s apparent that not only is Starling’s freedom on the line but perhaps his life as well.
Starling confesses at one point that he doesn’t read crime fiction and that he doesn’t watch cop shows on television. Had he done so, he might have known enough not to keep making one stupid blunder after another, thus getting himself deeper and deeper into trouble.
Fortunately for the reader, though, Kurt Reichenbauch obviously has read a lot of crime fiction and knows this genre very well. The result is a fast-paced and gripping tale that will engage and entertain even those readers who are well-versed in the field—a very good read.
June 13, 2020
2nd time around.
As God-Christ awesome as the first thirst sated.
**************************************************************************
Just as great as previously hyped.
The last 75 pages are white knuckle reading. Impossible to set aside.
This is probably the greatest thriller published in the 21st century.
Characters are real.
Dialogue is perfect.
Situation harrowing.
The pay-off is dynamite as far as impact goes.
This would make a terrific Coen Brothers film but Reichenbaugh's probably already optioned this thing or is so independently wealthy he doesn't give a damn either way.
Second read and as deserving a five-star rating as the best thriller I've ever read.
I wouldn't steer you wrong about this.
Now is not the times:
Money's tight; time is limited.
You might be the next Covid victim and I'd hate it if I gave you a bum tip on just another pot-boiler with pedestrian writing and predictable plot twists.
What?
Hell.
I'm more worried about me than I am you.
To be honest.
*******************************************************************************
This was so good - hell - I even read the house ads, the "Acknowledgements" and the "About The Author" -he's another one of those high-end financial analysts who crowd you out at used vinyl and used paperback shops paying real money for items you can only moon over.
I will bet this book up against the finest novel Charles Willeford neglected to write.
Kurt Reichenbaugh is that great an author.
It sickens me that he's never been singled out for praise by that lady who reviews "Crime" novels for the New York Times book reviews section.
This is a noir-thriller about a womanizing bastard of a financial analyst who drinks a lot and moves on the ladies a lot but is mostly plagued by a boyhood friend who finds him on a social network and proceeds to harass the holy hell out of him via e-mail.
Look .... go read another review of this.
Pick James Thane's review to read first - that'll clue you in for sure.
Seriously.
I loved this novel.
I ripped through it this afternoon from the late morning light on the back balcony through the late afternoon heat on the front porch.
Gripping stuff.
Like I always say about these books by authors of crime/noir thrillers published post-9/11, I can't believe this guy hasn't been picked up by a mainstream publishing house and paid a million dollar advance for his next novel.
Suspense packed and lurid -it would have been a best seller in paperback back in the late 50s for Lion.
Haven't had as much fun reading a recently published novel in a very long time.
Question is- what do I chase it with?
As God-Christ awesome as the first thirst sated.
**************************************************************************
Just as great as previously hyped.
The last 75 pages are white knuckle reading. Impossible to set aside.
This is probably the greatest thriller published in the 21st century.
Characters are real.
Dialogue is perfect.
Situation harrowing.
The pay-off is dynamite as far as impact goes.
This would make a terrific Coen Brothers film but Reichenbaugh's probably already optioned this thing or is so independently wealthy he doesn't give a damn either way.
Second read and as deserving a five-star rating as the best thriller I've ever read.
I wouldn't steer you wrong about this.
Now is not the times:
Money's tight; time is limited.
You might be the next Covid victim and I'd hate it if I gave you a bum tip on just another pot-boiler with pedestrian writing and predictable plot twists.
What?
Hell.
I'm more worried about me than I am you.
To be honest.
*******************************************************************************
This was so good - hell - I even read the house ads, the "Acknowledgements" and the "About The Author" -he's another one of those high-end financial analysts who crowd you out at used vinyl and used paperback shops paying real money for items you can only moon over.
I will bet this book up against the finest novel Charles Willeford neglected to write.
Kurt Reichenbaugh is that great an author.
It sickens me that he's never been singled out for praise by that lady who reviews "Crime" novels for the New York Times book reviews section.
This is a noir-thriller about a womanizing bastard of a financial analyst who drinks a lot and moves on the ladies a lot but is mostly plagued by a boyhood friend who finds him on a social network and proceeds to harass the holy hell out of him via e-mail.
Look .... go read another review of this.
Pick James Thane's review to read first - that'll clue you in for sure.
Seriously.
I loved this novel.
I ripped through it this afternoon from the late morning light on the back balcony through the late afternoon heat on the front porch.
Gripping stuff.
Like I always say about these books by authors of crime/noir thrillers published post-9/11, I can't believe this guy hasn't been picked up by a mainstream publishing house and paid a million dollar advance for his next novel.
Suspense packed and lurid -it would have been a best seller in paperback back in the late 50s for Lion.
Haven't had as much fun reading a recently published novel in a very long time.
Question is- what do I chase it with?
July 22, 2020
Kent Starling, a not-particularly mild-mannered accountant, has gotten himself mixed up in some heavy shit, and it's going to take everything he's got to keep from drowning in the stuff.
Reichenbaugh establishes Kent's character early on - he's kind of a scumbag whose hobbies are cheating on his wife, and looking out for number one. Truly, Kent is the kind of guy I can't stand - cocksure and self-centered, yet I couldn't help rooting for him. I also couldn't stop reading this dark and twisty thriller.
That's it. Review over. It's best to discover the inky delights of this book on your own.
So, what are you waiting for?
Reichenbaugh establishes Kent's character early on - he's kind of a scumbag whose hobbies are cheating on his wife, and looking out for number one. Truly, Kent is the kind of guy I can't stand - cocksure and self-centered, yet I couldn't help rooting for him. I also couldn't stop reading this dark and twisty thriller.
That's it. Review over. It's best to discover the inky delights of this book on your own.
So, what are you waiting for?
May 12, 2023
02/2019
Mostly unrelated murder entangles with a man's sex addiction issues, damaging his life. His serial cheating is shown naturally through the narrator's thoughts and memories, nothing so unsubtle as telling the reader outright. It's sad, really, because he's not a bad guy otherwise, and you wish he could figure it out. Very entertaining and readable. The scene where he can't help but call his boss out on a lie about Vietnam is righteous and likable (though probably unwise on his part).
Mostly unrelated murder entangles with a man's sex addiction issues, damaging his life. His serial cheating is shown naturally through the narrator's thoughts and memories, nothing so unsubtle as telling the reader outright. It's sad, really, because he's not a bad guy otherwise, and you wish he could figure it out. Very entertaining and readable. The scene where he can't help but call his boss out on a lie about Vietnam is righteous and likable (though probably unwise on his part).
October 5, 2020
This had all the hallmarks of classic noir but with a contemporary context and it works a treat. I devoured this book in a day. Kent is a cynical womaniser, who spends most of his time in a lather of envy and resentment towards his colleagues. Women are somewhere warm to park his appendage for a spell. He's actually a bit of a dick, but somehow Reichenbaugh has us rooting for him. Perhaps because in Kent's world, everyone around him is a slightly darker shade of douchebag. The flawed everyman caught in a spiral is brilliantly done here. It's a great ride - full of twists, violence and sharp witticisms.
I bought this in paperback and love the coverart and internal design, as much as I loved the book itself. Highly recommended.
Thanks to my GR friends for the heads up on this one.
I bought this in paperback and love the coverart and internal design, as much as I loved the book itself. Highly recommended.
Thanks to my GR friends for the heads up on this one.
July 24, 2015
No.
Nope.
Couldn't get into it.
I felt I had read this book many times before.
Nope.
Couldn't get into it.
I felt I had read this book many times before.
January 11, 2018
Not a particularly sympathetic protagonist, often letting the "little head do the thinking for the big head" as the saying goes. Probably not that different than many (most?) males in that respect but he tends to act on it as quite the womanizer. Unusual, for an accountant. No offense to accountants but most I've met tend not to fit that profile. At any rate, after an e-mail from a high school "best friend" that Kent is surprised to hear from he decides that a "welcome" follow-up is not really in order since the guy was a real pain when they were younger. However, a subsequent e-mail with a picture of Kent's mistress in a bathing suit tends to amplify the situation. Kent decides he really should end the affair, given that he really cares for his wife after all. But upon arrival at her apartment, the dead body of his mistress tends to complicate the situation. Shortly afterwards he loses his job, primarily for attempting to show his boss is not the war hero he purports to be and his life turns into a major cluster mess. Very clever twists and turns kept me guessing to the end - even to the point where I only think I am sure what happened. Very entertaining and absorbing read!
August 5, 2015
I have thoroughly enjoyed the cerebral treat that was LAST DANCE IN PHOENIX. Kurt Reichenbaugh crafted a fiercely original novel that deliberately plays with your expectations and your moral compass in Breaking Bad-esque fashion. What starts as a rather traditional crime novel naturally evolves into a trapezoidal mindfuck of a noir grind for your enjoyment only. I believe the key to the success of LAST DANCE IN PHOENIX is how Kurt Reichenbaugh drip feeds you information about its protagonist Kent Starling, keeping him unpredictable and making it hard to pass a judgment on his action. Sometimes he's despicable, sometimes he's heroic, yet he's always relatable. Not an emotional ride, but quite the pleasure for the mind.
June 14, 2020
"With all that was going on in his life, this was just another kick to the balls he'd have to suck up and take." And that line is pretty much the secret sauce in this unrelenting page turner. Been a while since I powered through a book beginning to end. Can't quite go 5 stars because there were some loose ends and stray things that kind of popped me out of the flow at times, but really those are just quibbles. Awesome crime-noir. The pacing and characterization reminded me of Gil Brewer at his best. What we have here is an unlikeable asshole who keeps making mistake after mistake - a series of self-inflicted kicks to the balls - and his life comes tumbling down. And, yet, he gets off the mat, kicks back, and we kind of want to root for him, but he keeps reminding us what an asshole he is, so maybe we don't. Loved the ending. This was a really tough narrative arc to resolve - at least in way that wasn't cliche or trivial or too easy - and I think Reichenbaugh totally delivered. The third-person narrative here is superb, totally from within the character, and that's really what makes this all work. Thank you sir may have I have another (kick to the balls). Hell with the quibbles, this gets all the stars.
May 8, 2017
It's a standard noir convention to feature a main character that many might deem unlikable, but the great ones make you identify and root for that character anyway. The key strength in Reichenbaugh's sly novel is that it not only does this but pulls it off in its own sneaky way. I went into the book reading it as a standard crime thriller. Kent Starling is a regular guy that's actually likable and who's banal but satisfying life is interrupted when a long lost friend begins pestering and blackmailing him online. But as Kent tries to get out from under, Reichenbaugh steadily shows us Kent's secrets and hints at the true nature of his character. I was uncomfortable in the way that I couldn't seem to decide how I felt about him. I found him self-involved but also strangely relatable. The author was really skilled with his handling of Kent's character and the way he withheld judgment. This aspect, along with Reichenbaugh's handling of the twists and turns, made it a pretty gripping read to me!
May 22, 2015
I received an e-copy from netgalley for review purposes.
I started off not liking this book at all. All the characters are pretty much the most awful people ever. The first half is mostly about a horrible man who cheats on his wife and the goings on at his boring office job.
Then it all gets very intense, and I was actually hoping that the horrible main character would get through it all. Very good and after the first half, a quick read.
I started off not liking this book at all. All the characters are pretty much the most awful people ever. The first half is mostly about a horrible man who cheats on his wife and the goings on at his boring office job.
Then it all gets very intense, and I was actually hoping that the horrible main character would get through it all. Very good and after the first half, a quick read.
September 18, 2015
Old noir is the city and much of new noir is the country, but Reichenbaugh takes the genre to the soulless suburbs of the Southwest. I like how the protagonist appears to be just a normal guy, then, layer by layer, his true, awful self is revealed. Same goes for the office that he works at--it's a jungle of back stabbers masquerading as a business. Reminds me of the best of Jason Starr's work.
May 19, 2015
I like the way Kurt Reichenbaugh's tricky little suspense mystery starts out. Kent Starling is a successful accountant with a wife and a mistress. He tends to speak his mind too often which gets him in trouble with his boss. One day he gets an email from his childhood best friend Roy who he has not seen for years and doesn't always remember with the fondest thoughts. He avoids the emails until Roy sends him a picture of his mistress.
From there things go downhill for our hero as Kurt loses his job and bodies start showing up. I really like fiction in which the relatively innocent protagonist is thrown into a bad situation that he never expected. I especially like seeing how and if he gets out of it. I think it is the essence of noir. The nice touch here is the addition of that old friend who you want to forget about. Don't we all have that strange friend in high school that we wonder why we hung out with and how we would react if he or she came back into our lives? This nifty little novel takes it to the extreme and adds the obligatory twist at the end. Reichenbaugh writes in a straightforward manner and with a slight Spillane-type roughness that doesn't go over the top but still lets us see the everyman in his character. My main problem though is with structure. The novel starts out quickly as the author introduces us to the character and sets the stage. As we come to the first murder, we are hooked. Yet after that it starts to drag. I am not sure why. Perhaps it is because the detectives are unrealistically slow to see the bumbler in Kent. Or because I didn't see enough connection with Kent and his wife to feel the tenseness. But there did seem to be a mid-point lag where the intensity was lost. Yet it still remained an entertaining novel and a promising look at a young mystery writer. I definitely recommend this book to those who want a good mystery yet I still want to see what else Mr. Reichenbaugh has up his sleeve before I start throwing flowers and yelling hosannas. For now, a "Yippee!" will do.
From there things go downhill for our hero as Kurt loses his job and bodies start showing up. I really like fiction in which the relatively innocent protagonist is thrown into a bad situation that he never expected. I especially like seeing how and if he gets out of it. I think it is the essence of noir. The nice touch here is the addition of that old friend who you want to forget about. Don't we all have that strange friend in high school that we wonder why we hung out with and how we would react if he or she came back into our lives? This nifty little novel takes it to the extreme and adds the obligatory twist at the end. Reichenbaugh writes in a straightforward manner and with a slight Spillane-type roughness that doesn't go over the top but still lets us see the everyman in his character. My main problem though is with structure. The novel starts out quickly as the author introduces us to the character and sets the stage. As we come to the first murder, we are hooked. Yet after that it starts to drag. I am not sure why. Perhaps it is because the detectives are unrealistically slow to see the bumbler in Kent. Or because I didn't see enough connection with Kent and his wife to feel the tenseness. But there did seem to be a mid-point lag where the intensity was lost. Yet it still remained an entertaining novel and a promising look at a young mystery writer. I definitely recommend this book to those who want a good mystery yet I still want to see what else Mr. Reichenbaugh has up his sleeve before I start throwing flowers and yelling hosannas. For now, a "Yippee!" will do.
April 3, 2015
Wow. What a pleasant surprise. I picked this up yesterday and finished it in two sittings. A fantastic read that made me laugh, reminisce, cringe, and in the end left me utterly surprised. This book had it all. If you enjoy noir, suspense, or a good whodunnit, this is the book for you. Thank you Max Booth III, for passing this on to me. Kurt Reichenbaugh is a name that you are going to hear a lot more about in the very near future. Excellent and highly recommended.
March 11, 2019
Very twisty at the end, cringe-worthy at the start.
May 31, 2015
There's a kind of endless blue sky that hits Phoenix in May and doesn't leave for months. Where you find yourself wishing, hopelessly, for any clouds just to break the monotony of all that bright empty sky. Add in the cubicle life our protagonist finds himself in and the set-up is perfect for something/anything to shake-up this world that feels like one long cycle of the a/c unit. This is a great noir piece, set in a Phoenix/Scottsdale sprawl that offers no respite for the lonely. If Los Angeles in the 1940s-50s was once perfect as a setting, today's metro Phoenix offers a similar space where location is a character. Like a terrible dust storm blowing thru town, this tale turns suddenly violent, when you least expect it. By the end of the book, you'll be impressed at the fine way the author pulls it all together. A great book to read any time, but especially when seeking shelter from too much bright, sunny blandness. I received my copy from NetGalley and the publisher.
June 22, 2015
Having enjoyed Reichenbaugh's previous novel, SIRENS, I was looking forward to LAST DANCE IN PHOENIX, and had high expectations for it. Those expectations were met and exceeded. This is a top shelf noir novel which, while modern, also recalls some of the old masters like Harry Whittington and Charles Williams. If those names mean anything to you, grab this one as soon as possible and dig in.
June 8, 2015
I received a copy fron Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Ever read a book that you love but hate the characters? Maybe hate is a strong word here because in all honesty these are people that walk among us and we may even know a few of them. Last Dance in Phoenix is a variety of genres that equal into a great novel. Kent may be a jerk, but let's be honest here and admit that everything that happens to him is pretty much his own fault.
The first half of Phoenix drags quite a bit trust me if you keep reading you will enjoy the rest of this book. The second half is where the book really shines and Phoenix becomes a bit of a noir mystery. The bulk of the mystery is Valerie and who killed her. The great thing about the plot is that you can only guess at what's going to happen. Why had Roy returned and what is in store for Kent?
As the story unfolds the second half is where the pages fly and Reichenbaugh really hits his stride. We begin to see just how much of a scum bag Kent really is and as the book progresses it begins to get a little darker. We've seen novels like this a million times but the rules are promptly thrown out the window, and the book is never formulaic..
If you like dark, noir style fiction this is a book you have to read, and even if you aren't you should read it because it's too good not too. Just have patience because you're patience will be rewarded.
The first half of Phoenix drags quite a bit trust me if you keep reading you will enjoy the rest of this book. The second half is where the book really shines and Phoenix becomes a bit of a noir mystery. The bulk of the mystery is Valerie and who killed her. The great thing about the plot is that you can only guess at what's going to happen. Why had Roy returned and what is in store for Kent?
As the story unfolds the second half is where the pages fly and Reichenbaugh really hits his stride. We begin to see just how much of a scum bag Kent really is and as the book progresses it begins to get a little darker. We've seen novels like this a million times but the rules are promptly thrown out the window, and the book is never formulaic..
If you like dark, noir style fiction this is a book you have to read, and even if you aren't you should read it because it's too good not too. Just have patience because you're patience will be rewarded.
June 21, 2017
Last Dance in Phoenix moves and shakes. Great scenes of fear and loathing in the land of cubicles and spread sheets. Nice ambivalence about the skirt chasing narrator and then there's that standard that many aspire to in the genre, maybe ever since "Pulp Fiction," maybe before: being able to write a novel where the reader really does not know what's going to happen next because the characters are as chaotic as the world they're living in.
Reichenbaugh does some ingenious story telling. Good hides and reveals. Get ready to do some double takes when you read this novel.
Reichenbaugh does some ingenious story telling. Good hides and reveals. Get ready to do some double takes when you read this novel.
August 27, 2015
First-rate noir with a flawed central character whose self-sabotaging actions ring very true. The office machinations are also very easy to relate to. The main character, Kent, can certainly be jerky at times -- but the smug and smarmy higher-up jerks are insufferable, and the wit with which Kurt Reichenbaugh skewers them is very enjoyable.
Reichenbaugh also does an excellent job with plot twists. I surely did not see where he was going at all.
Reichenbaugh also does an excellent job with plot twists. I surely did not see where he was going at all.
April 27, 2015
A little slow to start this book quickly becomes an action packed noir/thriller/suspense novel where nothing is as it seems and nobody can be trusted. Kurt Reichenbaugh is a very good story teller who did a wonderful job of creating twists and turns in the story which were unexpected and still believable. I will be reading his other book SIRENS very soon.
November 13, 2024
If nothing else, this novel is notable for its trick of convincing the reader that they are going to get a shallow and forgettable crime story. The first 1/4 to 1/3 of the story is competently written but very stereotypical. Each reader needs to stick with it because Reichenbaugh uses that appraisal to bewilder you with an unexpectedly deep and nuanced portrayal of selfishness. I don't want the majority of what I read to use the tricks that are utilized here but this is rare and wonderful stuff.
April 26, 2022
A very enjoyable modern take on the pulp novel. The protagonist is a bit of a dick but then so is everyone else in the story. Brilliantly written and a real page turner. I also loved the cover and font of this book. Highly recommended.
June 25, 2015
A Heel Without A Heart.
In may be the politically correct times in which we live, but it seems to me sometimes that hard-boiled noir fiction is in a bit of a critical rut. It’s been a long time since Chandler and Cain et al were churning out their heel-with-heart tales at an amazing clip, but you can find some good books out there, if you are looking in the right place. Last Dance in Phoenix by Kurt Reichenbaugh is just such a novel. It’s a tough, seedy thriller with it’s heart in the right (wrong) place.
Kent Starling is the protagonist, there’s no way you can call him a hero, and while he’s not a tough-guy detective, or an out-of-luck criminal he’s got enough flaws, bad attitude and worse luck to fit the bill. Kent is an accountant, working day after featureless day in a sterile cubicle moving numbers from one column to another just to keep his clueless bosses off his back so he can earn a paycheck. He can’t remember the last time that he had any kind of meaningful connection with his wife Denise, and his future looks like more of the same, so he spends his nights battling insomnia with ambien and booze, and hoping that something exciting might show up. In classic noir style, two things do; first he falls into an affair with Valerie, the perfect wrong (right) woman, and he hears from a troubled friend from his past; Roy Biddles. When they were kids Kent thought that they were best friends, but the more he looks back the more it seems like Roy was just a socially-inept loser with a talent for trouble.
In quick succession Kent sees that his affair with Valerie might be a huge mistake when he starts receiving compromising pictures of him and Valerie on-line from Roy. After that things get real bad real fast; Kent gets paranoid, loses his job and then the dead bodies start to pile up. Before long Kent finds himself tangled up in a situation that just keeps getting worse and worse, no doubt aided by Kent’s coping mechanism, which is to drink a lot of booze and chase every woman that crosses his path.
Mr. Reichenbaugh’s prose is slick and smooth, and his handling of Kent is unflinching; he is a bad man, with just enough saving graces to make us care as he tries to keep himself alive and out of jail, even as he thinks about hitting on the female detective who is investigating his case.
There are a ton of juicy plot twists in this novel, which I cannot reveal, and several characters,who seemed uninteresting at first, become essential to the story because of Mr. Reichenbaugh’s clever plotting. Kent’s wife Denise is particularly interesting, and relevant, but spoiler’s prevent me from saying too much. I can tell you that she is a every bit a classic noir character as Kent, perhaps even more.
All of this keeps building and building, as we see Ken, an accountant, sneaking through the streets of Phoenix, breaking into houses and firing guns, until we reach a slam-bang climax, violent and twisted as anything out of Pulp Fiction, which ties up all the ends we have known, and reveals a bunch that I had no clue about. It’s a particularly fitting, and grim end to a tale that I enjoyed, but didn’t really feel good about. That is real noir.
Review by: Mark Palm
Full Reviews Available at: http://www.thebookendfamily.weebly.com
In may be the politically correct times in which we live, but it seems to me sometimes that hard-boiled noir fiction is in a bit of a critical rut. It’s been a long time since Chandler and Cain et al were churning out their heel-with-heart tales at an amazing clip, but you can find some good books out there, if you are looking in the right place. Last Dance in Phoenix by Kurt Reichenbaugh is just such a novel. It’s a tough, seedy thriller with it’s heart in the right (wrong) place.
Kent Starling is the protagonist, there’s no way you can call him a hero, and while he’s not a tough-guy detective, or an out-of-luck criminal he’s got enough flaws, bad attitude and worse luck to fit the bill. Kent is an accountant, working day after featureless day in a sterile cubicle moving numbers from one column to another just to keep his clueless bosses off his back so he can earn a paycheck. He can’t remember the last time that he had any kind of meaningful connection with his wife Denise, and his future looks like more of the same, so he spends his nights battling insomnia with ambien and booze, and hoping that something exciting might show up. In classic noir style, two things do; first he falls into an affair with Valerie, the perfect wrong (right) woman, and he hears from a troubled friend from his past; Roy Biddles. When they were kids Kent thought that they were best friends, but the more he looks back the more it seems like Roy was just a socially-inept loser with a talent for trouble.
In quick succession Kent sees that his affair with Valerie might be a huge mistake when he starts receiving compromising pictures of him and Valerie on-line from Roy. After that things get real bad real fast; Kent gets paranoid, loses his job and then the dead bodies start to pile up. Before long Kent finds himself tangled up in a situation that just keeps getting worse and worse, no doubt aided by Kent’s coping mechanism, which is to drink a lot of booze and chase every woman that crosses his path.
Mr. Reichenbaugh’s prose is slick and smooth, and his handling of Kent is unflinching; he is a bad man, with just enough saving graces to make us care as he tries to keep himself alive and out of jail, even as he thinks about hitting on the female detective who is investigating his case.
There are a ton of juicy plot twists in this novel, which I cannot reveal, and several characters,who seemed uninteresting at first, become essential to the story because of Mr. Reichenbaugh’s clever plotting. Kent’s wife Denise is particularly interesting, and relevant, but spoiler’s prevent me from saying too much. I can tell you that she is a every bit a classic noir character as Kent, perhaps even more.
All of this keeps building and building, as we see Ken, an accountant, sneaking through the streets of Phoenix, breaking into houses and firing guns, until we reach a slam-bang climax, violent and twisted as anything out of Pulp Fiction, which ties up all the ends we have known, and reveals a bunch that I had no clue about. It’s a particularly fitting, and grim end to a tale that I enjoyed, but didn’t really feel good about. That is real noir.
Review by: Mark Palm
Full Reviews Available at: http://www.thebookendfamily.weebly.com
May 22, 2015
LAST DANCE IN PHOENIX, by Kurt Reichenbaugh, is a raw and nasty noir novel that drips with authenticity of the Phoenix experience. As someone who lived and worked in the same places the book’s characters do, I was transported back to the brick, concrete and glass corridors of the Valley of the Sun. This story reads like is was written with a golf pencil, scribbled on the stray end-papers of old paperbacks, by someone sitting on the piss and puke stained floor of a Madison Street holding tank. It’s the story of a man way in over his head but told with a detachment that leads the reader into what they know will be a disaster.
Kent Starling is the book’s protagonist and his character bucks the traditional model for a leading man in noir. Typically this genre presents one of two basic characters in the main role: the tough guy detective private eye, or the Joe Everyman thrust into a conspiracy he had nothing to do with creating. Kent is a relative average guy, but he is a deeply flawed individual who has no one to blame but himself for his predicament. As he struggles through the book it becomes plain that his greatest flaw is his inability to recognise his flaws.
The ensemble cast of supporting characters is one of the great strengths of the novel. Kent’s wife Denise is interesting and has a great evolving arc from beginning to end. Roy Biddle, best friend to Kent throughout childhood, is a real highlight and a very uniquely constructed character. Kent’s coworkers are mysterious and well realized as individuals, something it’s not easy to accomplish for such a large number of characters in a book that is economical and efficient with words.
The only negative in the book, and it’s a small one, is that the action doesn’t get started until one third of the way through the book. Noir tends to eschew the traditional three act narrative but LAST DANCE IN PHOENIX embraces it. The first act introduces the players, the setting and the situations and concludes with the main conflict being revealed, and it comes in at almost exactly one third into the story. The second act is the longest and takes the reader through the challenges facing Kent. By the time the third act starts the slow build of the beginning has been completely forgotten as the reader turns pages as fast as possible to keep up with calamitous resolution. Kent Starling unravels as the mysteries of the story tie up.
In his first novel Kurt Reichenbaugh told a nostalgic tale of old-school horror set it the late 1970s that wonderfully jumped from deep character development to man-eaters and monsters to an alien invasion and government conspiracy. This book, his sophomore effort, leaves the supernatural and unbelievable behind in favor of down-and-dirty realism. LAST DANCE IN PHOENIX is a compelling, constantly readable noir nightmare that travels from the sleazy strip-joints of inner city Phoenix, to the local dive bars of Scottsdale before ending in an explosion of morally dubious violence in the millionaire populated neighborhood of Fountain Hills. This is a dance that mystery and noir fans will want to cut in on.
Kent Starling is the book’s protagonist and his character bucks the traditional model for a leading man in noir. Typically this genre presents one of two basic characters in the main role: the tough guy detective private eye, or the Joe Everyman thrust into a conspiracy he had nothing to do with creating. Kent is a relative average guy, but he is a deeply flawed individual who has no one to blame but himself for his predicament. As he struggles through the book it becomes plain that his greatest flaw is his inability to recognise his flaws.
The ensemble cast of supporting characters is one of the great strengths of the novel. Kent’s wife Denise is interesting and has a great evolving arc from beginning to end. Roy Biddle, best friend to Kent throughout childhood, is a real highlight and a very uniquely constructed character. Kent’s coworkers are mysterious and well realized as individuals, something it’s not easy to accomplish for such a large number of characters in a book that is economical and efficient with words.
The only negative in the book, and it’s a small one, is that the action doesn’t get started until one third of the way through the book. Noir tends to eschew the traditional three act narrative but LAST DANCE IN PHOENIX embraces it. The first act introduces the players, the setting and the situations and concludes with the main conflict being revealed, and it comes in at almost exactly one third into the story. The second act is the longest and takes the reader through the challenges facing Kent. By the time the third act starts the slow build of the beginning has been completely forgotten as the reader turns pages as fast as possible to keep up with calamitous resolution. Kent Starling unravels as the mysteries of the story tie up.
In his first novel Kurt Reichenbaugh told a nostalgic tale of old-school horror set it the late 1970s that wonderfully jumped from deep character development to man-eaters and monsters to an alien invasion and government conspiracy. This book, his sophomore effort, leaves the supernatural and unbelievable behind in favor of down-and-dirty realism. LAST DANCE IN PHOENIX is a compelling, constantly readable noir nightmare that travels from the sleazy strip-joints of inner city Phoenix, to the local dive bars of Scottsdale before ending in an explosion of morally dubious violence in the millionaire populated neighborhood of Fountain Hills. This is a dance that mystery and noir fans will want to cut in on.
July 31, 2020
Reading "The Last Dance in Phoenix is like watching a car wreck, you cannot look away as Kent, our protagonist, makes one poor life choice after another. After all, Kent is a serial philanderer, if it moves, he is on it. He is tormented by a childhood friend and he gets entangled in the murder of a woman (of course it's a woman!) .
It is difficult finding someone to root for in this book. Imagine, Kent is the least vile and offensive person. But that is the superb charm of this book as we race to find if he gets out of his sleazy predicaments.
Kurt Reichenbaugh has crafted a perfect noir where you feel the tension of Kent sweating through each page. Put this book on top of your reading pile, it is a must read.
It is difficult finding someone to root for in this book. Imagine, Kent is the least vile and offensive person. But that is the superb charm of this book as we race to find if he gets out of his sleazy predicaments.
Kurt Reichenbaugh has crafted a perfect noir where you feel the tension of Kent sweating through each page. Put this book on top of your reading pile, it is a must read.
July 11, 2015
Another great book from PMMP! I got sucked straight into this story. Kent is a philanderer obviously, but other than that he seems like an alright guy. I appreciated the fact that despite his life falling apart he never lets it break him. Kent also has insight into his faults, which made me like him even more. I blew through this book quickly because Reichenbaugh's words flow so well and the tension stays at a high enough level that it kept me consistently turning the pages. The story kept me guessing until the end despite me trying to figure out Roy Biddle's angle the whole time I was reading it.
This is the first book by Reichenbaugh that I have read and It won't be my last. I slept on his first novel, but I have since rectified that mistake by ordering Sirens. What can I say about PMMP publishing that I haven't already said? They are in my top 5 favorite publishers right now. They consistently put out great indie noir/horror/weird lit. I look forward to more from PMMP and Reichenbaugh.
This is the first book by Reichenbaugh that I have read and It won't be my last. I slept on his first novel, but I have since rectified that mistake by ordering Sirens. What can I say about PMMP publishing that I haven't already said? They are in my top 5 favorite publishers right now. They consistently put out great indie noir/horror/weird lit. I look forward to more from PMMP and Reichenbaugh.
May 14, 2015
I was provided with a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
I don't typically read books in this genre so perhaps it is not fair for me even try to comment on it. I did not like the book. I kept reading because I felt obligated and the action did finally pick up. The writing is not terrible and the action flowed.
I found the plot unbelievable and the characters underdeveloped.
My biggest problem is the mysogynistic attitude present throughout the book, the bad treatment of women by all of the male characters, and the failure of the leading character to make any changes to the way he lived. One would imagine in real life that he would learn something from his experiences.
Maybe this is what noir fiction is supposed to be about and maybe I missed the point but I really think it is inexcusable to depict men treating women as these men did. You know.....think of the children.
I don't typically read books in this genre so perhaps it is not fair for me even try to comment on it. I did not like the book. I kept reading because I felt obligated and the action did finally pick up. The writing is not terrible and the action flowed.
I found the plot unbelievable and the characters underdeveloped.
My biggest problem is the mysogynistic attitude present throughout the book, the bad treatment of women by all of the male characters, and the failure of the leading character to make any changes to the way he lived. One would imagine in real life that he would learn something from his experiences.
Maybe this is what noir fiction is supposed to be about and maybe I missed the point but I really think it is inexcusable to depict men treating women as these men did. You know.....think of the children.
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