The Cold Dark Forever

by C.W. Blackwell

Monterey Bay, 1942. The ocean is rough, the pay is thin, and commercial fisherman Gene Ackerly is just trying to stay afloat. But when his crewmate murders a G.I. during a drunken brawl, Gene makes a choice that threatens to drag him under the surface for good.

On the run from the feds, the local PD, and his own conscience, Gene escapes into California’s dark underbelly along desolate dunes, haunted highways, and finally to a fog-drenched boathouse where a deadly mystery unfolds. He soon finds solace with a mob-connected woman named Violeta Stampa who offers him a golden opportunity. But Gene knows the rules of the game: nothing comes easy, and no one gets out clean.

If he's not careful, he'll end up just another drifter slipping into the cold, dark forever...

For readers who love the emotional depth and social realism of John Steinbeck, wrapped in the tense shadows of classic noir.

What folks are saying...

“A unique blend of grit, violence and tall tale.”

—Charles Ardai, author of Death Comes Too Late

“Paradoxically beautiful and tough-minded, The Cold Dark Forever places us squarely in the shoes of a mariner-turned-fugitive whose strange encounters—backlit by the scorching spread of fascism—grow more intriguing with each chapter. Blackwell’s pages overflow, as ever, with evocative language, pithy dialogue, and terrific suspense.”

—Frank Vatel, author of Chains

“If you’ve had the pleasure of reading C.W. Blackwell’s work, then you already know he’s one of the best noir writers working today. His latest novel, The Cold Dark Forever, continues his winning streak, bringing WWII-era Monterey Bay to vivid life through the eyes of Gene Ackers, a struggling commercial fisherman who finds himself in waters more troubled than he’s prepared for when a crewmate murders a GI on leave. Blackwell’s insightful exploration of life’s darker side, his knack for writing memorable plots, and his deep understanding of character secure The Cold Dark Forever’s place as a California noir classic.”

—Holly West, Anthony Award-winning editor of Killin’ Time in San Diego

246 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 15, 2026

About the author

C.W. Blackwell is an award-winning author from the Central Coast of California. His short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Shotgun Honey, Rock and a Hard Place, Tough Magazine, and Reckon Review. He is a 3x Derringer Award winner and an Anthony Award finalist. He was included as a Distinguished Author in the 2024 and 2026 Best American Mystery and Suspense collection. His published works include the novellas Song of the Red Squire and Hard Mountain Clay, as well as the award-winning short story collection Whatever Kills the Pain. His historical crime novel, The Cold Dark Forever, released in September 2026 by Shotgun Honey Books.

Reviews

[Vicki Herbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

You Gotta Know When to Hold 'Em
Know When to Fold 'Em...

THE COLD DARK FOREVER
by C.W. Blackwell

5 stars. There are a few authors I really look forward to the anticipated release of their latest book: Daniel Lorn, David Barnett, and C.W. Blackwell...

The place is the Monterey California harbor during the WWII era...

Gene Ackers was part of a four-man crew aboard the fishing boat Ava Jane in the cold blue waters of Monterey Bay...

It had been hard work gillnetting salmon and mackerel, but now the crew was thirsty for the drinks and women the downtown bars had to offer...

The oldest crewman, Victor, had received bad news in a letter. Seeing that Victor might get into some trouble, Gene followed him, both men getting drunk...

In those days, Monterey was a rough town full of G.I.s from Fort Ord, drunks, whores, and bums...

As the fog rolled in, Victor slipped out of the bar and into the streets, where he killed a G.I...

Gene decided to help Victor hide the body, but there were many witnesses that had seen the three men together that night...

Gene and Victor hurriedly dumped the body into the sea where it disappeared into the cold, dark forever...

But...

Sometimes, in the midst of judgement, there are occasionally mercies. Like Jonah and the great fish...

Coast guards killed Victor on the deck of the Ava Jane, but Gene escaped into the sea and was now on the lam...

He would soon meet the underbelly of the central coastal town and a woman who might turn his life and luck around...

If they could just play their cards right...

You've got to know when to hold 'em
Know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away
Know when to run...

I love a good crime noir, and this is one of the best! It had a little of everything, including an unsettling encounter with a mortician, his wife, and dead men in the back of a hearse. I was up until 4 am last night finishing this story, and it was suspenseful right up to the end. In many ways, it reminded me of a book I read earlier this year called THE BOTHY by Trevor Mark Thomas (which is also an excellent crime noir). The atmosphere in this novel could be cut with a knife, the fog like pea soup.

Highly recommended!

[C.W. Blackwell]

Part love letter to California’s Central Coast, part homage to 1950s Gold Medal paperbacks, I wrote The Cold Dark Forever to spend time in a beautiful, but deliciously dangerous world of coastal dunes, fugitives, drifters, desolation, violence, and desire.

I hope you enjoy the ride. If you read and enjoy it, please don’t feel shy about dropping a rating or review. It makes a huge difference!

[Ilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This crime fiction story is reminiscent of other works, in both book and film form. This is a great thing, a welcome thing, like the novel was written for me, entertaining and shaking my brain up in a good way. That might happen for other fans of noir. I love the nod to Steinbeck and a sort of foreshadowing to Kerouac’s Big Sur—this historical novel had me looking back to look forward. The many places main character Gene ventures hearken aplenty: Monterey; aforementioned Big Sur; Carmel (where Langston Hughes created a decade before this tale was set); San Bernardino Mountains (say hi to Raymond Chandler); Venice, CA; Santa Monica; Cal-Neva prior to Sinatra & pals ownership; Vegas. Conflicted Gene also flashes back to more locations up and down the West Coast where some stuff…happened. We find this out in the Chapter 7 opener: “Aimen Bell wasn’t the first man I’d killed.” Gene encounters Aimen Bell with his scarecrow wife Mitzy (not quite a Lonely Hearts Killers couple but close) on the road to Salinas. They offer him a lift in a hearse. Sure. No more spoilers on this terrific scene, though we do briefly meet one pure character, Harvey Soles, who provides a measure of ethics for Gene to gauge. Gene chooses paths, getting involved with organized crime, hunting down Nazi spies, ending up with shapeshifting Violeta. She’s described in exquisite prose, showing her complexity and empowerment while staying true to the opaque femme fatale. Out of the genre’s motifs, Blackwell has constructed a thought-provoking and entertaining book in The Cold Dark Forever. It is an authentic depiction of the era’s bleak challenges that forced ordinary people into crime, much like present day. Looking back to look forward.

[Coy Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a descent into hell for Gene Ackerly, whose bad luck and bad decisions and bad judge of character put him on the doomed road that is noir. And make no mistake, his plight makes for a very fine noir novel. If you like your crime fiction dark as can be, don't miss this. Blackwell knows the genre and writes it likes he's been slumming it on the west coast through the Great Depression and into the war years, gathering his observations about the meanness of this world the hard way.

Set in 1942, the story follows Ackerly off a fishing boat and into the maelstrom of a 'blood will have blood' cycle, starting with the murder of the body and culminating with the murder of the soul. Told first person in Ackerly's voice, Blackwell captures the age, the language, and headspace of a time when the world was in flux. The cascading plot makes things move quickly, while the superb writing makes it a tale you want to savor.

If you're a fan of novels like Black Wings Has My Angel, check this out.

[Kevin Michaels · Rating 5 out of 5]

C.W. Blackwell’s The Cold Dark Forever is the kind of novel that takes readers on one hell of a ride through a West Coast filled with fugitives, drifters, desolation, violence, and desire. But it isn’t simply about bad things happening to people. It’s about choices, good and bad, and the consequences that follow. The kind of choices at the heart of the best noir.

Told in Gene Ackerly’s first-person voice, The Cold Dark Forever captures the language, atmosphere, and mindset of America in 1942. An America in the middle of a war. An America at a crossroad, just like Ackerly. Blackwell writes the period so convincingly you’d swear he’d spent the Depression and war years drifting along the California coast, observing that world firsthand. Monterey, Salinas, Big Sur, Carmel, Venice, Santa Monica, the mountains, Nevada…the West Coast landscape is really another character. There are echoes of Steinbeck and Chandler, as well as those Gold Medal paperbacks of the 1950s, but Blackwell’s style is uniquely his own.

The plot moves fast, with Ackerly encountering drifters, killers, organized crime, Nazi spies, and the wonderfully enigmatic Violeta, but the writing is so good it makes you want to slow down and savor it. I actually read the book twice—the first time burning through it in two nights, the second at a more comfortable pace, picking up details I’d missed along the way. Blackwell has created a world of fugitives, desperation, desire, and violence, where nearly everyone seems to be running from something and the past has an ugly habit of catching up.

Engaging, atmospheric, and beautifully written. If you like your crime fiction dark, don’t miss this one.
Five stars.

[Gerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Cold Dark Forever is Noir at its best.

I purchased Cold Dark Forever because I had read his story collection, What Ever Kills The Pain. The Cold Dark Forever, does not disappoint. The characters dark motives and desires are intensely portrayed in this 1940s noir. The California locations are richly described and you almost can feel the Monterey fog rolling in off the bay. This book is part Steinbeck, and part Chandler with a lot of hardcore noir. I highly recommend this book, it won’t disappoint.

[Gunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vivid, luscious descriptions and depictions of characters, events and scenery without end, sentences like hammers on nails as the protagonists try to navigate life and its proverbial smudges.

This story is one to savor and remember. I pretty much burned through it (no pun intended) in just a handful of sittings.

And as I kept wondering why the mobsters needed to put up a big show and not let the pigs do the dirty work instead, the narrator delivered on his promise and tied up that loose end.

Damn well played, and much obliged, Sir Blackwell.

Keep on riding “that edge high, wide and handsome”!

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing is more satisfying than a book that you can’t put down. When you have to stay up late, reading it until you can’t keep your eyes open, then you immediately continue first thing in the morning. That’s CW Blackwell’s latest. Man, did I love this! Some of his other works bend toward the grim and bleak (also good!), but this was more rough, tough, and gritty. It was almost a love letter to the California landscape. And thrown in between the noir action and dialogue are some of the most poetic and beautiful passages. Stunning!

[Matt Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

C.W. Blackwell is an author who knows his history, knows his craft, knows classic noir, and above all, knows people. I’ve been following his work since discovering his fiction in the late, lamented New Pulp magazine Broadswords and Blasters, was rocked especially hard by last year’s collection WHATEVER KILLS THE PAIN, enough that I awaited this new release with special eagerness.

We first meet our protagonist Gene Ackerly in 1942, scraping by as a commercial fisherman in a rowdy harbor town, and it doesn’t take long for his luck to get even worse, so he’s on the run along the southern California coast, on a bleak odyssey, where one nightmarish situation leads into the next. It’s when he finds himself working in an isolated boathouse, doing shady work for even shadier people, that the real meat of the story comes into focus, first in Gene’s enticement by the sultry, enigmatic Violetta, then as the true, nasty depths of the nature of his employment becomes clear.

If you’re even passingly familiar with the tropes and archetypes of noir, you’ll already sense the basic setup and dynamics of our two central characters. But while you’re not exactly wrong, Blackwell’s sense of time, place, and most of all character is far too nuanced and empathetic to leave them bound by familiar tropes and stereotypes. Even as our point of view protagonist, Gene has far more to him than is immediately apparent, and though he’s far from perfect, there’s no sense (at least that I caught) of the author painting him with the ol’ “unreliable narrator” brush. Likewise Violetta, while certainly dangerous and untrustworthy, turns out to be operating out of an altogether different bag of tricks (literally, as it turns out) than the standard-issue femme fatale. Likewise the deadly, scheming partnership they hatch, and even more so the complicated, unconventional relationship that forms between them, takes more than one swerve into deeper, murkier territory, hard to know what to make of, and yes, even harder to predict. And when things spiral out of control - when Gene finds himself truly in over his head, where he could all to easily wind up as another dead body to be disposed of, or worse - the sense of real danger is dreadfully, nerve-wrackingly palpable.

The prose here is immersive and cinematic in a way that keeps the pages turning at a fast clip, while also hauntingly introspective, with an underlyingly elegiac, sometimes almost dreamlike mood and atmosphere (“It’s like prose with cinematography by Roger Deakins,” was a description that popped into my mind more than once while reading). So far as classic Old Hollywood film noir (of which Blackwood’s clearly a fan), the two gems I was most in mind of were OUT OF THE PAST (1947) and THE KILLERS (1946).

In depicting the era, one nice detail is an awareness of social evils facing those times as well as our own. Characters comment on the dire state of things in their world, in ways that reflect the anxieties of today, though without falling into the trap of sounding like the talk of 21st century people shoved into the mouths of mid-20th century characters.

As in his short fiction, Blackwell threads a unique needle of unrelenting, punishing bleakness without full-on nihilism, and the strain of building anxiety is all the more intense for it. He’ll make you want things, both for his characters and from them, whether or not they “deserve” it (and where one’s own moral compass lies, in the face of ugly, desperate circumstances), even as the inevitable outcome looks all the more hopeless. That outcome, when it arrives, is hard-hitting, more than a little abrupt, indeed with a sense of inevitability, ambiguous on a few levels, yet all around, not what I was expecting.

[Zakariah Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

C.W. Blackwell delivers a classic noir story of fast action and moral inflection points anchored by a hard-punching fisherman who evades easy labels and a knife-wielding femme fatale who inverts any trope about needing rescue. Set in 1942 California, the world teeters between a decade of economic collapse and the oddly hopeful lifeline of a new world war. In coastal towns suddenly awash in soldiers and spies, the criminals of the former era may become the saviors of the new--but don't get between them and a dollar.

[PulpMonkey (Chompa) · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I’d been gillnetting on a boat called the Ava Jane, running purse seines and laying twelve hundred feet of net per strike, part of a four-man crew out beyond the cold blue waters of the Monterey Bay. Mostly king salmon for the local fish markets and mackerel for the factories down on Cannery Row. We had a good season, but our last stretch was a hard seven days with Jimmy Santino breaking his fingers in the winch and Captain Paul delirious with fever. As we motored into the harbor to unload our final catch and collect our pay, I knew by the thirsty, wild-eyed looks of my crewmates that we’d all wake up with empty wallets come morning.”

This is how we start out The Cold Dark Forever. The year is 1942, in the midst of WWII, with our main character Gene Ackerly, a fisherman and former journalist. That drunken with his crew turns ugly. His roommate and friend kills a man and it puts Gene on the run from the authorities.

Gene ends up taking a job in a remote area where he can both make good money and hide, but he is working for mobsters. It is there he meets Violetta, a simply fantastic femme fatale. This great noir story and puts me in mind of James M. Cain to a degree because of the time, but has a grit and modern noir feel like S.A. Cosby delivers. Is Coastal Noir a thing?

The story rolls along and events unfold in a bloody and violent way adding Nazis to the mix. The ending was a gut punch, but amazingly well done. I highly recommend this novel.

I had previously read two of Blackwell’s novellas and loved them both. I would be greatly surprised if we do not see him become a major best-seller soon. I also have to say that Shotgun Honey, the publisher, is putting out some great crime fiction.


Overall: 5.25 stars
Investment: 5 stars
Writing: 4.5 stars
Plot: 4.5 stars
Characters: 5 stars
Dialogue: 4 stars
Rent Free Bonus: 3 stars

[Whiskey Leavins · Rating 5 out of 5]

C.W. Blackwell continues to carve out a top spot amongst contemporary writers of noir crime fiction with his latest novel, The Cold Dark Forever, a period piece, set during WWII. Blackwell does what he does best, which is to present us with a flawed protagonist, a commercial fisherman named Gene, who seems to have a pretty decent moral compass but by degrees finds himself on the lam. Partly because of lousy, rotten breaks, partly because of compounded questionable judgement calls. Still, we are rooting for him. Soon enough, he finds himself teamed up with a mysterious woman named Violeta who has a certain set of skills. Much of the story then plays out in the vein of Bonnie and Clyde or Wild at Heart. A couple on a violent road trip. But in this case the two protagonists are not in love. They are bound together through circumstances in a brutal, desperate, and violent three-legged race.

The Cold Dark Forever is also a masterclass in the concept of Setting as Character. Blackwell runs all around the same geography as Steinbeck, Kerouac, and Brautigan but somehow manages to describe the greater bay area, from San Francisco, to Monterey, to Big Sur and back through Salinas in new, vivid, identifiable ways for those of us familiar with the area with such skill it’s difficult to imagine this story unfolding anywhere else.
Whiskey Recommended: Five manhattans up!

[Curtis Ippolito · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gene Ackerly is a commercial fisherman who just wants to see his daughter again, maybe provide her a life her drifter father hasn’t ever been able to give anyone including himself. But when a drunken night on the town turns violent and Gene has to hit the road (and ocean) to avoid detection by the authorities, he walks into a whole other kind of violent world. Soon, his life spirals into hell. At least ol’ Gene has Nazi fuckers in his sights. Aside from that, his tale is one explored in classic noir, but this one sticks to you because of the beauty in which C.W. Blackwell writes, and the excellent characterization. Violeta, a woman whose name even sounds like violence, is a fascinating character and one Blackwell does a great job of avoiding cliches of noirs of yesteryear when it comes to female characters. My favorite element of this novel is the descriptions of California. You can tell right off the bat the author is in love with this state but also has valid criticisms. While set in 1942, it’s startling how many parallels there are to the economics, violence, and corruption of our current day.

This is a great novel, period. Whether you’re a fan of crime, mystery, noir, or historical, The Cold Dark Forever checks all the boxes. Highly recommend this book.

[Neal Savage · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whatever you're reading right now, set it aside and pick up a copy of The Cold Dark Forever. For fans of historical noir, it doesn't get any better than this. C.W. Blackwell's tone-perfect take on 1942 California harkens back to James M. Cain and Raymond Chandler while staking out territory all its own. We feel every step of luckless Gene Ackerly's journey from Monterey Bay to the shores of Lake Tahoe, including his heartbreaking affair with Violeta Stampa, who puts the fatal back in femme fatale. Blackwell's prose is sharp, clean, and vivid. The effect is like finding some film noir reel stuck in a time capsule and forgotten until 2026. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Maybe my favorite thing about it is that it's frequently funny. Much of contemporary crime fiction is so utterly humorless it's often a chore to get through. Not here. Although the subject matter is no joke (murder, robbery, stinkin' Nazi spies), Blackwell isn't above making the reader laugh. And honestly, any book that name checks Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers gets my vote for book of the year.

[Andrew Monge · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the second time in a month, I was treated to a modern novel that harkens back to the halcyon days of 50’s crime paperbacks. C.W. Blackwell’s THE COLD DARK FOREVER follows one man’s quick descent from fisherman to fugitive to full-on criminal, and does it oh-so-well.

The story is rife with old-school building-blocks of the genre — crime families, spies, femme fatale, you name it — all brought to vivid life with atmospheric settings, a unique cast of characters, and Blackwell’s evocative turns of phrase.

THE COLD DARK FOREVER is yet another excellent entry in an already-impressive library of storytelling. Heartily recommended, and if you haven’t read his other works, make sure you track them down as well. Just top-notch writing across the board.

[Joshua Kent · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm an avid reader of old school hard boiled and noir, the greats being Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammet, and writer CW Blackwell does an incredible job in The Cold Dark Forever to stand beside the greats. The prose is punchy, the setting is well written, and the story beats hit you one after another like fists in a cold dark alley. But this book is unique, has its own tone, a darker one, akin to a harder and more desperate kind of noir. Its story develops over a slew of questionable choices, and we watch our main character descend into a cold dark forever of his own choosing but not by his own design, which is the quentessintial basis of a great noir story. This is as solid a noir novel as ive ever read, and I highly recommend it.

[Tom Andes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great, classic noir in the fine tradition of California crime fiction. It's about people getting in over their heads, about the fine line between love and lust, and about people who want to do right but are forced by circumstances to make moral compromises. It's also a damn entertaining read. Highly recommended.

[Amy Pastor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book! I couldn’t put it down. The characters and story were so gripping. The ending left me wanting a sequel!

[M.E. Proctor · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a recent interview C.W. Blackwell said the fog was a character in “The Cold Dark Forever”. It definitely is, and when the fog lifts, when Gene (the protagonist) emerges from the fuzzy claustrophobic blanket of Big Sur, clarity might not bring the release he hopes for. The misty mystery of the cove is at times scary and at times seductive, somewhat forgiving of Gene’s good intentions and bad decisions. In “The Cold Dark Forever”, Blackwell mixes his fondness for gothic horror with the hard strings of classic Noir. It works beautifully, and Gene is the perfect tainted hero for the story, a smart guy who should know better and just can’t help himself. The writing is elegant, precise, atmospheric … it wraps itself around the reader, not unlike the vapors that linger on the Central California coast. This is a wonderful book.