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The Cold Handshake
The Cold Handshake by Alan Bain. A noirish tale recalling the paperback Era. Pacific City, 1952. Crooked. Dirty. Contemptible. Dangerous. That's Largo. That's Pacific City. A grifter in the most remote, the most sleazy city in the world. Largo's life changed forever when he met the girl of his dreams: Rita Fleischer. This was a dame to take things real smooth with. A dame to live for. Now he could forget the scams, the mob bosses and the dirty money. Or he should've. Then Rita was murdered. She became a phantom, a ghost. Rita haunted Largo. And she'd haunt him all the way to the electric chair. . . Reader's caution: This story contains adult themes and frequent language that may cause offence.
238 pages, Paperback
Published October 15, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 23, 2015
Literary Review of:
The Cold Handshake
by
Alan Bain
published 2015
ISBN 1-5114976-7-X
ISBN 13: 978-1-51-149767-1
It is 1952. We are in Pacific City. This is the refuge for Largo, a sleazy and dangerous grifter. This is his story.
If you like your characters with hard to find redeeming features, Largo is for you.
His life encounters love, violence, betrayal, confusion, scams, and suspense.
I read this book from cover to cover in two days.
I read it in black and white with a few flashes of blinding colour.
By that I mean, think of a dark graphic novel but with all the pictures painted by words.
Think of Sin City, but with real people. Think of Sam Spade, Mickey Spillane but set in a Literary Noir setting.
For a first publication, I think Mr Bain has found a genre has been sadly overlooked in recent years. It is a genre that suits his writing and it is hoped that he will follow up with more intriguing stories of the type.
Alan S Young
aka ScotsJamaican
The Cold Handshake
by
Alan Bain
published 2015
ISBN 1-5114976-7-X
ISBN 13: 978-1-51-149767-1
It is 1952. We are in Pacific City. This is the refuge for Largo, a sleazy and dangerous grifter. This is his story.
If you like your characters with hard to find redeeming features, Largo is for you.
His life encounters love, violence, betrayal, confusion, scams, and suspense.
I read this book from cover to cover in two days.
I read it in black and white with a few flashes of blinding colour.
By that I mean, think of a dark graphic novel but with all the pictures painted by words.
Think of Sin City, but with real people. Think of Sam Spade, Mickey Spillane but set in a Literary Noir setting.
For a first publication, I think Mr Bain has found a genre has been sadly overlooked in recent years. It is a genre that suits his writing and it is hoped that he will follow up with more intriguing stories of the type.
Alan S Young
aka ScotsJamaican
May 31, 2022
This book told an evocative and interesting story. It held me from the very beginning, right through to an ending that I did not see coming. First Class. Look forward to more.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews