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Keno Runner: A Dark Romance
"Stories turn corners. They bump into You take them!" So New York writer Benjamin Kohlman has been told by one of many former bosses. Alone again and desperate, Kohlman has finally found his : Janice Stewart, recently acquitted of the grisly arson/murder of her father-in-law. Kohlman follows Janice to Las Vegas where she works as a keno runner. Anxious to start his book, Kohlman offers Janice, now known as Angel, a contract. The elusive, innocent Angel construes it as a marriage contract, and Kohlman's bizarre adventures begin. Mysteriously treated like a high-roller in the casinos, Kohlman is beaten, stabbed, and shot. His wounds are salved by a doctor and his wife who offer a kinky interpretation of the Hippocratic oath. A black messianic boxer known as Challenger teaches Kohlman the meditative art of psychokinesis, and together they perform amazing feats. Angel, who introduces the resistant Kohlman as her husband, loves him with an unconditional devotion he has never known. But after all his trials, Kohlman may be redeemed through shedding his own blood and through his growing love for Angel. Western Literature Series.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
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October 4, 2018
Someone I know and respect quite a bit, who has spent quite a lot of time in Vegas, claims this is the best piece of fiction ever written about Sin City. It's foolish to judge a book against someone's superlatives, rather than on its own merits, but it would also be impossible to pretend that kind of praise didn't have an effect on my reading.
Anyway, "Keno Runner" has much to recommend it. The central story, about a reporter having a mental breakdown in Vegas while pursuing an elusive and mysterious woman, is fascinating. The secondary characters, a morbid and flamboyant coterie, are also colorful and will be hard to forget, their number including a quadriplegic Vietnam Vet, a challenger for the heavyweight title of the world, and a woman who can only achieve sexual release by being sliced on her legs with a straight razor.
The author, David Kranes, is a true stylistic original, an eccentric whose writing plays with the boundaries between noir and the surreal (or maybe magical realism?) in a way that reminds me of vintage Jim Nisbet and Charles Willeford. This is not straight-forward, hardboiled noir, nor is it white-knuckled suspense. It's some kind of strange hybrid in which it's hard to separate what's a hallucination from what's real.
For me, the initial effect was charming, quirky. After awhile, it all became mannered, and then somewhat insufferable. The...writing...is...too...elliptical...even...for...a...stream...of...consciousness...work.
That said, this is the kind of misfire that makes one curious about the author, as opposed to making one swear them off. "Keno Runner" is at least an interesting book (which can't be said for every book) and Mr. Kranes is definitely an original. Still, this one didn't quite work for me. Give it a try, though, if this review (or the book's summary) wet your appetite. My tastes are pretty idiosyncratic and opinions are like the terminus of the alimentary canal (gotta keep it clean in these reviews)
Anyway, "Keno Runner" has much to recommend it. The central story, about a reporter having a mental breakdown in Vegas while pursuing an elusive and mysterious woman, is fascinating. The secondary characters, a morbid and flamboyant coterie, are also colorful and will be hard to forget, their number including a quadriplegic Vietnam Vet, a challenger for the heavyweight title of the world, and a woman who can only achieve sexual release by being sliced on her legs with a straight razor.
The author, David Kranes, is a true stylistic original, an eccentric whose writing plays with the boundaries between noir and the surreal (or maybe magical realism?) in a way that reminds me of vintage Jim Nisbet and Charles Willeford. This is not straight-forward, hardboiled noir, nor is it white-knuckled suspense. It's some kind of strange hybrid in which it's hard to separate what's a hallucination from what's real.
For me, the initial effect was charming, quirky. After awhile, it all became mannered, and then somewhat insufferable. The...writing...is...too...elliptical...even...for...a...stream...of...consciousness...work.
That said, this is the kind of misfire that makes one curious about the author, as opposed to making one swear them off. "Keno Runner" is at least an interesting book (which can't be said for every book) and Mr. Kranes is definitely an original. Still, this one didn't quite work for me. Give it a try, though, if this review (or the book's summary) wet your appetite. My tastes are pretty idiosyncratic and opinions are like the terminus of the alimentary canal (gotta keep it clean in these reviews)
Displaying 1 of 1 review