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Boulevard Dreams
For private eye, Joe Nails, confusion solves everything. Joe Nails, has a problem.In this intelligently written, and darkly comic, anti-noir mystery set in the smoky world of 1958 San Francisco, Joe experiences surrealistic dreams, in which his once best friend pleads for Joe’s help, before turning a gun to his own head and firing. Joe sets out to locate him, only to discover he disappeared weeks before the dreams began. Joe Nails has a problem all right, an entire shopping list of them, but as he speeds down a tormenting road of murder, confusion, and desperation with no off-ramps, he just may solve a few - providing the fast approaching .357 yearning for another victim allows it.
283 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 23, 2018
412 people are currently reading
207 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 16, 2019
E. Ryan Janz recaptures that noir feeling in Boulevard Dreams! I love a good classic detective story, and this one is just fun. When PI Joe Nails has a dream about his friend killing himself, he’s catapulted down a path paved with bodies and intrigue. I really enjoyed the mystery of this one and how Janz captured the feel of the 50s. Check out Boulevard Dreams if you’re a young gumshoe looking for a fun mystery!
May 16, 2019
I could not get to grips with this book; the plot or the language, although it did have a twist near the end but not enough to save the whole integrity of the book. This is my opinion as I am not a fan of this type of writing or storyline.
December 4, 2020
Book Review
Basic Details:
Book Title: Boulevard Dreams
Subtitle:
Author: E. Ryan Janz
Genre: Mystery
Part of a series? No
Order in series:
Best read after earlier books in series? N/A
Available: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
Overall score:
I scored this book 3/5
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Short Summary of the book:
Imagine your friend repeatedly kills himself in front of you in your dreams while asking you for help. What would you do? Would you pass it off as just another nightmare or instead see it as the start of a quest to find out what happened to him? A quest which then places you and others at danger too?
What I liked about the book:
I did enjoy the book although the many grammatical errors and the blunt language put me off a little.
What I didn’t like about the book:
The grammatical errors spoiled to book somewhat.
My favourite bits in the book:
I enjoyed the book.
My least favourite bits in the book:
I enjoyed the book in its entirety but would prefer to read it when more editing is done.
Any further books in the series? Any more planned by this author?
The author appears to have written other books.
What books could this be compared to and why?
The book is interesting using a dream to alert the main character to a mystery to be solved.
Recommendation:
In summary, I would recommend this book for the following readers:
Children No
Young Adult Maybe
Adult Yes
If you like mystery, this book may be the book for you.
Book Description by Author:
In the smoky noir world of 1958 San Francisco, a down and out private detective experiences a series of surrealistic yet frightening dreams, in which his once best friend pleads for his help, before turning a gun to his head and committing suicide. To ease the lingering doubts regarding his friend's well-being, he sets out to locate him, only to learn he in fact committed suicide, a month before the dreams began. As his investigation deepens, the detective becomes alternately convinced of his friend's suicide, survival and murder, before confronting the shocking reality of his friend’s actual fate, as well as facing the final desperation of his own.
About the Author:
Basic Details:
Book Title: Boulevard Dreams
Subtitle:
Author: E. Ryan Janz
Genre: Mystery
Part of a series? No
Order in series:
Best read after earlier books in series? N/A
Available: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
Overall score:
I scored this book 3/5
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Short Summary of the book:
Imagine your friend repeatedly kills himself in front of you in your dreams while asking you for help. What would you do? Would you pass it off as just another nightmare or instead see it as the start of a quest to find out what happened to him? A quest which then places you and others at danger too?
What I liked about the book:
I did enjoy the book although the many grammatical errors and the blunt language put me off a little.
What I didn’t like about the book:
The grammatical errors spoiled to book somewhat.
My favourite bits in the book:
I enjoyed the book.
My least favourite bits in the book:
I enjoyed the book in its entirety but would prefer to read it when more editing is done.
Any further books in the series? Any more planned by this author?
The author appears to have written other books.
What books could this be compared to and why?
The book is interesting using a dream to alert the main character to a mystery to be solved.
Recommendation:
In summary, I would recommend this book for the following readers:
Children No
Young Adult Maybe
Adult Yes
If you like mystery, this book may be the book for you.
Book Description by Author:
In the smoky noir world of 1958 San Francisco, a down and out private detective experiences a series of surrealistic yet frightening dreams, in which his once best friend pleads for his help, before turning a gun to his head and committing suicide. To ease the lingering doubts regarding his friend's well-being, he sets out to locate him, only to learn he in fact committed suicide, a month before the dreams began. As his investigation deepens, the detective becomes alternately convinced of his friend's suicide, survival and murder, before confronting the shocking reality of his friend’s actual fate, as well as facing the final desperation of his own.
About the Author:
June 13, 2020
Way too much work
I got to about the 8% point of this book on my Kindle and had to give up. It was way too much work to figure out what the author was rambling on about. The misuse of words, the over use of words, and the obvious trying too hard to sound like Sam Spade was just too over the top for me. If you can get past that this book may do it for you. Life is too short for me to finish it. Tons of books out there waiting to be read.
I got to about the 8% point of this book on my Kindle and had to give up. It was way too much work to figure out what the author was rambling on about. The misuse of words, the over use of words, and the obvious trying too hard to sound like Sam Spade was just too over the top for me. If you can get past that this book may do it for you. Life is too short for me to finish it. Tons of books out there waiting to be read.
September 8, 2019
A Waste of Time, Really
I had hoped it would be good and sadly, it wasn't . The writer tries to be witty--well maybe he is aiming for some 1930s style noire but he misses the mark--a waste of time....really.
I had hoped it would be good and sadly, it wasn't . The writer tries to be witty--well maybe he is aiming for some 1930s style noire but he misses the mark--a waste of time....really.
January 6, 2020
I was put off by the first ten pages or so. It was too descriptive, too tongue-in-cheek noir, but the writing leveled out to a milder tongue-in-cheek noir. It was humorous and bloody, depressing and uplifting. The plot was good, with well chiseled cardboard characters, several of whom I enjoyed. Joe Nails, the PI in this cheesy yet entertaining story, was most depressing; with a note or hope – as a noir private detective ought to be. He was also gallant and sexist, imbibed alcohol and killed people, but only bad people.
Switching the narrative was risky and while I understood the need to let the reader know more than Joe Nails could see himself, it was a bit of a copout – but still pretty good.
Still, I gave the novel four stars because it was well done (despite the imperfections) and E. Ryan Janz’s humanistic humanism given to the moody Joe Nails. Without philosophy, and fatalistic philosophy tinged with that ray of light, a novel only stands on plot and characters. Many protagonists’ views are put forth in novels, sometimes an extension of the authors’ thoughts, but this one does have a deeper level than most.
I’d recommend this to devotees of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and Elmore Leonard. I think I read every one.
Switching the narrative was risky and while I understood the need to let the reader know more than Joe Nails could see himself, it was a bit of a copout – but still pretty good.
Still, I gave the novel four stars because it was well done (despite the imperfections) and E. Ryan Janz’s humanistic humanism given to the moody Joe Nails. Without philosophy, and fatalistic philosophy tinged with that ray of light, a novel only stands on plot and characters. Many protagonists’ views are put forth in novels, sometimes an extension of the authors’ thoughts, but this one does have a deeper level than most.
I’d recommend this to devotees of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and Elmore Leonard. I think I read every one.
May 11, 2019
Not sure if this was a good book or not. Didn't seem to interest me a lot. Kind of confusing the way it was written by different peoples perspectives. A lot of sexual sentences were surprising when you read the first one and it continues thru out the whole book. I thought it was rated high but not one I would recommend my friends to read.
November 19, 2020
Well developed plot leads the willing reader to the conclusion.
The storyline seduces the reader so well that as twists are revealed they neither shock nor does one pause to reflect because the next paragraph continues pulling one forward.
The storyline seduces the reader so well that as twists are revealed they neither shock nor does one pause to reflect because the next paragraph continues pulling one forward.
June 21, 2023
Women, money, powerful, industrialist, murderer and hitmen
Too many people in this story. Confusion ran wild, maybe because I did not give this book my undivided attention due to me wondering who or what was being projected by my previous reading.
Too many people in this story. Confusion ran wild, maybe because I did not give this book my undivided attention due to me wondering who or what was being projected by my previous reading.
Want to read
June 15, 2019TheFussyLibrarian
abandoned
June 19, 2019I abandon a book maybe once every several years. This was the first one in probably longer than that. After the first few pages, I had zero connection and nothing sucked me into the pages.
October 31, 2019
Too many grammatical errors, spelling and punctuation errors. The writing was pretty bad but the story was passable - although really convoluted.
February 24, 2020
Painful
Begins badly and goes downhill. Unfinishable, reads like the author's mother was beaten by Raymond Chandler with a faulty thesaurus while he was in utero
Begins badly and goes downhill. Unfinishable, reads like the author's mother was beaten by Raymond Chandler with a faulty thesaurus while he was in utero
March 12, 2020
Very entertaining book but, the dream sequences were confusing. The ending was certainly a surprise and kept me guessing until the last chapter.
November 22, 2020
I didn’t finish this book, didn’t like the language used!
August 25, 2021
The writing and editing were quite good; but the story was so convoluted. Especially the last section.
June 17, 2023
what a mess
Author tried— and failed, to deliver an enjoyable read.
There’s a reason books like this are free..
Helped me pass 7.5 hours of flying, however, hence the 2 stars
Author tried— and failed, to deliver an enjoyable read.
There’s a reason books like this are free..
Helped me pass 7.5 hours of flying, however, hence the 2 stars
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews