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The Hollywood Spiral
The long-awaited literary return of the author of the critically acclaimed cult classic Apathy and Other Small Victories : a darkly comic novel, set in the near future, about the race to find a missing cyber program with the power to bend reality, all before a fast-approaching comet destroys the Earth.
In the near future, after the internet grinds to a halt amid a wave of cyber-attacks, a company named Zodiac steps in to replace it with an evolved, augmented-reality version called the Grid.
Harrigan, a hard-drinking private detective living as off-Grid as possible, is about to be evicted from his apartment when a stranger shows up asking for his help in finding Anna, an escort who's absconded with more than just his heart. Turns out that through Harrigan's new client, Anna has come into possession of a program/entity called Mirror, Mirror, which has the capacity to merge the Grid and reality, bending both to the whims of the program's user.
Soon Harrigan finds himself up against the last surviving organized crime gangs in Los Angeles, Zodiac's mercenaries, and a mysterious group called the First Church Multiverse, all of whom are hot on the trail of Mirror, Mirror—if the comet rapidly approaching Earth doesn't kill them all first.
In the near future, after the internet grinds to a halt amid a wave of cyber-attacks, a company named Zodiac steps in to replace it with an evolved, augmented-reality version called the Grid.
Harrigan, a hard-drinking private detective living as off-Grid as possible, is about to be evicted from his apartment when a stranger shows up asking for his help in finding Anna, an escort who's absconded with more than just his heart. Turns out that through Harrigan's new client, Anna has come into possession of a program/entity called Mirror, Mirror, which has the capacity to merge the Grid and reality, bending both to the whims of the program's user.
Soon Harrigan finds himself up against the last surviving organized crime gangs in Los Angeles, Zodiac's mercenaries, and a mysterious group called the First Church Multiverse, all of whom are hot on the trail of Mirror, Mirror—if the comet rapidly approaching Earth doesn't kill them all first.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published June 15, 2021
25 people are currently reading
1961 people want to read
About the author
Paul Neilan
2 books220 followersPaul Neilan is an American novelist, writer of Apathy and Other Small Victories.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
July 5, 2021
I waited for this to pop up on my Kindle. I even connected that thing to the internet, losing all the library books I'd stashed on there, hidden away from The Man because if you get your library books, put them on your Kindle, and then go Airplane Mode, you can hang onto them. I'm told. I'd never do such a thing. This was just a farcical, wildly imaginative way for me to explain how excited I was for Paul Neilan's new book.
Um. We had a problem.
This might be a problem specific to me and some readers like me.
When there are more than 5 major characters, I can't keep track of them worth a damn. When there get to be 10+, I stop trying.
This isn't necessarily a weakenss of The Hollywood Spiral, it's a personal weakness, and it's probably why I never read fantasy novels. When I tried to read Lord of the Rings, I was like, "Are all these dwarves and hobbits and shit really necessary? Couldn't these characters be combined? Couldn't like three of these hobbits stand on each others' shoulders and get under a trench coat and be one guy?
If there are ten-ish characters, to accommodate my disability, I need them to have outrageous names, some kind of physical feature or tic that's very distinct, and I need a reminder, a cue of some kind, most times each character re-appears. This is somewhat true early into a season of Survivor, and I even have visual cues and the sounds of their voices to distinguish them.
The Hollywood Spiral did not baby me, and I suffered for not realizing early on that there was a good number of characters to track, and in a mystery plot, knowing who's who is pretty damn important.
Some of this wasn't my fault. I'll blame some of it on not me. When there's a character named Eddie Lompoc, I think it's fair to call him either Eddie or Eddie Lompoc, but if you go that route, don't switch it up on me and sometimes call him just Lompoc. Or, don't go the other way, call him Eddie Lompoc and sometimes just Lompoc, but then hit me with an "Eddie." When you've got two different ways of referring to 10 different characters, that's 20 pieces of information for the reader to remember just to keep track of all the players on the board.
By the end, I sort of felt like there were four different books mashed up in here. There was a comedy, a cult/crime thing, a techno/social media crime thing, and also just a crime novel. I mean, it's been like 15 years since we got Paul Neilan's last book, and it kinda makes sense if he had this many ideas going on. I just ended up feeling like maybe it'd be better to see something more focused.
I was watching Master Chef Junior last night because, despite what people tell you, there is an end to the amount of reality TV on Hulu, and Gordon Ramsay was telling this kid who totally fucked up a cake something like, "You know, if you're not really sure how to do something, instead of making it complicated and hoping no one will notice, make it really simple and give those simple elements your best effort, and you'll end up with something better." The kid didn't get eliminated, which was fair, but boy was that cake an embarrasment. I bet his family was so ashamed of him. Probably had to sleep out on the porch that night.
Anyway, I think Paul Neilan definitely knows how to write a book and tell a story, I just found that there were some parts in this book that I loved and some parts I wanted to get through so I could get back to the good parts. The parts with the main character talking to his old boss, and his old boss is recounting stories from his youth in an Alzheimer's haze? Amazing. Hilarious. Heartbreaking. Perfect. I don't want to spoil it, but there's a surprise near the end that's packed with laughs. But I felt like a lot of the rest of the book was like moving the pieces around on a chess board, like the character went here because someone gave him this clue, then here because this clue, and that might be fun for some readers, but it's not my cup of cake.
When I finished, there was a lot of good, some not as good, and there was too much for me to handle in one book of this length.
ALL THAT SAID: I think this is a reading problem that's specific to me and a handful of other people. I've suffered at least 3 concussions in my life. I'm not the first example to look for when it comes to tracking with a tight plot and full cast. I'm not even a good person to advise on it. Frankly, it's super irresponsible of Goodreads to even let me review shit on here. "He could be just anyone!" is what people usually say, and to that I say, "You wish, buddy. I'm not anyone. I'm me. And that's way, way worse."
Um. We had a problem.
This might be a problem specific to me and some readers like me.
When there are more than 5 major characters, I can't keep track of them worth a damn. When there get to be 10+, I stop trying.
This isn't necessarily a weakenss of The Hollywood Spiral, it's a personal weakness, and it's probably why I never read fantasy novels. When I tried to read Lord of the Rings, I was like, "Are all these dwarves and hobbits and shit really necessary? Couldn't these characters be combined? Couldn't like three of these hobbits stand on each others' shoulders and get under a trench coat and be one guy?
If there are ten-ish characters, to accommodate my disability, I need them to have outrageous names, some kind of physical feature or tic that's very distinct, and I need a reminder, a cue of some kind, most times each character re-appears. This is somewhat true early into a season of Survivor, and I even have visual cues and the sounds of their voices to distinguish them.
The Hollywood Spiral did not baby me, and I suffered for not realizing early on that there was a good number of characters to track, and in a mystery plot, knowing who's who is pretty damn important.
Some of this wasn't my fault. I'll blame some of it on not me. When there's a character named Eddie Lompoc, I think it's fair to call him either Eddie or Eddie Lompoc, but if you go that route, don't switch it up on me and sometimes call him just Lompoc. Or, don't go the other way, call him Eddie Lompoc and sometimes just Lompoc, but then hit me with an "Eddie." When you've got two different ways of referring to 10 different characters, that's 20 pieces of information for the reader to remember just to keep track of all the players on the board.
By the end, I sort of felt like there were four different books mashed up in here. There was a comedy, a cult/crime thing, a techno/social media crime thing, and also just a crime novel. I mean, it's been like 15 years since we got Paul Neilan's last book, and it kinda makes sense if he had this many ideas going on. I just ended up feeling like maybe it'd be better to see something more focused.
I was watching Master Chef Junior last night because, despite what people tell you, there is an end to the amount of reality TV on Hulu, and Gordon Ramsay was telling this kid who totally fucked up a cake something like, "You know, if you're not really sure how to do something, instead of making it complicated and hoping no one will notice, make it really simple and give those simple elements your best effort, and you'll end up with something better." The kid didn't get eliminated, which was fair, but boy was that cake an embarrasment. I bet his family was so ashamed of him. Probably had to sleep out on the porch that night.
Anyway, I think Paul Neilan definitely knows how to write a book and tell a story, I just found that there were some parts in this book that I loved and some parts I wanted to get through so I could get back to the good parts. The parts with the main character talking to his old boss, and his old boss is recounting stories from his youth in an Alzheimer's haze? Amazing. Hilarious. Heartbreaking. Perfect. I don't want to spoil it, but there's a surprise near the end that's packed with laughs. But I felt like a lot of the rest of the book was like moving the pieces around on a chess board, like the character went here because someone gave him this clue, then here because this clue, and that might be fun for some readers, but it's not my cup of cake.
When I finished, there was a lot of good, some not as good, and there was too much for me to handle in one book of this length.
ALL THAT SAID: I think this is a reading problem that's specific to me and a handful of other people. I've suffered at least 3 concussions in my life. I'm not the first example to look for when it comes to tracking with a tight plot and full cast. I'm not even a good person to advise on it. Frankly, it's super irresponsible of Goodreads to even let me review shit on here. "He could be just anyone!" is what people usually say, and to that I say, "You wish, buddy. I'm not anyone. I'm me. And that's way, way worse."
June 17, 2021
Finally, an eagerly awaited book has lived up to my anticipation. Like many fans of Apathy and Other Small Victories, I've waited more than a decade for a second Paul Neilan novel, and I was thrilled when The Hollywood Spiral was announced.
This isn’t a sequel to Apathy. It’s an entirely different story, somewhat sci-fi but not so much that it’s not enjoyable for those of us who aren’t interested in that genre. Neilan’s quality of storytelling has improved without losing its wit and sarcasm, his main character is more likable, and his humor fits better in Hollywood. Where Apathy often felt like a long Family Guy episode with its hilarious tangents that wander away from the story, Hollywood fits its humor more tidily within the story.
Overall, Hollywood is a better book than Apathy. It’s a fun story that’ll keep you flipping the pages. Neilan grew into an excellent storyteller while refining the unique humor that made us love him.
This isn’t a sequel to Apathy. It’s an entirely different story, somewhat sci-fi but not so much that it’s not enjoyable for those of us who aren’t interested in that genre. Neilan’s quality of storytelling has improved without losing its wit and sarcasm, his main character is more likable, and his humor fits better in Hollywood. Where Apathy often felt like a long Family Guy episode with its hilarious tangents that wander away from the story, Hollywood fits its humor more tidily within the story.
Overall, Hollywood is a better book than Apathy. It’s a fun story that’ll keep you flipping the pages. Neilan grew into an excellent storyteller while refining the unique humor that made us love him.
December 21, 2021
So disappointed. I really enjoyed Apathy but this story misses the laughs, has way too many wooden characters, and just wanders from one gritty scene to the next. What happened? It’s like somebody else wrote it.
November 15, 2021
Neilan finally returns with a wicked and wild foray into near-future science fiction that expands upon the brilliant moments that made Apathy and Other Small Victories a cult classic.
September 2, 2024
Maybe it's because I'm judging this against the author's one and only other book, "Apathy," which is one of, if not my favorite book, is muddled and confusing and not very good. Where "Apathy" had laugh out loud pages full of eccentric characters, this had forced polite snickers that were not funny in the least. I forced myself to finish this mess all with a straight face. I think I gave it two stars because, once again with "Apathy." I could only give it five, so the extra star is fir that book. I'm sorry. I really wanted to like this.
September 10, 2021
A detective yarn that consistently loses its own thread.
November 4, 2021
Neo noir, sci-fi mystery, great humor but way too many characters for such a short book.
June 27, 2021
Paul Neilan wrote a book called Apathy and Other Small Victories in 2006. It is one of the funniest things I have ever read. I quote it, I have screenshots of passages I send to friends, I recommend it to everyone. Paul Neilan hasn’t written anything since 2006 until now. When I saw The Hollywood Spiral pop up on Edelweiss, I took a double take. Rarer than a new Chuck Palahniuk novel, the title of the book lit up with a golden halo in my eyes and I know every Paul Neilan fan out there feels the same.
The Hollywood Spiral is a near future noir story about a typical chain smoking alcoholic private eye with a penchant for champagne and avoiding the government. Someone is going around murdering men and making it look like they died from autoerotic asphyxiation. Sometimes with a cucumber found in an uncomfortable place to send a message. Harrigan sloughs through a gang boss who does stand up comedy, a drink the kool-aid cult that pushes people to believe alopecia is a way into enlightenment, and a government that threatens small children to eat their raisin bran or they will get picked up by child molesters.
“The difference between a hooker and a hostess is companionship not sex, like cocker spaniels”. “
“Grid. Is. Good. When life gives you lemons, Grid Makes you lemonade. Grid bakes you a lemon sponge cake. Grid puts those lemons in the freezer and stuffs them in a tube sock and then beats the shit out of life the next time it tries to pass out it’s half-assed citrus fruit off on you”.
Everything we loved in Apathy is here and doesn’t disappoint. Paul Neilan is a literary treasure and should be known by everyone.
https://piratetwinkiereadsblog.wordpr...
The Hollywood Spiral is a near future noir story about a typical chain smoking alcoholic private eye with a penchant for champagne and avoiding the government. Someone is going around murdering men and making it look like they died from autoerotic asphyxiation. Sometimes with a cucumber found in an uncomfortable place to send a message. Harrigan sloughs through a gang boss who does stand up comedy, a drink the kool-aid cult that pushes people to believe alopecia is a way into enlightenment, and a government that threatens small children to eat their raisin bran or they will get picked up by child molesters.
“The difference between a hooker and a hostess is companionship not sex, like cocker spaniels”. “
“Grid. Is. Good. When life gives you lemons, Grid Makes you lemonade. Grid bakes you a lemon sponge cake. Grid puts those lemons in the freezer and stuffs them in a tube sock and then beats the shit out of life the next time it tries to pass out it’s half-assed citrus fruit off on you”.
Everything we loved in Apathy is here and doesn’t disappoint. Paul Neilan is a literary treasure and should be known by everyone.
https://piratetwinkiereadsblog.wordpr...
June 29, 2025
This book was entertaining. I was a bit lost while reading but it was an interesting dystopian story, a grim look at the future of AI and America’s love for corporations.
June 21, 2021
This hardboiled detective thriller is fascinating because of its setting - in a futuristic world where a single company, Zodiac, controls most of the media that the population consumes, resulting in a near-monopoly on the citizens. The company has created the 'Grid', instituting a form of social credit where, the more active you are on the Grid, the more 'balanced' and 'well' you are, according to Zodiac. Of course, staying off the Grid can result in a form of Assessment, where the system will assess you, and can result in penalties, including capture and containment.
Meet Harrigan, the detective who's tasked with finding a missing girl, Anna, by a desperate man, Volga, who's determined that she's been taken and needs to be found. Harrigan goes on a chase that leads him to several factions that are looking to overthrow Zodiac, from rebel groups to the 'church of the multiverse'. He also comes across some ground-breaking technology that has the potential to undermine Zodiac, and the Grid, at its core, which means that Zodiac is also on the hunt.
The book combines this sci-fi setting with the hardboiled detective trope, making for a very interesting novel that goes beyond the missing person, to address the society at large. It was a very interesting read, one that tested the boundaries of the trope while constructing a rich world that's ripe for change.
Meet Harrigan, the detective who's tasked with finding a missing girl, Anna, by a desperate man, Volga, who's determined that she's been taken and needs to be found. Harrigan goes on a chase that leads him to several factions that are looking to overthrow Zodiac, from rebel groups to the 'church of the multiverse'. He also comes across some ground-breaking technology that has the potential to undermine Zodiac, and the Grid, at its core, which means that Zodiac is also on the hunt.
The book combines this sci-fi setting with the hardboiled detective trope, making for a very interesting novel that goes beyond the missing person, to address the society at large. It was a very interesting read, one that tested the boundaries of the trope while constructing a rich world that's ripe for change.
December 22, 2022
Apathy is one of my favorite books of all time and while this has a couple good lines in it, it feels like a completely different author. Excruciatingly slow pacing, wooden characters, and a story that gets bogged down by itself. The jokes never land and the concept has been done before. Took me months to finish and can't say it was worth it.
August 8, 2021
Fifteen years ago, I loved Paul Neilan's Apathy and Other Tragedies. So much so that every few years I'd search to see if he'd published something new. After 15 long years of disappointment, at last--a sophomore novel!
And you know what? I didn't hate it. I didn't flat out love it either, but I definitely enjoyed it. If nothing else, The Hollywood Spiral confirms that Neilan and I share a sense of humor. (There was a really terrible scatalogical running gag that was gross and made me uncomfortable through the entire book. Still, it was pretty funny.)
I rarely read much in the way of jacket copy, and generally go into most stories blind. This was genre-crossing lunacy! You start with a hard-boiled detective story. Okay, I can see how an organized crime story might overlap. But then things get more dystopian and science fictiony. And it's also a satire, with plenty of comedy--complete with stand-up acts. There's a lot to unfold.
The good news is, you will NOT guess what's going to happen. (Did I mention there's a comet hurtling towards Earth?) And this isn't even a long book! It's possible that Mr. Neilan has thrown everything but the kitchen sink at this one. Fifteen years of abandoned plots? I don't know. But I also don't know what I'd tell him to cut out.
In the end, I'm left with this: If it takes another fifteen years to see Mr. Neilan's third novel, I'll still be here patiently checking and waiting for it. I appear to be a fan.
And you know what? I didn't hate it. I didn't flat out love it either, but I definitely enjoyed it. If nothing else, The Hollywood Spiral confirms that Neilan and I share a sense of humor. (There was a really terrible scatalogical running gag that was gross and made me uncomfortable through the entire book. Still, it was pretty funny.)
I rarely read much in the way of jacket copy, and generally go into most stories blind. This was genre-crossing lunacy! You start with a hard-boiled detective story. Okay, I can see how an organized crime story might overlap. But then things get more dystopian and science fictiony. And it's also a satire, with plenty of comedy--complete with stand-up acts. There's a lot to unfold.
The good news is, you will NOT guess what's going to happen. (Did I mention there's a comet hurtling towards Earth?) And this isn't even a long book! It's possible that Mr. Neilan has thrown everything but the kitchen sink at this one. Fifteen years of abandoned plots? I don't know. But I also don't know what I'd tell him to cut out.
In the end, I'm left with this: If it takes another fifteen years to see Mr. Neilan's third novel, I'll still be here patiently checking and waiting for it. I appear to be a fan.
December 25, 2021
I'm glad this was short, because it sure was painful to read. Sooooo many faceless characters! I don't mind a lot of characters, but I had no idea who was who except for maybe 3-4. The rest were all blurs. I found the story was a confusing mess to boot. Just not a whole lot of time spent with certain ideas, people, or scenes to really let me sink my teeth into it. I only gave it an extra star because there were some interesting ideas here, but they were wasted. And, one last thing were these anything "conversations" that would pop up out of nowhere that didn't fit anything going on and/or weren't amusing at all. Bah, I just changed this to one star from two. This sucked.
March 18, 2023
An artistic failure - utter pastiche.
I probably would not be so critical of this work if I were not such a fan of Neilan's other work. Then, again, I am pretty confident I would have never picked this one malformed shit up if I were not such a fan of Apathy and Other Small Victories. Unfortunately, this work has none of the witticism or ludicity found in the author's previous title. The narrative, themes, and ideas are nothing unique, which is perfectly fine, not everything has to be original, but at least then let it not be so pitifully insipid.
After 15 years, Neilan blesses us with a new book, just for it to be a curse.
I probably would not be so critical of this work if I were not such a fan of Neilan's other work. Then, again, I am pretty confident I would have never picked this one malformed shit up if I were not such a fan of Apathy and Other Small Victories. Unfortunately, this work has none of the witticism or ludicity found in the author's previous title. The narrative, themes, and ideas are nothing unique, which is perfectly fine, not everything has to be original, but at least then let it not be so pitifully insipid.
After 15 years, Neilan blesses us with a new book, just for it to be a curse.
January 19, 2026
In this cyberpunk noir, the renegade faction is on the hunt for a powerful AI that will enable them to strike against the oppressive megacorporation. At the end of the novel, they have acquired it and carry out their plan: blow up a bunch of shit.
OK
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August 3, 2021convoluted and hard to follow
February 10, 2022
I really like Paul's other book, but couldn't get that Dick Tracy voice out of my head with this one.
July 10, 2025
I wanted to like this so bad, I loved Apathy.
I have a few gripes with this. I am banging my head against the wall like I wanted to like this so bad. I used my spotify audiobook hours on this cause no library had this physically or digitally, and that is where I made my first mistake.
My biggest audiobook ick, and why I tend to stay away from them, is when the male narrator makes his voice high pitched/squeaky for female characters. It is not even how annoying this is on a surface level, the cadence/flow in which they speak is NEVER how a woman would say it. Completely takes me out of the story. (The narrator did a great job for all the other characters tho.)
Now for the story... (spoilers)
So convoluted, I loved this fact in apathy!! In fact it made sense in apathy because our mc is not a detective or investigator in any sense in the word and his failings contributed to the hilarity of the story. In this however, it felt like our detective character would just pick up new loose ends... not even loose ends.. SPLIT ENDS and do some bs and then the chapter would be over. It would barely connect to the previous chapter but I guess it did(??) I could not follow how many characters there were. None of them felt important not even the girl we are supposed to be searching for, the main conflict of the novel. I kinda gave up trying to understand what was going on. I have no idea how it ends, I read it but honestly gun to my head could not tell you. This got one genuine laugh from me. Versus apathy where I was walking around, reading it on campus chuckling to myself like a crazy person infront of others. The writing style is the same, it was genuinely just a failure of the plot. My favorite bits were with Clyde/Clide (idk how to spell it I listened on audio) and the dudes on the bus.
I have a few gripes with this. I am banging my head against the wall like I wanted to like this so bad. I used my spotify audiobook hours on this cause no library had this physically or digitally, and that is where I made my first mistake.
My biggest audiobook ick, and why I tend to stay away from them, is when the male narrator makes his voice high pitched/squeaky for female characters. It is not even how annoying this is on a surface level, the cadence/flow in which they speak is NEVER how a woman would say it. Completely takes me out of the story. (The narrator did a great job for all the other characters tho.)
Now for the story... (spoilers)
So convoluted, I loved this fact in apathy!! In fact it made sense in apathy because our mc is not a detective or investigator in any sense in the word and his failings contributed to the hilarity of the story. In this however, it felt like our detective character would just pick up new loose ends... not even loose ends.. SPLIT ENDS and do some bs and then the chapter would be over. It would barely connect to the previous chapter but I guess it did(??) I could not follow how many characters there were. None of them felt important not even the girl we are supposed to be searching for, the main conflict of the novel. I kinda gave up trying to understand what was going on. I have no idea how it ends, I read it but honestly gun to my head could not tell you. This got one genuine laugh from me. Versus apathy where I was walking around, reading it on campus chuckling to myself like a crazy person infront of others. The writing style is the same, it was genuinely just a failure of the plot. My favorite bits were with Clyde/Clide (idk how to spell it I listened on audio) and the dudes on the bus.
August 23, 2021
This is a mix of good and bad. I was excited to read another Paul Neilan book after enjoying his first one years ago. The premise was a different world of blade runner type scifi mixed with a neo noirs detective story. I liked the world building and some of the creeping similarities of the world in the book and our own world where social media can dominate social status for people and create a social caste system.
The down side of this book was how disjointed it felt, there were a lot of characters coming and going so it could be a challenge to follow and there seemed to be about five different sub plots going on around the main plot and by the end I didn't feel that I recieved any solid answer or got any good reveal.
The biggest issue I experienced in this book was the humor, almost all the jokes in this book failed to make me even chuckle. Which is a shame, since Neilan's last book made me laugh to the point of tears so many times when I read it. Some of the jokes and set ups were probably intended to be bad because they came from failed comedian characters but it wasn't any different from the rest of the jokes in the book.
I didn't hate reading this, but it wasn't the best read I've experienced. I give it a bigger review for the neat world it created, although the names of the technology and the systems in power were not subtle at all. But the ideas it posed that made me want to go off Grid in my own worlds any consider how technology effects my life, tells me that this book was worth reading. It just needed another rewrite.
The down side of this book was how disjointed it felt, there were a lot of characters coming and going so it could be a challenge to follow and there seemed to be about five different sub plots going on around the main plot and by the end I didn't feel that I recieved any solid answer or got any good reveal.
The biggest issue I experienced in this book was the humor, almost all the jokes in this book failed to make me even chuckle. Which is a shame, since Neilan's last book made me laugh to the point of tears so many times when I read it. Some of the jokes and set ups were probably intended to be bad because they came from failed comedian characters but it wasn't any different from the rest of the jokes in the book.
I didn't hate reading this, but it wasn't the best read I've experienced. I give it a bigger review for the neat world it created, although the names of the technology and the systems in power were not subtle at all. But the ideas it posed that made me want to go off Grid in my own worlds any consider how technology effects my life, tells me that this book was worth reading. It just needed another rewrite.
March 13, 2022
I'd been looking forward to reading this because of my fond memories of 'AAOSV'; like most people who have found this, I'd imagine. And in the end, it's a mixed bag.
It's an easy-reading, inconsistent page turner that I was able to polish off in three days of sporadic sessions...yet there were times I'd sit down to read it and just not feel engaged, opting to pick it up later. When I was engaged, I'd cruise through 40 pages at a time. I think that can mostly be attributed to how up and down the narrative can be. Sometimes you're dying to see what Harrigan's next move is, and other times, you feel stuck in the mud with another providential arrival of a character at his apartment. Sometimes you're sucked into the character-building flashbacks, other times you're rolling your eyes at the exact same couple lines of dialogue being recycled.
The biggest complaint I have is that the narrative seems to just kind of go nowhere. The world feels unchanged, the stakes don't feel raised, and the consequences feel nearly absent. This in addition to the not-quite-realized capabilities and details of Zodiac make the novel end somewhat flatly.
I'm interested to see what Neian does next still, but this sophomore effort plays much like a rookie phenom who's humbled in his second year by the challenges of consistency.
It's an easy-reading, inconsistent page turner that I was able to polish off in three days of sporadic sessions...yet there were times I'd sit down to read it and just not feel engaged, opting to pick it up later. When I was engaged, I'd cruise through 40 pages at a time. I think that can mostly be attributed to how up and down the narrative can be. Sometimes you're dying to see what Harrigan's next move is, and other times, you feel stuck in the mud with another providential arrival of a character at his apartment. Sometimes you're sucked into the character-building flashbacks, other times you're rolling your eyes at the exact same couple lines of dialogue being recycled.
The biggest complaint I have is that the narrative seems to just kind of go nowhere. The world feels unchanged, the stakes don't feel raised, and the consequences feel nearly absent. This in addition to the not-quite-realized capabilities and details of Zodiac make the novel end somewhat flatly.
I'm interested to see what Neian does next still, but this sophomore effort plays much like a rookie phenom who's humbled in his second year by the challenges of consistency.
February 19, 2023
Man, I was really hoping for more from this book.
Before “The Hollywood Spiral” Paul Neilan had published only one other book, which just happens to be one of my favorites; “Apathy and Other Small Victories.” Having read both of these books I can see now that “Apathy” was a practice of sorts for Neilan in the comedy/noir genre, but for whatever reason he lost something along the way while making “Hollywood Spiral.” It’s not bad, but after waiting for years for Neilan’s sophomore novel I can say that it’s certainly disappointing.
In a vacuum “Hollywood Spiral” is actually a fair amount of fun even if it is kind of a mess. It’s a hard-nosed detective tale that tries to spin a lot of plates at once and drops way too many of them before the big finish, haphazardly tying up threads while weaving in bad stand up routines and shit-themed death bed confessionals. It’s not a classic by any stretch, but it’s a fun way to kill an afternoon.
Personally I’m hoping Neilan continues to write and finds a balance within himself that he’s clearly looking for. Until then, I’ll keep re-reading “Apathy” whenever I need a good laugh and I’ll definitely give “Hollywood Spiral” another shot now that my expectations are properly set.
Before “The Hollywood Spiral” Paul Neilan had published only one other book, which just happens to be one of my favorites; “Apathy and Other Small Victories.” Having read both of these books I can see now that “Apathy” was a practice of sorts for Neilan in the comedy/noir genre, but for whatever reason he lost something along the way while making “Hollywood Spiral.” It’s not bad, but after waiting for years for Neilan’s sophomore novel I can say that it’s certainly disappointing.
In a vacuum “Hollywood Spiral” is actually a fair amount of fun even if it is kind of a mess. It’s a hard-nosed detective tale that tries to spin a lot of plates at once and drops way too many of them before the big finish, haphazardly tying up threads while weaving in bad stand up routines and shit-themed death bed confessionals. It’s not a classic by any stretch, but it’s a fun way to kill an afternoon.
Personally I’m hoping Neilan continues to write and finds a balance within himself that he’s clearly looking for. Until then, I’ll keep re-reading “Apathy” whenever I need a good laugh and I’ll definitely give “Hollywood Spiral” another shot now that my expectations are properly set.
October 4, 2021
This is a weird book-- Neilan has created a pretty complicated mystery set in a near-future world where all kinds of genre stuff, mostly SF but also some elements of the supernatural and heavy does of satire, come together. Neilan does a pretty good hard boiled detective voice, but the book has a lot of set pieces where he does other voices, like the comedy club where we hear routines from a couple different comics (a mob bass, "schrodinger's daughter," a priest, a rapper, etc, where the main idea seems to be for Neilan to show off, and it didn't work for me. The same goes for the recurring characters who ride the bus and have riffy conversations the protagonist overhears.
I mean, I get it, that maybe its passe to write a trad "cherchez la femme" detective story. But the mystery was so complicated (to me, at least) and then so punctuated with stuff like that described above that was hard to get through.... There's a lot of talent here, but the attempts here didn't connect with me as a reader.
If you've read later Alan Moore LoEG stuff, the pastiche work here is similar to that....
I mean, I get it, that maybe its passe to write a trad "cherchez la femme" detective story. But the mystery was so complicated (to me, at least) and then so punctuated with stuff like that described above that was hard to get through.... There's a lot of talent here, but the attempts here didn't connect with me as a reader.
If you've read later Alan Moore LoEG stuff, the pastiche work here is similar to that....
January 26, 2023
The book follows Harrigan as a private eye who doesn't call himself a private eye. A man comes to him wanting him to find a girl named Anna and so begins his trip around town.
This book was a disappointing follow up to his first book, Apathy and Other Small Victories. I found it very difficult to follow and full of uninteresting characters trying desperately to be interesting. There was a lot of over the top cyber future with a mix of 50's style Noir. Every person Harrigan finds gives him leads, he spends a lot of time in a stand up club with people trying to be funny, but it's just full of random swearing and pieces that don't make sense together. Anytime there's a start of some sort of action it cuts away and you find out what happened in the first few sentences of the next chapter. The ending was very anti climatic and open ended. Overall it just wasn't a fun read.
A swing and a miss. I won't be reading this book again.
This book was a disappointing follow up to his first book, Apathy and Other Small Victories. I found it very difficult to follow and full of uninteresting characters trying desperately to be interesting. There was a lot of over the top cyber future with a mix of 50's style Noir. Every person Harrigan finds gives him leads, he spends a lot of time in a stand up club with people trying to be funny, but it's just full of random swearing and pieces that don't make sense together. Anytime there's a start of some sort of action it cuts away and you find out what happened in the first few sentences of the next chapter. The ending was very anti climatic and open ended. Overall it just wasn't a fun read.
A swing and a miss. I won't be reading this book again.
November 21, 2023
A mystery book collides with a science fiction story, yielding a confusing narrative and a failed detective plot.
Set in the future, social status is achieved through use of a super duper internet, called the Grid. Those at the top of the food chain are called the Zodiac, and have jobs related to the twelve zodiac signs. Insurgent groups exist off the grid, often in plain sight.
In this word, Harrigan is a tough-guy private detective, mostly living off the grid, which gets him in trouble with the authorities. He is tasked to find a missing woman, which leads to the insurgent groups.
The story never clicks. The science fiction aspect of this novel is teased to the reader, and the mystery aspect was not compelling. The dialogue was ok, and Harrigan has the potential to be a good protagonist, but didn't achieve that in this book. The secondary characters are not that interesting, and, in my opinion, there were too many characters in the book.
Set in the future, social status is achieved through use of a super duper internet, called the Grid. Those at the top of the food chain are called the Zodiac, and have jobs related to the twelve zodiac signs. Insurgent groups exist off the grid, often in plain sight.
In this word, Harrigan is a tough-guy private detective, mostly living off the grid, which gets him in trouble with the authorities. He is tasked to find a missing woman, which leads to the insurgent groups.
The story never clicks. The science fiction aspect of this novel is teased to the reader, and the mystery aspect was not compelling. The dialogue was ok, and Harrigan has the potential to be a good protagonist, but didn't achieve that in this book. The secondary characters are not that interesting, and, in my opinion, there were too many characters in the book.
December 18, 2021
im confused by all the reviews on the back screeching how hes an amazing writer and how "HILARIOUS " his first book is and if the writer has all this "razor sharp wit" he sure dulled it down to put one in a stupor level bec theres zero wit or clear path on this new book
" literary treasure?" " wicked funny" .. apparently i read a different book because nothing here is funny or even worth a sarcastic chuckle..
he sure dropped the ball on his 2nd book which is one boring snooze fest full of id idiotic characters and a plot that drags and drags and goes nowhere. and is just a rehash of the tired burnt out ex crime dude / worn out detective trying to do good blah blah
WHERES THE FUNNY? cucumber up the bum? yet another cliched not funny aspex
My brain almost strangled me because i kept reading it oh well
NEXT!
" literary treasure?" " wicked funny" .. apparently i read a different book because nothing here is funny or even worth a sarcastic chuckle..
he sure dropped the ball on his 2nd book which is one boring snooze fest full of id idiotic characters and a plot that drags and drags and goes nowhere. and is just a rehash of the tired burnt out ex crime dude / worn out detective trying to do good blah blah
WHERES THE FUNNY? cucumber up the bum? yet another cliched not funny aspex
My brain almost strangled me because i kept reading it oh well
NEXT!
Read
August 3, 2021A fun dalliance between pulpy noir and cyberpunk; feels a bit like The Expanse Season 1 without the intergalactic politics and with more standup comedy.
Stops to play "whose on first" and various runners on Schroedinger's cat, with varying degrees of humorous achievement, but the commentary on characters works enough to carry it.
The thing with noir on the page, as opposed to the screen, is when you don't give the characters enough sharp distinguishing features - whether in tone, appearance, motivation, style, etc - and then you have SO many of them, then you put them in a world which isn't traditional noir IE a futuristic or parallel world with more of its own systems, conventions, names, rituals, etc., to keep track of . . . it ends up being distracting.
Stops to play "whose on first" and various runners on Schroedinger's cat, with varying degrees of humorous achievement, but the commentary on characters works enough to carry it.
The thing with noir on the page, as opposed to the screen, is when you don't give the characters enough sharp distinguishing features - whether in tone, appearance, motivation, style, etc - and then you have SO many of them, then you put them in a world which isn't traditional noir IE a futuristic or parallel world with more of its own systems, conventions, names, rituals, etc., to keep track of . . . it ends up being distracting.
July 14, 2025
2.5 Stars
There are some funny moments, but for the most part this is a pretty disappointing follow up to Apathy and Other Small Victories, which is an excellent satirical comedy.
This is a cyberpunk detective story with an intentionally convoluted plot. It's not particularly great or interesting. If you've read any number of cyberpunk books or just modern sci-fi, you've probably read a much better version of this story.
There are some funny moments, but for the most part this is a pretty disappointing follow up to Apathy and Other Small Victories, which is an excellent satirical comedy.
This is a cyberpunk detective story with an intentionally convoluted plot. It's not particularly great or interesting. If you've read any number of cyberpunk books or just modern sci-fi, you've probably read a much better version of this story.
September 2, 2025
Mr. Cordero is back and my computer is still broken so I’m back on this reading shtick. This was like 5 different genres in one and would’ve benefitted from either sticking to the techno-sci-fi or the cult or the crime or the detective noir or the dystopian world or just being long enough to make all the threads more satisfying to untangle (though if it was longer I wouldn’t have picked it up in the first place so)
October 18, 2022
Promising premise, but ultimately, a bit of a mess. Although I found the writing strong, I never became invested in the mystery or the many characters. I found the plot a bit boring and convoluted with too many threads that felt disjointed. Based on rave reviews, I will check out the author's prior work.
January 15, 2023
I've been waiting for a new Paul Neilan novel since "Apathy..." came out but this book is a mess. I did get a laugh here and there but it's like 5 different stories smashed into 1, too many (forgettable) characters and quite a boring story to be honest. 2.5/5
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