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No Quarter
New York Times bestselling author Robert Asprin, writing with Eric Del Carlo and Teresa Patterson, delves into the dark secrets of the New Orleans French Quarter in this suspenseful tale of ghosts and haunted dreams, voodoo, mysticism and swords, murder and revenge, justice and unexpected courage. Fans of Robert Asprin's Dragons Luck books, the adventures of gambler/dragon Griffen McCandles, will recognize Bone, Maestro, and other denizens of NO Quarter 's haunted French Quarter from their minor roles in that series. Those fans who knew Bob well will recognize his fictionalized self portrait in the character of the mysterious, pool-playing swordsmaster, Maestro. Once upon a time, before Katrina ...
Sunshine came to New Orleans to escape her past and to catch up with her elusive dreams, but she got lost in the old city's seductive Southern nights. The tempting dark side of the French Quarter catered to her weaknesses, offering her just exactly what she desired-cheap drugs, the wrong kind of men, and the thrill of living on the edge. Alienated from her friends and in need of help, she called out to one of them ... but her message didn't get through in time. When she tries to go it alone, she walks down the wrong street into the wrong patch of darkness and meets the brutal, bloody end to her dreams at the point of a knife. In another city, her death might be written off as a mugging, just another statistic on the police blotter. Not so for the NOPD, to whom the safe reputation of the French Quarter is a priority, even if the victim is a waitress and not a treasured, pampered tourist. Not so for the French Quarter locals, because no matter how far she'd fallen, Sunshine was one of their own. And no mere mugger in New Orleans or any other city would have left a victim's body framed by the crude remnants of a botched voodoo ritual, a display designed to insult the true practitioners of that esoteric religion. To Maestro, Sunshine's death represents not only a tragedy but an obligation, because he's the one who missed responding to her call for help. A master of both the pool cue and the rapier, a man of regular habits and close secrets, he prefers keeping to the shadows-but to avenge Sunshine and to satisfy his tarnished honor, he'll risk opening his own less-than-savory past to question. To Bone, a waiter, and his girlfriend Alex, Sunshine was family, and the pain of her savage murder is made even more crushing by their recent estrangement from her. Because of his past connection to Sunshine, and because of a bitter, public argument with her, Bone becomes a suspect in her murder. When Sunshine's ghost begins to haunt his dreams, he comes to the realization that just clearing his name won't be enough for him. Even justice won't be enough. His heart cries out for vengeance, and Alex refuses to be left out of his quest. But what can three ordinary people do that the police can't? As fate draws Maestro, Bone, and Alex together in the hunt for the murderer, they find unlikely allies among the street people, bartenders, performers, and other denizens of the French Quarter. Their hunt leads them through the darkest corners of the Quarter, into the dangerous depths that lie beneath the benign "party-town" surface of the old city-and into shattering revelations about themselves. Death and destruction lie in the turning of the Tarot cards, and blood will lead to blood before honor and desire are satisfied.
Sunshine came to New Orleans to escape her past and to catch up with her elusive dreams, but she got lost in the old city's seductive Southern nights. The tempting dark side of the French Quarter catered to her weaknesses, offering her just exactly what she desired-cheap drugs, the wrong kind of men, and the thrill of living on the edge. Alienated from her friends and in need of help, she called out to one of them ... but her message didn't get through in time. When she tries to go it alone, she walks down the wrong street into the wrong patch of darkness and meets the brutal, bloody end to her dreams at the point of a knife. In another city, her death might be written off as a mugging, just another statistic on the police blotter. Not so for the NOPD, to whom the safe reputation of the French Quarter is a priority, even if the victim is a waitress and not a treasured, pampered tourist. Not so for the French Quarter locals, because no matter how far she'd fallen, Sunshine was one of their own. And no mere mugger in New Orleans or any other city would have left a victim's body framed by the crude remnants of a botched voodoo ritual, a display designed to insult the true practitioners of that esoteric religion. To Maestro, Sunshine's death represents not only a tragedy but an obligation, because he's the one who missed responding to her call for help. A master of both the pool cue and the rapier, a man of regular habits and close secrets, he prefers keeping to the shadows-but to avenge Sunshine and to satisfy his tarnished honor, he'll risk opening his own less-than-savory past to question. To Bone, a waiter, and his girlfriend Alex, Sunshine was family, and the pain of her savage murder is made even more crushing by their recent estrangement from her. Because of his past connection to Sunshine, and because of a bitter, public argument with her, Bone becomes a suspect in her murder. When Sunshine's ghost begins to haunt his dreams, he comes to the realization that just clearing his name won't be enough for him. Even justice won't be enough. His heart cries out for vengeance, and Alex refuses to be left out of his quest. But what can three ordinary people do that the police can't? As fate draws Maestro, Bone, and Alex together in the hunt for the murderer, they find unlikely allies among the street people, bartenders, performers, and other denizens of the French Quarter. Their hunt leads them through the darkest corners of the Quarter, into the dangerous depths that lie beneath the benign "party-town" surface of the old city-and into shattering revelations about themselves. Death and destruction lie in the turning of the Tarot cards, and blood will lead to blood before honor and desire are satisfied.
- GenresMystery
290 pages, Perfect Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
2 people are currently reading
161 people want to read
About the author
Robert Lynn Asprin
224 books1,069 followersRobert (Lynn) Asprin was born in 1946. While he wrote some stand alone novels such as The Cold Cash War, Tambu, and The Bug Wars and also the Duncan & Mallory Illustrated stories, Bob is best known for his series fantasy, such as the Myth Adventures of Aahz and Skeeve, the Phule's Company novels, and the Time Scout novels written with Linda Evans. He also edited the groundbreaking Thieves' World anthology series with Lynn Abbey. Other collaborations include License Invoked (set in the French Quarter of New Orleans) and several Myth Adventures novels, all written with Jody Lynn Nye.
Bob's final solo work was a contemporary fantasy series called Dragons, again set in New Orleans.
Bob passed away suddenly on May 22, 2008. He is survived by his daughter and son, his mother and his sister.
Bob's final solo work was a contemporary fantasy series called Dragons, again set in New Orleans.
Bob passed away suddenly on May 22, 2008. He is survived by his daughter and son, his mother and his sister.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 19, 2009
This is one of the rare books that wouldn't let me sleep at night. The best New Orleans book I have ever read.
March 27, 2022
A murder in the French Quarter. A retired mob hit man. A young hippie waiter. Some additional, colorful characters. Written by Robert Asprin. It has all the qualities of a good read. So why does it fall flat? Well, there are too many cliches. The book is more focused on the culture of the Quarter than on solving the murder. The book takes itself too seriously. After all, it is supposedly written by Asprin. It should be funny.
The opening chapter introduces readers to the murder of Sunshine, a young, bright-eyed girl working in the service industry (restaurants and bars - no prostitutes with a heart of gold in this book). The police are baffled. And they lose interest after a few days. Bone is another service industry Quarterite who takes Sunshine's murder particularly hard. Maestro is a a retired mob hitman, or something. He is aware of Sunshine. For some reason, he decides to help Bone solve the murder and possibly seek revenge. See? It does not sound like Asprin at all. It is too serious.
Normally, an Asprin book would mix in a good dose of dark comedy and sprinkle on some sex or at least lewdness. Nothing here. Even in a setting such as the French Quarter rife with stereotypes, drunks, foolish people doing foolish things, everyone identified by nicknames, everyone with a shady and mysterious background, and readers get a serious murder mystery steeped in....well, it is not lore....it is sociology. Sociology? Yup. There is almost more in the book about living and dying in the French Quarter than there is in solving the mystery. Both Bone and Maestro spend considerable time exploring their feelings. The result is a very slow moving story even though the events chronicled last only about a week. The only humor comes from a bizarre drug dealer.
The book is written from a first-person angle alternating between Bone and Maestro. This is a perfectly normal way to go. It allows an opportunity to have two totally different characters offer different takes on unfolding events. Unfortunately, both Bone and Maestro are bland, dry, and remarkably similar. The alternating points of view are similar in style and observation. Readers will not easily distinguish between them unless they note who is talking on the first page of each chapter. The alternating chapters also has a tendency to interrupt the action - every time. Bone is breaking into Sunshine's apartment - what he was caught? - moving onto Maestro and his damn Irish whiskey. Maestro was picked up by the police - let's stop and revisit Bone smoking and waxing philosophically about movies. By the time readers reach the climax of the story, the authors' need to change viewpoints alienates and desensitizes the reader. Whatever.
As a murder mystery, the story does progress with clues and elimination of suspects. The authors did a good job flushing out the murderer and closing the case. Too many murder mysteries lack clues while the amateur sleuth stumbles into danger. In this case, the sleuths steady collect data and zero in on the killer. But there is a lot of fluff. Way too much space and time are devoted to personal reflection and describing life in the French Quarter.
Overall, I was disappointed. As a fan of Asprin's Myth, Phule's Company, and Thieves' World series, this marks a noted change in writing style. Yes, Thieves' World took itself seriously too. But so much of Asprin's work contains gaiety and humor. This book needs humor. A hippie, a hitman, and a voodoo priest walk into a bar....and they talk about the unpleasantness of 9-5 jobs. I refuse to believe that Asprin had much to do with this book before his death, maybe an outline. The writing style is so slow that by the time the protagonists face the antagonists in the final pages, I yawned and set down the book for another day. I just did not care.
The opening chapter introduces readers to the murder of Sunshine, a young, bright-eyed girl working in the service industry (restaurants and bars - no prostitutes with a heart of gold in this book). The police are baffled. And they lose interest after a few days. Bone is another service industry Quarterite who takes Sunshine's murder particularly hard. Maestro is a a retired mob hitman, or something. He is aware of Sunshine. For some reason, he decides to help Bone solve the murder and possibly seek revenge. See? It does not sound like Asprin at all. It is too serious.
Normally, an Asprin book would mix in a good dose of dark comedy and sprinkle on some sex or at least lewdness. Nothing here. Even in a setting such as the French Quarter rife with stereotypes, drunks, foolish people doing foolish things, everyone identified by nicknames, everyone with a shady and mysterious background, and readers get a serious murder mystery steeped in....well, it is not lore....it is sociology. Sociology? Yup. There is almost more in the book about living and dying in the French Quarter than there is in solving the mystery. Both Bone and Maestro spend considerable time exploring their feelings. The result is a very slow moving story even though the events chronicled last only about a week. The only humor comes from a bizarre drug dealer.
The book is written from a first-person angle alternating between Bone and Maestro. This is a perfectly normal way to go. It allows an opportunity to have two totally different characters offer different takes on unfolding events. Unfortunately, both Bone and Maestro are bland, dry, and remarkably similar. The alternating points of view are similar in style and observation. Readers will not easily distinguish between them unless they note who is talking on the first page of each chapter. The alternating chapters also has a tendency to interrupt the action - every time. Bone is breaking into Sunshine's apartment - what he was caught? - moving onto Maestro and his damn Irish whiskey. Maestro was picked up by the police - let's stop and revisit Bone smoking and waxing philosophically about movies. By the time readers reach the climax of the story, the authors' need to change viewpoints alienates and desensitizes the reader. Whatever.
As a murder mystery, the story does progress with clues and elimination of suspects. The authors did a good job flushing out the murderer and closing the case. Too many murder mysteries lack clues while the amateur sleuth stumbles into danger. In this case, the sleuths steady collect data and zero in on the killer. But there is a lot of fluff. Way too much space and time are devoted to personal reflection and describing life in the French Quarter.
Overall, I was disappointed. As a fan of Asprin's Myth, Phule's Company, and Thieves' World series, this marks a noted change in writing style. Yes, Thieves' World took itself seriously too. But so much of Asprin's work contains gaiety and humor. This book needs humor. A hippie, a hitman, and a voodoo priest walk into a bar....and they talk about the unpleasantness of 9-5 jobs. I refuse to believe that Asprin had much to do with this book before his death, maybe an outline. The writing style is so slow that by the time the protagonists face the antagonists in the final pages, I yawned and set down the book for another day. I just did not care.
August 4, 2010
*won from the publisher through goodreads first reads contest.
This is a murder mystery full of bar-hopping, drug sub-culture, the french quarter and voudon. Sounds like it would be gripping, gritty and realistic right? Sadly, it's not. I found this book to be boring. While I wanted to know what happened to Sunshine, I finished the book going..."oh, OK"-shrug-. Just not that well written. This book felt VERY disjointed, the characters just weren't that interesting, and I felt the true flavor of New Orleans was missing. After reading the book, I realized that not a single character was a native New Orleanian....I guess that is how the author coped with the dialect or lack thereof. It just felt like a tourist looking in on the seedy side of the Quarter, and it fell flat. I REALLY hated that everyone had a nickname in the book. While this may be how the Quarter really operates, it just felt cheesy. The characters were cookie cutter, and I found myself not caring about them. Regarding the murder mystery, it felt like it just dragged on and on, then wrapped up in 20 pages. Also, I didn't like when the author actually included local phrases then explained what it meant in the next sentence, very distracting. I would have preferred to just roll with it then have a dictionary in the back of the book which explains. So, it was an interesting concept that could have been really good, but for me it was just missing the romanticism, mystique, richness and flavor that I associate with New Orleans.
This is a murder mystery full of bar-hopping, drug sub-culture, the french quarter and voudon. Sounds like it would be gripping, gritty and realistic right? Sadly, it's not. I found this book to be boring. While I wanted to know what happened to Sunshine, I finished the book going..."oh, OK"-shrug-. Just not that well written. This book felt VERY disjointed, the characters just weren't that interesting, and I felt the true flavor of New Orleans was missing. After reading the book, I realized that not a single character was a native New Orleanian....I guess that is how the author coped with the dialect or lack thereof. It just felt like a tourist looking in on the seedy side of the Quarter, and it fell flat. I REALLY hated that everyone had a nickname in the book. While this may be how the Quarter really operates, it just felt cheesy. The characters were cookie cutter, and I found myself not caring about them. Regarding the murder mystery, it felt like it just dragged on and on, then wrapped up in 20 pages. Also, I didn't like when the author actually included local phrases then explained what it meant in the next sentence, very distracting. I would have preferred to just roll with it then have a dictionary in the back of the book which explains. So, it was an interesting concept that could have been really good, but for me it was just missing the romanticism, mystique, richness and flavor that I associate with New Orleans.
July 13, 2010
I won this through the Goodreads First Reads program.
I really like the setting of the book - a behind the scenes view of pre-Katrina French Quarter, New Orleans. It seems very much like a place that I would love to visit. And though I've never made it to New Orleans, everything matches what friends who lived in the city prior to Katrina have described to me.
I found the characters to be engaging and interesting. The chapters alternated between the two main character's view points. While occasionally there was a bit of re-hashing of events from a different perspective, it wasn't too intrusive and overall, the method worked well.
However, the plot wasn't quite as suspenseful as it could have been. I figured out who the killer was halfway through the novel, and it seemed I spent the rest of it waiting for the characters to catch up with what seemed obvious to me. And because the majority of their interactions with the killer took place in fairly public locations, there wasn't much concern on my part for their safety until the last chapter or three.
Though it's unfair to the book and authors, another reason I didn't rate it as highly as I might have was that this isn't a fantasy which is my favorite genre. Though I knew that it would be a murder mystery, I'd also assumed from the description and previous books I've read from Asprin that there'd be some supernatural twist to the killing or book in general. But other than the New Age style religion of some of the characters, and the voodoo religion of the killer, there wasn't any fantasy to it at all.
I really like the setting of the book - a behind the scenes view of pre-Katrina French Quarter, New Orleans. It seems very much like a place that I would love to visit. And though I've never made it to New Orleans, everything matches what friends who lived in the city prior to Katrina have described to me.
I found the characters to be engaging and interesting. The chapters alternated between the two main character's view points. While occasionally there was a bit of re-hashing of events from a different perspective, it wasn't too intrusive and overall, the method worked well.
However, the plot wasn't quite as suspenseful as it could have been. I figured out who the killer was halfway through the novel, and it seemed I spent the rest of it waiting for the characters to catch up with what seemed obvious to me. And because the majority of their interactions with the killer took place in fairly public locations, there wasn't much concern on my part for their safety until the last chapter or three.
Though it's unfair to the book and authors, another reason I didn't rate it as highly as I might have was that this isn't a fantasy which is my favorite genre. Though I knew that it would be a murder mystery, I'd also assumed from the description and previous books I've read from Asprin that there'd be some supernatural twist to the killing or book in general. But other than the New Age style religion of some of the characters, and the voodoo religion of the killer, there wasn't any fantasy to it at all.
August 18, 2010
This was a fast and easy read that I won as a first-reads book. Taking place in the French Quarter in New Orleans, a group of people come together to find a murderer. The characters were very well developed and kept the pace of the book going quite nicely. While you could tell 'who done it', or the outcome of the book, from the time that Dunk told Bones to suck his dick, the book did not lag and I wasn't tempted to put it away and not finish it.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was glad to have read it. It has been a few years since I was in NO, and the descriptions this book were so well written, that it was easy to picture the streets, places and people that were talked about in NO Quarter.
The only thing I would change about the book would be Bones' movie journal. He was developed enough as a character that I feel these were not necessary and took up space. While they do provide insight to his mind, we already were able to gain the insight through his other thoughts and actions.
If there are sequels to NO Quarter, I would definitely pick them up and read them- i.e. Bones and Alex 'going into the 'business''.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was glad to have read it. It has been a few years since I was in NO, and the descriptions this book were so well written, that it was easy to picture the streets, places and people that were talked about in NO Quarter.
The only thing I would change about the book would be Bones' movie journal. He was developed enough as a character that I feel these were not necessary and took up space. While they do provide insight to his mind, we already were able to gain the insight through his other thoughts and actions.
If there are sequels to NO Quarter, I would definitely pick them up and read them- i.e. Bones and Alex 'going into the 'business''.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 13, 2012
The authors delve into New Orleans French Quarter in a suspenseful tale of haunted dreams, voodoo, ghosts, murder mysticism, revenge and unexpected courage. I found the characters to be interesting. In some ways the bar hopping reminded me of how friends have described Mardi Gras to me. I,ve never been to New Orleans . This book was a really fascinating read and very well written.
July 16, 2018
NO Quarter by Robert Asprin with Eric Del Carlo and Teresa Patterson is an exciting noir murder mystery set in pre-Katrina New Orleans. Its chapters alternate between first person accounts by Maestro, a middle-aged Quarter dweller who guards his past and lives as a pool player and previous rapier dueling instructor, and Bone, a twenties Quarter dweller and restaurant waiter. They are drawn together by their desire to find the killer of Sunshine, Bone's ex wife and a thrill seeking, beautiful young woman. This provides a new view of the bar and entertainment side of the Quarter from the perspective of the inhabitants of the area.
The setting is extremely realistic and the action is suspenseful. Eventually Alex, Sunshine's best friend and Bone's lover, and a couple bartenders, Bear and Padre, friends of Maestro from his past also with hidden pasts, probably from when Maestro was a member of the Outfit, join them in the hunt which the police have given up on. Bone is a movie addict and each of his chapters concludes with a quotation from his movie diary on movies that are relevant to the action at that part of the story. In fact, the descriptions of the hunt and the people they encounter are so cleverly described, that the novel itself reads like a movie.
It is a good book. Suspenseful and hard to guess. The good characters, with all their faults, are likeable, and the evil doers are evil, although they have some good characteristics too. If you like dark mysteries, it is worth reading.
The setting is extremely realistic and the action is suspenseful. Eventually Alex, Sunshine's best friend and Bone's lover, and a couple bartenders, Bear and Padre, friends of Maestro from his past also with hidden pasts, probably from when Maestro was a member of the Outfit, join them in the hunt which the police have given up on. Bone is a movie addict and each of his chapters concludes with a quotation from his movie diary on movies that are relevant to the action at that part of the story. In fact, the descriptions of the hunt and the people they encounter are so cleverly described, that the novel itself reads like a movie.
It is a good book. Suspenseful and hard to guess. The good characters, with all their faults, are likeable, and the evil doers are evil, although they have some good characteristics too. If you like dark mysteries, it is worth reading.
Read
June 27, 2024 Long and long I'd wandered from sea to shining sea, restlessly searching for the keys to understanding and hopefully driving mine own heart, using cooking in restaurants as the means to travel the country freely. (A cook can get a job in any town in America, the day he touches down, pulls in, or steps off.) At the back or the burner of my brain was the idea of writing - somehow telling the world about what it looked like after it'd been through my eye and heart. The only thing earlier than the questions were the books. And among those were the "Myth" novels; often read in the backs of classrooms from that perfect windowman seat in the back corner for the daydreamers; and they were so funny (the books, and often, the windows too, if there were people outside) and with such well-defined characters that they stay in my heart to this day. (I rue yet hanker for a movie version of Skeeve and Aahz's 'Mythadventures'!)
When I finally followed the gravity of most of the US's water and ended up in New Orleans. what an inspiring joy it was to find myself bending elbows at the pub with Bob Asprin. Erudite and sharp as a cue, he provided me my first glimpse of the people that actually write the books. This book will provide you with a look behind the scenes of the French Quarter in classic Robert Asprin style: funny, sharp-witted, and populated by failed, famed, and foibled humanity: expertly fleshed out by one of the sharpest observers of human behaviour I've ever met.
When I finally followed the gravity of most of the US's water and ended up in New Orleans. what an inspiring joy it was to find myself bending elbows at the pub with Bob Asprin. Erudite and sharp as a cue, he provided me my first glimpse of the people that actually write the books. This book will provide you with a look behind the scenes of the French Quarter in classic Robert Asprin style: funny, sharp-witted, and populated by failed, famed, and foibled humanity: expertly fleshed out by one of the sharpest observers of human behaviour I've ever met.
June 18, 2020
A good murder mystery told from two points of view, bone and maestro. They team up to find the killer of their beloved friend sunshine, all set in the French quarter of New Orleans. Robert Asprin’s extensive knowledge of the French quarter, combat and various topics really shine through in this book. I won’t spoil anything, but if you like any of his other work you will enjoy this. It is a very polished and impressive work when compared to his other series.
May 7, 2021
I love books that create atmosphere and that show a place as one of the main characters. And French Quarter here is definitely the main hero. One of my favourite books.
July 6, 2010
I won a copy of this book from Goodreads first reads. NO Quarter is a murder mystery set in the Quarter of pre Katrina New Orleans . This book is written as chapters which alternate between the point of view of the two main characters Bones and Maestro. I found that reading the same bit of action from two points of views bogged down the story. However seeing the Quarter bar scene from the point of view of the residents rather than tourists was interesting.
Want to read
June 20, 2010Won this in a First-Reads giveaway. Can't wait for it to arrive.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews