Nobody's Angel

by Jack Clark

While Chicago cabbie Eddie Miles drives the city streets at midnight, two killers--one targeting prostitutes, the other cab drivers--are out plying their trade.

Genres: Crime, Mystery, Fiction, Noir, Thriller, Pulp, Novels

219 pages, Paperback

First published May 25, 2010

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

It differs from a lot of other crime books in that it doesn't feature a detective or even an amateur sleuth. Instead, it is a story about a cab driver in the great city of Chicago. The driver, Eddie, talks about the different neighborhoods and how they've changed and how the drivers are reluctant to pick up fares that will take them to the south side or into the projects. There are neighborhoods they just don't want to go into. Fair or not, the drivers don't want to get held up. There is someone killing the cab drivers, however, and it really hits home when its one of Eddie's cab driver buddies. It also hits home when Eddie stumbles across someone in an alley who nearly met their maker. The best part of the story is not figuring out who is doing the killings, but the talk from Eddie about the different fares he picks up and who tips and who doesn't, who is going to stiff him, and who is going to set him up for a robbery. The best part is Eddie driving through the old neighborhoods as they've turned into wastelands and empty lots. Not only does Clark get it right on the spot as far as atmosphere and background, but he does a fantastic job of painting portraits of the cabbies and the customers. With only a short description, you immediately get a feeling for the person he's talking about as they get into and out of the cab.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I headed north into the heart of the bar rush. The early saloons were just closing. The smart drunks were heading home, and the not-so-smart ones were moving on to the late bars which would close in two hours at 4 A.M. But I didn't feel like ferrying drunks around. One guy gave me the finger when he realized I wasn't stopping. A girl jumped up and down and waved both arms in the air. There was a switch that turned the [for-hire] toplight off, but I left it burning [out of spite]." -- on page 39

Nobody's Angel is a decent enough paperback, but I think it does itself a bit of a disservice to be published under the Hard Case Crime imprint. While there IS criminal activity woven into the plot - that being a serial robbery-homicide suspect who is killing and ripping off taxicab drivers, as well as a teen prostitute who is slashed / disfigured - those parts seem almost tangential at times to the main storyline of protagonist Edwin 'Eddie' Miles. Miles is a divorced, middle-aged everyman type who pushes around a taxi through the mean streets of Chicago on the night shift. Just following him (or is it riding along?) on his nocturnal rounds was sort of fascinating, or at least interesting, in this mid-1990's set and published story. Each chapter opens with actual sections of Chicago ordinances related to taxicab operations - a rather nice and inspired touch - and Miles' conversations with his random passengers were mostly worth the cost of the ride, so to speak. However, the subplot with the teen prostitute felt superfluous, and the resolution involving that violent suspect targeting the taxicab drivers - while generating some suspense - was just a little too neat for its own good.

[Oliver Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this enormously. Kind of a mystery (about someone killing cabbies in Chicago) but mostly just vignettes as the cabbie protagonists drives round the city picking up fares and driving them places. Somehow it’s effortlessly engaging and entertaining, despite (or perhaps because of) how meandering it is.
Video review here: Tarantino's novel of the year: Nobody's Angel by Jack Clark
https://youtu.be/7OMO9fab2j4

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chicago cab driver Eddie Miles stops in an alley to take a leak and finds a young mutilated hooker close to death. Meanwhile, cabbies are being killed all over the city. Can Eddie keep from becoming just another victim?

Jack Clark, a Chicago cab driver, wrote Nobody's Angel and sold it out of his cab before Hard Case picked it up. That being said, the writing is light years away from where I thought it would be, good noir writing.

Having been to Chicago a few times, Clark really paints a vivid picture of the windy city. The story meanders a bit and not everything is resolved but the ending is satisfying. The little snippets of the fares Edwin takes during the course of the story and the bits of cab driver culture wound up being my favorite parts.

Nobody's Angel is definitely on the good end of the Hard Case spectrum and a good way to spend a few hours reading.

[Tom Mooney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fuck, this was good. Old school noir vibes, a genuinely fascinating insight into the cab driving industry, and some of the most crisp writing you'll come across. It reads like Dan Fante's Short Dog by way of Charles Willeford.

One of my top books of the year. It's a knockout.

[Kemper · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I‘d ever been in a cab and the driver tried to talk me into buying his self-published novel, I probably would have jumped out while the car was still moving, but I would have missed out on a hell of a good book if Jack Clark had been behind the wheel.

Clark used to be a Chicago cabbie, and he wrote and self-published 500 copies of this novel that he used to sell out of his cab for $5 each. He went on to get another novel published and nominated for a Shamus award, but Hard Case Crime has given this book it’s first professional printing.

Eddie Miles is a Chicago cab driver that has a number of reasons to dislike his job aside from the usual headaches like traffic jams and bad tippers. Being a cabbie constantly reminds Eddie that the old Chicago he grew up in and loves is being choked out by gentrification, and that the gap between the haves and have-nots is widening daily. On top of that, there’s been a series of cab driver murders that has all the drivers on edge.

Eddie has a particularly bad night where he discovers a young prostitute who has been brutally knifed in an alley, and then learns that his driving mentor is the latest victim of the cabbie killer. Eddie finds himself cruising areas related to both crimes and uncovering clues as he copes with his nightly fares.

Good crime fiction can hold a mirror up to society, and that’s what Clark is doing here. This is not so much an amateur sleuth novel as it is a chronicle of a modern American city. Eddie’s travels and his interactions with his fares details a common theme these days as Chicago is rapidly being turned into nothing but a tourist destination and the only development being done is for white collar jobs and high-end housing while the blue collar areas that used to be heart of the city whither and die. Racism is another constant underlying theme as Eddie and his fellow cabbies make decisions about whether to pass up a fare based on ethnicity and the way their dressed.

Clark’s experience as a cabbie brings a shabby realism to Eddie’s job and nightly dilemmas. The book does a terrific job of showing how what seems to be the simple task of driving people from one spot to another can be far more complicated than it looks.

This is definitely one of the better HCC novels.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

If this book had taken place in NYC instead of Chicago I probably would've liked it more. Although I don't know if you could map the taxi driver troubles of Chicago to New York for the same era, were there the same types of trouble neighborhoods? Snipers? Projects that sounded more like war zones in Bosnia than places in late twentieth century America? The book feels like a sort of intimate look at the city of Chicago and I just don't have the mental images in my head to really appreciate the neighborhoods and sections of the Windy City that this book took place in. My own experience with Chicago is about eight hours in the city looking at schools, eating vegan French Toast at some nice cafe near Wrigley Field and buying a Kid Dynamite CD at a really good record store a few doors down from the cafe, but I couldn't really tell you where those places are located in relation to anything else in Chicago. Someone else did all the driving for me.

The book felt less like a crime novel than a love letter to the cab drivers and the neighborhoods of Chicago. There were some underlying crimes and a major crime that propelled the plot forward, but much of the book were stories nights behind the wheel of cab and the sorts of people one meets while driving a cab. The stories were for the most part entertaining and the whole book read well, but I felt at times like the stories were kind of filler, some of them turned out to be important, but I sort of felt reading it, like I felt when writing for the National Novel Writing Month thing last year, at times I'd just start blabbing on about some story that came into my head that was sort of relevant to the story I was trying to write, but which was more there as padding, to fill out the number of words I had to get written. Or sort of like I feel about writing most of my reviews, I guess. Lots of stuff that maybe doesn't need to be there. I don't know if I'd recommend cutting any of the stories or chapters about the various clientele the narrator shuttles around the city, but the inclusion did ruin the tautness that I think a good crime novel needs to have to effectively work.

[Jen]

Pulled the plug at 67 pages. Not my thing in the slightest. Passed it off to a friend who I think will enjoy it more than I did.

No stars since it’s not my genre and I don’t feel it would be fair to rate it.

Addendum: not sure why I bought this book in the first place. I was going through my shelves and did a double take when I saw it. Decided to give it a try since Past Jen thought enough about it to buy it. Present Jen is not impressed with Past Jen’s decision making skills…

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

This really isn't a mystery or a noir per se. It reads more like the journal of a cab driver. Yes, there's the crime plot driver that cabbies have been getting killed. And our narrator Eddie has a reputation for taking too many risks and going into the parts of town that the other cabbies avoid, so there's the sense of foreboding with every fare he picks up. We just know that eventually the killer is getting into his cab. He does a bit of sleuthing in the later half of the book and gets the cops involved, but that all felt pretty secondary.

Read it straight through in a few hours and enjoyed it. The writing was strong and created pull even if the mystery/noir part didn't.

[Todd Voter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Come for the mystery, stay to feel like a Chicago cabbie in the 90s.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

NOBODY'S ANGEL is an interesting insight into the perils of being a cab driver in the Windy City. A heavily atmospheric character driven story about a middle-aged cabbie, a serial killer, and the streets of Chicago.

Author Jack Clark's novel is the perfect fit for a film noir; the dark often rainy night time setting, the hopelessness attached to the young street workers, the humble protagonist, and dangerous dames, along with some public displays of indecency exemplify the hallmarks of noir.

Interspersed amongst the narrative are excerpts from the City of Chicago, Department of Consumer Services, Public Vehicle Operations Division guidebook to add a sense of realism to the fictional account of murder, violence, and survival in the dangerously unassuming cabbie world. I liked this touch to break-up the story while at the same time contributing to it.

[Malum · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are coming to this book looking for an engaging mystery, look elsewhere. The actual mystery is little more than a side plot and is wrapped up quickly at the end almost as an afterthought.

What this book does offer, however, is a setting that really feels alive and one of the best expressions of what it feels like to work a shitty, soul-eating blue collar job that I have read. After reading this book I really felt like I had been to some dark, seedy places of Chicago.

[Oli Turner]

The sixty-fifth @hard_case_crime novel finished #nobodysangel by #jackclark originally written in 1996 and published by HCC in 2010. Interesting insight into the life of a cab driver, dealing with a wide variety of customers and colleagues, a fractured family, and a serial killer stalking the streets of Chicago. The protagonist is fairly well developed. It reminded me of Michael Mann’s Collateral and Scorsese’s bringing out the dead (without the descent into personal madness but certainly examines the madness of the city).

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this from AudioBookBoom and the narrator, Peter Lerman, in exchange for an honest review.

This was surprisingly good and not at all what I expected. A dreary, and quite depressing, look at a night-time cabbie rolling through the wide-ranging streets of Chicago. The writing was quite good, and it felt like the author knew what it meant to be a cabbie, the areas to avoid at all costs, and the inherent dangers of the job. The depressing part comes with the seemingly endless life of driving up and down the streets, seeing the decay happen right before your eyes as nice neighborhoods slide inexorably towards becoming slums for the downtrodden.

The narration was very good, too. While the author didn't try to change voices for the many characters (which is appreciated!), his voice was the right one for this book.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ultra violent and perverted as hell but also had a really great, fun protagonist.

[Stephen J. Golds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every so often you’ll come across a writer whose style and narrative really speaks to you.
This is another one of those books.
Don’t know nothing about cabs or Chicago but none of that mattered.
Helluva writer here in Jack Clark. Dark, dirty realism at its finest.

5/5 highly recommended

[Andrew Stewart]

Maybe I’ll finish it someday. It was getting to be a grind. Then we went up Lakeshore and took a left on Halsted…. It was like reading a gps at times. A serial killer is killing cabbies, that’s the backdrop. But it’s really about this guy’s fares and I didn’t find any of them very interesting. I imagine it gets monotonous driving a cab. I know for a fact, it gets monotonous reading about it, serial killer or no serial killer.

[Rod Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gritty and unrelenting, this book is as real as it gets.

A visceral ride with Chicago cabbie Eddie Miles, here we get a late night tour of the Second City’s streets, the rules Eddie must follow (cab drivers must not gamble or drink on the job, cannot ask a passenger their destination before accepting a fare), and the bloodied prostitute Eddie discovers while parking on a side street to take a leak (yes, that is the level of “real” we’re up against here.)

Though proudly a work of pulp fiction, this novel presents a world more genuine than anything to be found in fine literature. It’s a world of abandoned strip clubs and late nite liquor stores, the off-color humor of weary cabbies blowing off steam. The world of Eddie Miles - a good guy, to be sure, but certainly Nobody’s Angel.

[Phillip Thurlby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the (I'm resisting saying better) more interesting Hard Case Crime publications I've read. I avoid saying "better" for the fact that the element that makes it more interesting is what makes it unlike a Hard Case Crime book - so it sort of cheated...

Your typical HCC story is hard case / wise guy of varying background spurned into action by an incredible event. Said protagonist then becomes apt investigator following a trail of clues picking up token dame on the way.

This story features an ordinary Joe taxi driver who is spurned into action by a couple of significant events. Said taxi driver then carries on being normal taxi driver asking the occasional question, following his normal life (with but a couple of clues) with a woman at his disposal from the offset.

It was startlingly original and deeply thoughtful for a genre and series one would turn to for cliche. Eddie Miles' mate gets killed and whilst he asks a few questions the drive (sorry) of the story comes from the paranoia and prejudice that is rife in the neighborhoods through which he drives his cabs at those most un-savory hours of the morning. In light of the cab-driver-killer every customer becomes a suspect, every action an attack and if you're black - don't even bother trying to wave the taxi down.

The mystery element to this is very thin, but it is just a premise upon which to lay a succession of very tense, colorful and socially-aware episodes with different kinds of client.

A very enjoyable read that had an extremely organic and natural feel that just swept you along in its tide.

[Sam Reaves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Authenticity in a novel can be overrated; if the story doesn't work, the reader's not going to care that the author knows what he's talking about. But when a compelling story is well told and firmly rooted in reality to boot, you've got something worth reading.
Jack Clark, apparently, really is a Chicago cabdriver, and this terse, airtight crime novel set in the nighttime Chicago streets has the ring of truth. Eddie Miles is a veteran hack who prefers the night shift; with a failed marriage behind him, his social set consists of his fellow drivers and a Sunday morning girlfriend in the apartment next door. The plot is basic: somebody's killing cabdrivers, somebody else is killing whores, and Eddie is well-placed to run into both of them. Most of the book is a simple recounting of nights on the street with the endless parade of fares, good and bad, and the challenges they bring. Political correctness is refreshingly absent but there is no racism here, just the stresses of a trade in which every night requires snap judgments that can mean life or death.
It might be a small category, but this is the best novel I've read about driving a cab in Chicago.

[Joe Santoro · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wouldn't have thought that a book that's essentially a day in the life story about a cabbie in 80s Chicago would keep my interest, but it did. Eddie Miles is a pretty engaging character, and it was nice to see that the author didn't try to make him into a private eye or anything, he was just a person that was trying to do the right thing.

I probably didn't need to know what each fare was as the book went along (made me want to start a spreadsheet), but maybe that was part of the ambience of the thing. It definitely fits with the 'Hard Case Crime' family, that's for sure. While I think the subject matter here isn't going to hold everyone's attention, it definitely made me want to check out other books by this author.

[Patrick Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book I’ve read all year! Phenomenal from start to finish.

[Wesley Mead · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're looking for a novel that triangulates the tighly-written noir that is Hard Case Crime's bread-and-butter, and the melancholy nostalgia and resignation of - yes - the sitcom Taxi, do I have the book for you. Exceptional.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written and set in early-1990s Chicago, this slim hard-boiled crime novel has a lot to recommend it. I'm always keen to read books that teach me about professions I know nothing about, and this story does a great job detailing the work of an old-school late-shift big city cab driver. Eddie is a middle-aged cabbie who lost his good-paying job, his wife, and his kid, years ago, and has been eking out a living driving the streets of Chicago for about five or six years. To complete the lonely picture, he lives in a sparely furnished efficiency apartment in a rundown building, has no friends beyond his similarly lonely next-door neighbor.

As we get to know Eddie, we learn that someone is out there killing Chicago cab drivers, including one of his longtime colleagues. And as if this wasn't enough to keep him on his toes, one night cutting through an alley, he discovers a young girl who's been carved up and left to bleed to death. The bulk of the book follows Eddie through the streets in his cab, as he speculates on these two at-large killers and tries to keep himself safe. At the same time, he provides a street-by-street running commentary on the city's decay over the years -- descriptions that are equal parts nostalgia and disgust.

And then there are the passengers... Here, the author (a former cab driver) excels at getting to the heart of the cabdriver's work, as Eddie deals with the full spectrum of customers, from the generous to the larcenous. These interactions give a vivid sense of the hard work involved, and Eddie's crusty putdowns add a dash of humor to an otherwise bleak book. There's ultimately not a ton of story here, although Eddie does of course end up confronting at least one of the killers. But if you like dark atmosphere, or have an interest in Chicago, this is definitely worth checking out.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you liked Ryan Gosling's turn in Drive, you will likely also enjoy Nobody's Angel, which features approximately as much time spent lovingly detailing the circuits the protagonist makes around a major metropolitan area at night (Chicago here, rather than L.A.), just as little plot as that film, and a similar sudden splash of violence like a handful of spice tossed into a bowl of oatmeal. Angel does edge out Drive in terms of number of words spoken by the protagonist, but I'm pretty sure that's only because as a cabby you have to speak to your fares at least enough to tell them what they owe.

Perhaps this would have been a bit more fun if I'd actually been reading it while in Chicago - or if I were a cab driver - but I somehow doubt it. The noir trappings upon which the Hard Case line so heavily depends - alcoholism, failed marriage, violent death,long-lost daughter - all hang a bit funny on this plot, like a suit (or a hack's cap) that doesn't quite fit right. Episodic and ultimately unfulfilling, Clark's Angel takes you for an atmospheric ride that goes nowhere but still charges you for the 224 pages spent. Next time I'll walk, thanks.

[Kayla Krantz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this short dive into the world of cabdriving in Chicago. Through the eyes of Eddie Miles, we get a unique view into the thoughts and feelings of cab drivers and how they deal with dangerous situations. When one of their own is murdered, tensions run high, and Eddie finds himself in the middle of a dangerous cat and mouse game. Anyone could be the murderer, and the only way to tell is to let them in his cab.

Eddie’s character is probably one of the most well-rounded characters I’ve ever read about. He’s normal, an unlikely hero, but he does things that no one else will. A lot of the cab drivers won’t go into dangerous neighborhoods and won’t pick up people with a certain look. Eddie will pick up anyone, even knowing how dangerous that could be. He’s seen all the tricks and knows how to keep himself safe at all times.

The narration for the audiobook had a lilt that matched perfectly to the tone of the audiobook.

All in all, this was a great little noir recommended to all fans of detective/murder mystery stories.

[Samantha Glasser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eddy is a cab driver and has been for many years. He didn't mean to make it a career, but when he and his wife split up he needed money and he just never found himself moving on. Lately cab drivers have been targeted and five or more have been found murdered around Chicago, leaving most drivers tense if nothing else. When Eddy's buddy is the next victim, he starts to wonder just what sparked Lenny to go to that part of town when he knew he was cautious. Between the way the neighborhoods have changed and Eddy getting himself wrapped up in an attempted murder of an underage prostitute, it seems like doom is closing in on him.

This is a unique entry into the Hard Case Crime series in that it does involve crime, but in a 3rd party kind of way. The dialogue and writing style is fast paced and clever though which makes reading this book a snap, even if it isn't the most exciting thing to read.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Driving the gritty Chicago streets, the middle-aged taxi driver Eddie Miles picks up thieves, socialites, whores, drunks, lawyers, and just about anybody needing a ride. It's a tough living. Eddie, a recovering alcoholic, is divorced and father to a teenager he hasn't seen in years. But he shows a lot of heart if not compassion, what redeems him as a likeable protagonist. I couldn't quite peg the time period, but it's pre-cell phones which is nice. Great assembly of minor characters flesh out the story of Eddie flying in his taxi, but not getting stone (bow to Harry Chapin). Recommended for any lovers of the Windy City of Chicago.

[Bill Telfer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great Hard Case Crime novel, this one a bit more gritty with realism than pulpy. Protagonist Eddie Miles, a Chicago cabbie (I swear the author must have worked this job at some point), finds himself inexplicably drawn into a relentless hunt for two different murderers. This book was one of those genuine page-turners you hear so much about. Great characters.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

An episodic story of a Chicago cabdriver in 1995, over the course of a few days. He finds a young woman who has been viciously attacked, and by finding her and calling the cops, saves her life. She calls him her angel, thus the title. Other than that story arc, it's mostly a cabby's eye view of late night Chicago, full of specific locations and descriptions.