Die a Little: A Novel (ISBN 0743261704) Book Reviews 1-8 Sorted By Most Recent, at VeryWellSaid.com

Rapid-fire noir

Rapid-fire noir of the sort that forces you to read it in one sitting, even more remarkable because it's 241 pages are written by a first-time author. And not just any author, an English Ph. D. and professor whose previous work was entitled: "The Street was mine: White Masculinity in Hardboiled Fiction and Film Noir." A female professor.

So when the academic turns her hand to practitioner, how does she fare? Classicly well. It is written from the first-person perspective of Lora, the sister of Bill King, rising star in the D. A.'s office, who through happenstance meets and falls hard for Alice, as it turns out a sharp customer with a deeply troubled past.

Alice pulls Lora and Bill and their middle-class friends into her world of drugs, sex, and physical abuse.

The perspective works well, as Lora's love for her brother and joy in his happiness are only gradually overshadowed by slowly-mounting clues to Alice's real character. And as Alice argues violently at the climax of the action, Lora even seemed to find herself drawn to the titillating side of the dark lifestyle that Alice had lived and couldn't leave.

Given the author's career and training, the reader wonders if this is a one-time excursion to see how well she could write what she'd studied, or if this will be a career move for Abbott.

(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-08-20 08:53:18 EST)

08-26-07

(NA)

A stylish noir

Although I'm a big fan of noir films, this was my first noir novel. What a treat! Abbott's style has a dreamy, poetic quality, yet she manages to move the story forward at a rapid pace. All the characters are rich and complex, and the period details are great fun. I look forward to reading more of Abbott's work.

(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-04-26 08:27:55 EST)

04-24-07

(NA)

Cerebral Retro-Noir

The storyline to this stylish noir set in 1954 is simple. Lora King, a Pasenda schoolteacher, lives with her younger brother Bill, one of the D.A.'s bright investigators. Their lives hum along until Alicia Steele, a costume designer for the Hollywood movie crowd, enters the picture. Alice steals Bill's heart and they wed. Lora, jealous and maternally protective, discovers Alicia's past is dark and pitted with sadistic boyfriends, narcotics usage, and possibly murder. As seen by others, Lora and Alice are companionable as "sisters", but looks are deceiving. The lush descriptions recreate the underbelly of Hollywood. But the contemplative and careful Lora narrating this lurid tale offers a noir where readers can observe as much going outside of as inside of the main character.

(Review Data Last Updated: 2007-09-02 09:01:25 EST)

12-01-06

(NA)

A Velvet Punch of a Read

A heck of a debut, a heck of a book. These characters sparkle in dark glamour, the writing slides you into a lost time, a lost place. Highly recommended.

(Review Data Last Updated: 2007-07-03 08:54:22 EST)

04-11-05

57\57

The dark side of Hollywood...

This was a great read! One I had a very hard time putting down. Set in 1950's Hollywood, it explores the dark, twisted lives of high powered studio men, call girls, drugs and murder. Bill and Lora are siblings living in quiet suburbia in Pasadena. He's a cop and she's a school teacher. Then Bill meets vivacious Alice Steele when her car hits his. A friendship blossoms, and soon after a relationship. The two marry, buy a house, and settle into simple lives.

In the beginning all is well. Lora is happy for her brother and loves having sophisticated Alice around, who throws lavish neighborhood parties and is always in the spotlight. But soon Lora starts to notice little things that don't seem quite right. Dark edges around sweet Alice...who is Alice really, and where did she come from?

As Lora gets deeper and deeper into the trenches of shady Hollywood, she begins to realize that she's getting caught up in everything, she's beginning to change from the mundane schoolteacher into something else, something bad. Can she figure everything out before it's too late? I've gotta say I really recommend this book. I initially picked it up because of the era it's set in, but the story really grabbed me. Definitely give it a try...you won't be disappointed!

(Review Data Last Updated: 2007-07-03 08:54:22 EST)

03-22-05

3\3

A fun noir romp

The pages of this book fly by, filled with all the dark, dangerous, drugs and sex riffs from the 1950's. When you need something light and engrossing, this book is a "sinister" diversion.

(Review Data Last Updated: 2007-07-03 08:54:22 EST)

03-18-05

4\4

Stunning Debut

Megan Abbott's novel is a rare and refreshing combination of noir and literary fiction, both hauntingly dark and brilliantly written. What's interesting is that the novel contains two femme fatales, one who inhabits the role as naturally as she breathes and the other who, by unconsciously courting the "darker elements" to protect her heroic yet naive brother, grows into a dangerous and deadly enemy. It's not often that a novel is satisfying on so many levels--plot, character, style and execution--but this one's a real winner. I couldn't put it down!

(Review Data Last Updated: 2007-07-03 08:54:22 EST)

03-14-05

5\5

A thinking person's noir