Monday, January 18, 2010

Thoughts at the half way point of Nobody Move

if there is one element that echoes Tree of Smoke, the only other Johnson I have read, then it is the dry humour. Apart from that this is a book with a very different style.

As you start reading this story of gamblers, debts and guns you are reminded of No Country for Old men by Cormac McCarthy with the idea of someone being hunted down and Chandler for the heady mix of attractive women and double crossing.

The main focus is on Jerry Luntz who makes the mistake of shooting the man who has been sent to collect the debts the barber shop singer and gambler has run up. The shot is not fatal and so a game of cat and mouse starts. Thrown into the mix is a beautiful woman who is being chased by the feds for embezzling $2.3m.

When she strikes up a relationship with Luntz you know the two will act as a magnet for trouble.

This is great fun with some good moments that make you chuckle. okay so Johnson isn't Chandler but then again he is operating in a more violent world and his writing has to reflect that.