Book Review: ASK THE DICE by Ed Lynskey

ASK THE DICE by Ed Lynskey (Crossroad Press, October 2011) Kindle edition, 222 pages. ASIN # B005ZVJIHU 

SUMMARY ON THE GOODREADS WEBSITE . . . . .

Over the past two decades, Tommy Mack Zane has faithfully worked as a contract killer for Watson Ogg, the Washington, D.C. crime boss. Now middle age creeping up finds Tommy Mack edgy, jaded, and weary of his grisly trade. As he contemplates retirement, he is framed for the murder of Mr. Ogg's niece. 

Desperate, Tommy Mack enlists the aid of his friends, the mercurial D. Noble and burly Esquire to do battle with Mr. Ogg and his mercenary "dark suits." A new, better life filled with his passions for poetry and jazz drives Tommy Mack to the slam-bang climax where a few dark secrets about his past are unearthed. 

Told in spare, lean prose, Ask the Dice is a brisk, literate, and idiosyncratic noir. Mr. Lynskey's crime novels have been praised by such luminaries as James Crumley, Ken Bruen, and Megan Abbott. Robert Wade (Wade Miller) wrote in the San Diego Union-Tribune: "A new wave of young writers is experimenting with the old-style thriller...among the most promising is Ed Lynskey."   

MY FOUR-STAR REVIEW ON THE GOODREADS WEBSITE . . . . .

     A good example of contemporary noir. This hits the genre targets.

     The narrator is interesting, an adopted young black man groomed from an early age to become a hitman for a D.C. area crime boss. He's unique, and has a cynical world view (but a good heart) perhaps developed by early childhood trauma (discovered the bodies of his suicidal parents, on two separate occasions). He abhors cell phone technology (wears a digital pager only) which makes for some interesting locations as he searches for the few remaining pay phones. He's been doing his job since the age of 18, and at 54 he's thinking of retirement.

     The story proceeds at a fast-pace, with plenty of action and doles out the necessary back-story in separate asides, as if the narrator is in a confessional mood and sharing some personal secrets with readers. Why the crime boss would want to eliminate his best hit-man doesn't make sense until near the end of the story, when the apparent reason is revealed. 

     Recommended for any crime fiction lovers who also have a tase for this kind of noir. Also dark and violent.