Fitting Sequel to the Celebrated 'Little Girl Lost'

books:


	• Songs of Innocence (Hard Case) Richard Aleas Hard Case Crime, 2007 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 18 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Groundbreaking.

Richard Aleas' second John Blake mystery, Songs of Innocence, follows the same formula as the first, Little Girl Lost. In Little Girl Lost, Blake undertakes a quixotic mission to find out who killed his ex-girlfriend, a stripper named Miranda Sugarman. In Songs of Innocence, he again investigates an ex-girlfriend's murder. This time it's Dorrie Burke a practitioner of sensual massage.

When Blake, now no longer officially a private investigator, finds Dorrie's lifeless body, he's convinced she's been murdered even though all the evidence point to an open and shut case of suicide. His subsequent investigation, most of which he must carry out even as he himself is being hotly pursued by the authorities, takes him deep into the sad, slimy world of New York's massage parlor industry.

Aleas has written Songs of Innocence using a very gritty and compelling style. He skillfully touches all the requisite bases readers of hardboiled crime have come to expect. But this book is not just an example of competent, workmanlike writing. With Songs of Innocence, Aleas has modernized and elevated the hardboiled genre well beyond its mid 20th century roots. The unexpected ending is highly effective and serves to validate everything that has preceeded it, including the events described in Little Girl Lost. An enthusiastic 5 stars.

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Songs of Darkness

Songs of Innocence is perhaps the most striking "mystery" novel I've ever read. It's obvious from the open paragraphs that Aleas (Adai) has developed his style: darker, more introspective. From there, the novel begins its accelerating descent into darkness, as much tragedy as mystery, flirting a bit with absurdity as the story progresses, but moving through that, gathering momentum for the finale, a finale which has haunted me for the several days since I read it. Wow.

I'm a big fan of Michael Connelly, but after reading Songs of Innocence, Connelly is going to seem light & fluffy in comparison. I wish I had another Aleas to read. Instead, I'm moving on to sample some of the other authors in the Hard Crimes series.

I view a "4-star" rating as an excellent book, "5-star" as worthy of teaching in a class on the genre. There's some serious "grade inflation" in Amazon reviews, an inflation I try to resist. But by any such standard, this one gets 5.

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Fitting Sequel to the Celebrated 'Little Girl Lost'

'Little Girl Lost' was a very impressive debut by Richard Aleas. It was nominated for both Edgar and Shamus awards. Although the first book can stand on its own, 'Songs of Innocence' follows up John Blake's life, a former detective who lost his love in the first book.

This book is darker, faster paced, and contains even more finely drawn characters than its predecessor. There are echoes of several great writers here, Huston, McDonald, and Chandler just to name three.

Aleas paints a very convincing picture of the commercial sex scene in New York, as well as university life at Columbia. As Blake prowls through New York, his vivid descriptions breathe life into the reader's mental image of the city.

The denouement is McDonald-esque in the extreme, and wraps up the story tightly. Long after you finish this book, scenes will come back to you. We have a lot to look forward to from Aleas.

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The deeply, dark mind of Richard Aleas

This is quite a book, you may not like it by the time you finish but you're unlikely to forget it. The first half is amazing, well paced and consistently interesting but the second half seems to get stuck deeper and deeper in the mud only to redeem itself in the end. Don't expect a fair play mystery here, I'll guarantee it doesn't end up anywhere near wherever you might think it will. And be advised that this book features a frank description of the New York sex trade and may offend some readers. Other reviewers have noted that it helps to read the Mr. Aleas' earlier book featuring the same character, LITTLE GIRL LOST, and they're right but the writing and story are strong enough to be read on its own although the missing back story will make it more difficult to understand how the protagonist ends up where he does. I just hope it won't be another three year wait until we can again visit the deeply dark mind of Richard Aleas.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

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