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The Ice Harvest #1
The Ice Harvest
As lawyer Charlie Arglist prepares to leave Wichita, Kansas, with a suitcase full of stolen money, he revisits the scenes of his past--his angry ex-wife, ex-lovers, cops on the take, and bars filled with secrets that others will do anything to hide.
217 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 183 reviews
December 9, 2021
Oh, the trials and tribulations of being a seasonal reader. Each year you have to dig deeper and deeper into Santa’s bag of books to find holiday-themed stories that aren’t cozy mysteries, traditional tales, or Hallmarky rom-coms. It’s from those depths that I pulled Scott Phillips’s 2000 novel, The Ice Harvest. And I’m here to tell you, there’s nothing cozy, traditional, or Hallmarky about it.
Set over the course of one night in Wichita - Christmas Eve, 1979 - The Ice Harvest is a short crime noir book chock-full of things like strip clubs and crime bosses. It’s extremely crass and not very politically correct by 2021 standards. It’s got an atmospheric blizzard and some colorful characters whose shenanigans are mildly interesting. There's also a 2005 movie adaptation starring John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton that was directed by Harold Ramis, so it's got that going for it.
The overall novel was a take-it-or-leave-it affair for me, and despite its brevity I did find my mind wandering a bit. That said, I listened to the audiobook that features the vocal stylings of the inimitable narrator Grover Gardner, and that tipped the scales from naughty to nice territory.
If you’re the type of person that thinks of three sex workers anytime you hear “ho ho ho,” then The Ice Harvest just might be the right seasonal read for you.
Blog: https://www.confettibookshelf.com/
Set over the course of one night in Wichita - Christmas Eve, 1979 - The Ice Harvest is a short crime noir book chock-full of things like strip clubs and crime bosses. It’s extremely crass and not very politically correct by 2021 standards. It’s got an atmospheric blizzard and some colorful characters whose shenanigans are mildly interesting. There's also a 2005 movie adaptation starring John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton that was directed by Harold Ramis, so it's got that going for it.
The overall novel was a take-it-or-leave-it affair for me, and despite its brevity I did find my mind wandering a bit. That said, I listened to the audiobook that features the vocal stylings of the inimitable narrator Grover Gardner, and that tipped the scales from naughty to nice territory.
If you’re the type of person that thinks of three sex workers anytime you hear “ho ho ho,” then The Ice Harvest just might be the right seasonal read for you.
Blog: https://www.confettibookshelf.com/
December 9, 2023
A few years ago, I Google searched "books that are like Fargo TV series." This one didn't come up, but it should have. Here we have the perfect mix of violent crime and humor . . . basically one of my absolute favorite combinations.
It's Christmas Eve, and snowing to beat the band. Let's look in on Charlie, your basic schlub, who, with the help of a coworker, has just robbed his boss blind. Charlie's ready to blow his small Kansas town for somewhere warm and sunny. He's spending the remaining hours before his flight in bars, and strip clubs, saying goodbye in his own way, confident he'll never see any of these people again. Will things end well for Charlie? Since this isn't a Hallmark holiday movie it's pretty safe to assume that they will not.
I enjoyed the heck out of this one. Bad guys with guns, black humor, and possibly the best ending EVER. God bless us, everyone.
It's Christmas Eve, and snowing to beat the band. Let's look in on Charlie, your basic schlub, who, with the help of a coworker, has just robbed his boss blind. Charlie's ready to blow his small Kansas town for somewhere warm and sunny. He's spending the remaining hours before his flight in bars, and strip clubs, saying goodbye in his own way, confident he'll never see any of these people again. Will things end well for Charlie? Since this isn't a Hallmark holiday movie it's pretty safe to assume that they will not.
I enjoyed the heck out of this one. Bad guys with guns, black humor, and possibly the best ending EVER. God bless us, everyone.
November 23, 2021
"He took a deep, frozen breath. "That about hit the f**king spot. You know when you have that one drink that takes you to the exact perfect stage of drunkenness? That was the one. I feel like God. Let's hit it."
The Ice Harvest is a 1979 noir mystery set during a blizzard in Wichita on Christmas Eve. It is a dark humor story about unsavory characters living in a seedy small town. The author captured the realities of this world in vivid detail, and I found it engrossing in a train wreck way.
It’s a crime novel where the crime happens late in the book. Most of the story is about the people and places that make up Charlie Arglist’s life. He’s a corrupt mob lawyer and part-owner of various sleazy businesses (strip club, massage parlor, porno show parlor). Charlie’s making the rounds on Christmas Eve, revved up on alcohol and cocaine, he is saying goodbye in his way, even if people are unaware of his intentions to skip town this night.
Before Charlie can leave town for good, he must wade through some headaches while waiting until it is time for an appointment. He may have to deal with a goon on his trail, a double-crossing partner, a femme fatale, an incriminating photo, an awkward Christmas visit, employees, cops, lovers, and family. No one can be trusted. Everyone gets their due. I did not see that ending coming, but it wrapped up the book perfectly.
Listening to the audio read by Grover Gardner was a wonderful way to experience this book. Gardner’s voices matched the male characters better, though all were distinct. Plus, the intro music was a nice touch.
There is a 2005 film adaption of this book starring John Cusack. It follows the book then has a different ending. Not a bad ending. However, I found the book’s ending fit this noir story better. And I did not think the film achieved the wiry, dark humor like in the book.
Overall, I am surprised how much I enjoyed this story. This a deliciously disturbing, sometimes violent, bleak story with lively and outrageous characters. Despite the violence, it is not gory. Just ironic and dark in a funny way. It is an entertaining book that is a must read for the noir fan.
CW:
The Ice Harvest is a 1979 noir mystery set during a blizzard in Wichita on Christmas Eve. It is a dark humor story about unsavory characters living in a seedy small town. The author captured the realities of this world in vivid detail, and I found it engrossing in a train wreck way.
It’s a crime novel where the crime happens late in the book. Most of the story is about the people and places that make up Charlie Arglist’s life. He’s a corrupt mob lawyer and part-owner of various sleazy businesses (strip club, massage parlor, porno show parlor). Charlie’s making the rounds on Christmas Eve, revved up on alcohol and cocaine, he is saying goodbye in his way, even if people are unaware of his intentions to skip town this night.
Before Charlie can leave town for good, he must wade through some headaches while waiting until it is time for an appointment. He may have to deal with a goon on his trail, a double-crossing partner, a femme fatale, an incriminating photo, an awkward Christmas visit, employees, cops, lovers, and family. No one can be trusted. Everyone gets their due. I did not see that ending coming, but it wrapped up the book perfectly.
Listening to the audio read by Grover Gardner was a wonderful way to experience this book. Gardner’s voices matched the male characters better, though all were distinct. Plus, the intro music was a nice touch.
There is a 2005 film adaption of this book starring John Cusack. It follows the book then has a different ending. Not a bad ending. However, I found the book’s ending fit this noir story better. And I did not think the film achieved the wiry, dark humor like in the book.
Overall, I am surprised how much I enjoyed this story. This a deliciously disturbing, sometimes violent, bleak story with lively and outrageous characters. Despite the violence, it is not gory. Just ironic and dark in a funny way. It is an entertaining book that is a must read for the noir fan.
CW:
March 28, 2021
It's Christmas Eve 1979 in Wichita, Kansas, and attorney Charlie Arglist is trying to kill some time before fleeing town with the money he and his partner have stolen from the local crime boss they work for. A huge storm is complicating matters, but Charlie doesn't let that stop him from visiting bars and strip clubs as he prepares to leave, and he runs into a variety of characters who are all in the middle of their own drama.
This is a bit of an oddball because it's technically a crime novel, but the crime part doesn't really come into play until the last act. The first part is spent just establishing this world that Charlie has been helping run as an employee of what passes for organized crime in the area. Along with that, we get this character study of a guy who willingly gave up a struggling law practice to act as a kind of a branch manager for the real boss. Like a lot of middle management, Charlie gets no respect from anyone above or below him, but he's still a little wistful as he visits some of his haunts for what he's sure will be the last time.
It's dark, funny, sleazy, and brutal all at the same time, and the late '70s Wichita in the midst of a huge storm makes for a fantastic backdrop to the whole sordid tale.
This is a bit of an oddball because it's technically a crime novel, but the crime part doesn't really come into play until the last act. The first part is spent just establishing this world that Charlie has been helping run as an employee of what passes for organized crime in the area. Along with that, we get this character study of a guy who willingly gave up a struggling law practice to act as a kind of a branch manager for the real boss. Like a lot of middle management, Charlie gets no respect from anyone above or below him, but he's still a little wistful as he visits some of his haunts for what he's sure will be the last time.
It's dark, funny, sleazy, and brutal all at the same time, and the late '70s Wichita in the midst of a huge storm makes for a fantastic backdrop to the whole sordid tale.
November 3, 2023
GREAT fun!!!
Review To Follow... and it goes like this:
Entertaining dark comedy about a shady lawyer planning on leaving Wichita, Kansas within the next 12-14 hours but has a few loose ends he must tend to first.
Charlie Arglist is involved in a partnership with some very unsavory characters in operating a number of strip clubs, at least one massage parlor, and porno peep-show parlor.
He's also been moving quite a bit of illegal substances like cocaine through these various enterprises.
Episodic, hilarious, and occasionally violent novel that shouldn't take the average fan of crime/noir more than a day and a half to read.
I had a great time reading it and like all of Scott Phillips novels I've read so far, I would highly recommend it.
Review To Follow... and it goes like this:
Entertaining dark comedy about a shady lawyer planning on leaving Wichita, Kansas within the next 12-14 hours but has a few loose ends he must tend to first.
Charlie Arglist is involved in a partnership with some very unsavory characters in operating a number of strip clubs, at least one massage parlor, and porno peep-show parlor.
He's also been moving quite a bit of illegal substances like cocaine through these various enterprises.
Episodic, hilarious, and occasionally violent novel that shouldn't take the average fan of crime/noir more than a day and a half to read.
I had a great time reading it and like all of Scott Phillips novels I've read so far, I would highly recommend it.
...he struggled to get back on his feet, slipping and falling repeatedly as Charlie stood watching. He finally managed to to get up on his hands and knees. The car was only seven or eight feet away.
"You gonna make it?"
"Fuck yes, I"m gonna make it. Don't tell anybody you saw me do this", he said, and he crawled on all fours to the door. He pulled it open, leaned his head and shoulders in, and began spewing nine hours' worth of booze and bar snacks onto the floor of the passenger side.
"For Christ's sake, Pete, do it in the snow, not in the fucking Lincoln!"
Pete stopped for a moment, looked blearily up at Charlie, wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his coat, and then resumed puking copiously into the wheel well.
December 9, 2023
”Slow night?”
“Course is slow; it’s Christmas Eve and there’s a blizzard and most people have better things to do than drive all the way out of town for a twenty-dollar hand-job.”
I love the work of the Coen brothers on screen, and this neo-noir thriller took me right up to Fargo territory, maybe because I watched season 3 of the TV series right before trying the novel, but most probably due to the vivid winter setting, to the small town with queer people that is night time Wichita here, to the black humor, baroque plot and sudden explosions of violence that Scott Phillips uses in order to make me turn the pages in a feverish rush to the finish line.
Just like Charlie Arglist, a middle aged lawyer, who spends Christmas night driving through the blizzard, trying to stay ahead of the bag of troubles his involvement with the mob and with prostitution houses have bought.
Charlie has some powerful inducements to keep running: a suitcase filled with money, and a couple of mob enforcers sent by his boss, Bill Gerard, to terminate him.
I was too busy enjoying the dark comedy to save any quotes or to sketch a plot outline. Like the before mentioned movies by the Coens, I believe it is better to dive into this blizzard of crime with as little prior knowledge as possible.
For myself, I plan to check out the movie adaptation with John Cusack, ignoring the poor IMDB rating, because the novel almost begs to be turned into an action movie.
... and maybe add another book by Scott Phillips to my wishlist, to confirm the good impression made by his debut.
“Course is slow; it’s Christmas Eve and there’s a blizzard and most people have better things to do than drive all the way out of town for a twenty-dollar hand-job.”
I love the work of the Coen brothers on screen, and this neo-noir thriller took me right up to Fargo territory, maybe because I watched season 3 of the TV series right before trying the novel, but most probably due to the vivid winter setting, to the small town with queer people that is night time Wichita here, to the black humor, baroque plot and sudden explosions of violence that Scott Phillips uses in order to make me turn the pages in a feverish rush to the finish line.
Just like Charlie Arglist, a middle aged lawyer, who spends Christmas night driving through the blizzard, trying to stay ahead of the bag of troubles his involvement with the mob and with prostitution houses have bought.
Charlie has some powerful inducements to keep running: a suitcase filled with money, and a couple of mob enforcers sent by his boss, Bill Gerard, to terminate him.
I was too busy enjoying the dark comedy to save any quotes or to sketch a plot outline. Like the before mentioned movies by the Coens, I believe it is better to dive into this blizzard of crime with as little prior knowledge as possible.
For myself, I plan to check out the movie adaptation with John Cusack, ignoring the poor IMDB rating, because the novel almost begs to be turned into an action movie.
... and maybe add another book by Scott Phillips to my wishlist, to confirm the good impression made by his debut.
October 1, 2012
Mostly read whilst killing time waiting for English public transport to turn up
Compared to Cain and Thompson this novel seemed to have a high pedigree of hype going for it, having recently thoroughly enjoyed the John CUsack movie adaptation there was a little added pressure when I found this in a war zone/book shop in Brighton.
Sadly this debut from Scott Phillips failed to live up to expectations. It's a solid piece of noir writing told without resorting to embellishment and extremes of plot to engage the reader. It's the kind of book that is a pleasure to read to pass the time but no more than that, with a denouement perfectly in keeping with the greats of the genre he was compared to.
Compared to Cain and Thompson this novel seemed to have a high pedigree of hype going for it, having recently thoroughly enjoyed the John CUsack movie adaptation there was a little added pressure when I found this in a war zone/book shop in Brighton.
Sadly this debut from Scott Phillips failed to live up to expectations. It's a solid piece of noir writing told without resorting to embellishment and extremes of plot to engage the reader. It's the kind of book that is a pleasure to read to pass the time but no more than that, with a denouement perfectly in keeping with the greats of the genre he was compared to.
December 31, 2011
A nasty, ripe little Christmas noir, THE ICE HARVEST is in the rich vein of Charles Willeford and Harry Crews. Charlie Arglist is a corrpt attorney who's embezzled a satchel of money from his employer and plans to skip town on Christmas Eve. Of course, things don't call as planned, and unravel fast. This fast-paced, short novel reminds me of the best from the Gold Medal Books imprint. Lots of dark humor and pratfalls included. Enjoy it.
December 6, 2023
"Normally I like to put a quote here to give potential readers a sense of what they might be getting into, but I couldn't really find one for this book. Neither could anyone else.
Total # of quotes listed for this book on GoodReads currently: 0"
Not to say that it's poorly written. It's not, but on the flip side the prose is nothing to write home about either. No exciting insights into human nature, just a plot that slowly reveals itself as it winds through the white trash detritus of Wichita, Kansas one Christmas Eve. There are no "good" characters here whatsoever, just self-absorbed lower-class Midwesterners struggling through the holiday season by not buying gifts for their children which they never see. Readable Middle-America noir with no shining beacons of hope, just the crushing realities of life. There was a movie version a few years ago, and it was likewise unmemorable, another poor choice in the awkwardly declining career of John Cusack.
Total # of quotes listed for this book on GoodReads currently: 0"
Not to say that it's poorly written. It's not, but on the flip side the prose is nothing to write home about either. No exciting insights into human nature, just a plot that slowly reveals itself as it winds through the white trash detritus of Wichita, Kansas one Christmas Eve. There are no "good" characters here whatsoever, just self-absorbed lower-class Midwesterners struggling through the holiday season by not buying gifts for their children which they never see. Readable Middle-America noir with no shining beacons of hope, just the crushing realities of life. There was a movie version a few years ago, and it was likewise unmemorable, another poor choice in the awkwardly declining career of John Cusack.
March 28, 2012
Reading this was a purely tactical choice to begin with. As in red alert, battle stations ready tactical warfare. Which best describes the cattle run on the London Underground where it is a no holds barred, take no prisoners, survival of fittest gladiator match twice a day. When wedged in the middle of this meat vice, headlocked under Big Bertha’s eau de Baconnaise infused armpit, trussed up like a Christmas turkey and that had BETTER be only an umbrella poking my ass, reading material has to conform to certain standards. A certain size, weight and shape are crucial, so I can prop it centrifugal like over a love handle and beneath a double D. Trial and error are crucial here, my dear Watson, but after many sardine sessions I knew The Ice Harvest would snuggle right in.
A weird little book this: the first half is totally devoid of any action whatsoever. Instead, we have a slow, languorous layering of seedy character and their haunts descriptions. The main protagonist Charlie seems to spend an eternity driving up and down the main street in Wichita, Kansas on Christmas Eve, circulating between three stripjoints, a bar, and two houses, in some sort of grotesque noirification of Pleasantville. He’s clearly getting ready to skip town and seems to be killing some time before he goes. Everywhere he goes, some broad offers to blow him off or make him into a bona fide anal connoisseur. The cops all know him : they all toast whiskey flasks when they meet up on the highway. Sweet. Why would he even want to leave a place like this?
The second half picks up a bit, which in any event isn’t hard to do considering nothing ever happened in the first half. Charlie still seems to be running around Main Street, except now theres a noticeable body count stockpiling in each of the places mentioned above. This frenzied rushing around is supposed to blind us to the fact that there is absolutely no plot cohesion whatsoever in this alleged crime thriller. Things seem to happen randomly, nothing makes any logical sense, the narrative descends into mish-mash. With one saving grace at the very end: a delicious little twist at the finale, which, however, in no way makes up for the disjointed rambling before.
‘A venture into white noir’ it says right on the front cover. But wait, what the hell is white noir, apart from an oxymoron. I usually know my blek end uait but not this. White trash noir is more likely. Noir what you read: next time I’ll stick to pinot noir.
(I’m not kidding, what is white noire?)
A weird little book this: the first half is totally devoid of any action whatsoever. Instead, we have a slow, languorous layering of seedy character and their haunts descriptions. The main protagonist Charlie seems to spend an eternity driving up and down the main street in Wichita, Kansas on Christmas Eve, circulating between three stripjoints, a bar, and two houses, in some sort of grotesque noirification of Pleasantville. He’s clearly getting ready to skip town and seems to be killing some time before he goes. Everywhere he goes, some broad offers to blow him off or make him into a bona fide anal connoisseur. The cops all know him : they all toast whiskey flasks when they meet up on the highway. Sweet. Why would he even want to leave a place like this?
The second half picks up a bit, which in any event isn’t hard to do considering nothing ever happened in the first half. Charlie still seems to be running around Main Street, except now theres a noticeable body count stockpiling in each of the places mentioned above. This frenzied rushing around is supposed to blind us to the fact that there is absolutely no plot cohesion whatsoever in this alleged crime thriller. Things seem to happen randomly, nothing makes any logical sense, the narrative descends into mish-mash. With one saving grace at the very end: a delicious little twist at the finale, which, however, in no way makes up for the disjointed rambling before.
‘A venture into white noir’ it says right on the front cover. But wait, what the hell is white noir, apart from an oxymoron. I usually know my blek end uait but not this. White trash noir is more likely. Noir what you read: next time I’ll stick to pinot noir.
(I’m not kidding, what is white noire?)
December 27, 2020
This was... something. I read this with a friend of mine on a whim. Or more accurately, I listened to it on a whim. I don't think that the experience would have changed much either way. I just didn't really find this enjoyable. Nothing at all happens in the first half of the book except for lots of drinking and strippers and sex workers offering the main character favors. I'm guessing that these things were supposed to solidify his position as a Man of Importance in the powerful crime ring of grand ol' Wichita, Kansas. Color me SUPER impressed.
I spent the first half waiting for anything at all to happen. I spent the second half waiting for the inevitable to happen.
That sentence pretty much sums up the book for me. At least it wasn't long. It just felt like it.
I spent the first half waiting for anything at all to happen. I spent the second half waiting for the inevitable to happen.
That sentence pretty much sums up the book for me. At least it wasn't long. It just felt like it.
May 26, 2016
Scott Phillips knows exactly how to Make Kansas Great Again! I don't know the official title of this genre but I call it Country Pulp Western Noir. He makes Kansas sound like an exciting, crime filled, drug fueled, passionate, sexy, destination full of life and adventure. In reality it is a boring, backwards, redneck, Koched out, Brownback hell with deteriorating school districts, ubiquitous strip malls full of Target Stores, Chipotle, Whole Foods and high end Chick-fil-a outlets, a uge prairie with a few small towns full of tweakers and one college town with education snobs and another with Monsanto sponsored agriculture cowboys and a DHS laboratory full of the deadliest viruses known to man. I prefer Scott's version better and so he is one of those rare authors whom I will run out and read everything he has written.
June 14, 2017
Scott Phillips apresenta-nos uma história muito bem escrita.
Não precisou de ser sufocante para ser interessante e entusiasmante.
Grande parte do enredo passa-se em apenas algumas horas, com pouco mais do que a duração de uma noite.
E a vida pode mudar tanto em tão pouco tempo. Os planos de anos, os projetos de vida, os sonhos e as ambições pode alterar-se tanto entre o por e o nascer do sol.
Uma história de gente desonesta... Uma história que nos mostra que o crime não compensa, que a desonestidade obriga ao pagamento de um preço demasiado caro e que, como diz o adágio popular, "cá se fazem, cá se pagam".
Não precisou de ser sufocante para ser interessante e entusiasmante.
Grande parte do enredo passa-se em apenas algumas horas, com pouco mais do que a duração de uma noite.
E a vida pode mudar tanto em tão pouco tempo. Os planos de anos, os projetos de vida, os sonhos e as ambições pode alterar-se tanto entre o por e o nascer do sol.
Uma história de gente desonesta... Uma história que nos mostra que o crime não compensa, que a desonestidade obriga ao pagamento de um preço demasiado caro e que, como diz o adágio popular, "cá se fazem, cá se pagam".
January 12, 2019
I'll start by saying, I never have seen the movie ( I do remember the trailer). This is a dark comic, sometimes brutal hard-boiled tale. James M. Cain meets Elmore Leonard, to make a very good debut. Will be reading more from Mr. Phillips.
December 26, 2023
Good characters. Feels like it was missing something.
July 18, 2022
So much fun. This is good noir, period. It gives us a look at a sleazy community of strippers, strip-club owners, and our two-bit lawyer protagonist, all of whom sustain the underworld economy of Wichita, Kansas. Even better, though, it’s funny. Ken Bruen and some of the other Celtic noir writers have pulled off the humorous noir before this, but I’ve never seen anyone do it quite like Phillips.
And then, on top of all that, Evans has an abiding affection for his characters.
The first half of this short novel hardly seems noir at all. It’s Christmas Eve, and Charlie is in an unexplained good mood. He’s making the rounds of the strip clubs his boss owns, and he’s looking after the people he meets. He listens to the problems of the employees and the regulars, losers who turn to a strip club on a holiday defined for most people as a chance to be with family. He himself is the sort who, driving buzzed, shamelessly takes a rip from his flask when the cops who almost pull him over recognize him instead as a protected local crime figure.
But Charlie, with Evans behind him, has patience for those “losers.” He may be smarter than most of them, but he doesn’t think of himself as any better. He seems to know that life is a quiet competition for resources; use others when you can and then, biding your time if necessary, grab what you need.
It’s only in the second half, after Evans’s masterful painting of the whole community, that we get a sense of what’s at stake. Amid rumors of a missing dancer, Charlie is on the brink of completing a long-simmering con. He’s got close a quarter of a million dollars coming, money he has embezzled from his boss, and he’s planning to leave town forever.
The mystery matters here, as it should, but what elevates this from genre to near literary status is the love of community. I may have driven through Wichita, but I’ve certainly never seen this side of it. In their fractured way, these people care for each other.
If noir is, as I assert, a form of applied ethics, this one asks the persistent question of what we owe others in a universe so random that it can accidentally kill us at any moment. To do that and make us laugh is real art.
I enjoyed this one immensely, flying through it in one day and hungering for more by Phillips. He’s on my list for more, and he may well also be on my list of the must-read noir writers going today.
And then, on top of all that, Evans has an abiding affection for his characters.
The first half of this short novel hardly seems noir at all. It’s Christmas Eve, and Charlie is in an unexplained good mood. He’s making the rounds of the strip clubs his boss owns, and he’s looking after the people he meets. He listens to the problems of the employees and the regulars, losers who turn to a strip club on a holiday defined for most people as a chance to be with family. He himself is the sort who, driving buzzed, shamelessly takes a rip from his flask when the cops who almost pull him over recognize him instead as a protected local crime figure.
But Charlie, with Evans behind him, has patience for those “losers.” He may be smarter than most of them, but he doesn’t think of himself as any better. He seems to know that life is a quiet competition for resources; use others when you can and then, biding your time if necessary, grab what you need.
It’s only in the second half, after Evans’s masterful painting of the whole community, that we get a sense of what’s at stake. Amid rumors of a missing dancer, Charlie is on the brink of completing a long-simmering con. He’s got close a quarter of a million dollars coming, money he has embezzled from his boss, and he’s planning to leave town forever.
The mystery matters here, as it should, but what elevates this from genre to near literary status is the love of community. I may have driven through Wichita, but I’ve certainly never seen this side of it. In their fractured way, these people care for each other.
If noir is, as I assert, a form of applied ethics, this one asks the persistent question of what we owe others in a universe so random that it can accidentally kill us at any moment. To do that and make us laugh is real art.
I enjoyed this one immensely, flying through it in one day and hungering for more by Phillips. He’s on my list for more, and he may well also be on my list of the must-read noir writers going today.
October 31, 2016
Quote:
"He took a deep, frozen breath. "That about hit the fucking spot. You know when you have that one drink that takes you to the exact perfect stage of drunkenness? That was the one. I feel like God. Let's hit it."
He took one step off the icy sidewalk & into the parking lot & slipped. "Fuck Charlie, I fell."
"You hurt?"
"I'm too drunk to get hurt." He struggled to get back on his feet, slipping & falling repeatedly as Charlie stood watching. He finally managed to get up on his hands & knees. The car was only seven or eight feet away.
"You going to make it?"
"Fuck yes, I'm gonna make it. Don't tell anybody you saw me do this," he said, and he crawled on all fours to the door. He pulled it open, leaned his head & shoulders in, and began spewing nine hours worth of booze & bar snacks onto the floor of the passenger side."
A nice blend of wry humor & violence make this a must read.
Highly recommended. 4 stars from this reader.
"He took a deep, frozen breath. "That about hit the fucking spot. You know when you have that one drink that takes you to the exact perfect stage of drunkenness? That was the one. I feel like God. Let's hit it."
He took one step off the icy sidewalk & into the parking lot & slipped. "Fuck Charlie, I fell."
"You hurt?"
"I'm too drunk to get hurt." He struggled to get back on his feet, slipping & falling repeatedly as Charlie stood watching. He finally managed to get up on his hands & knees. The car was only seven or eight feet away.
"You going to make it?"
"Fuck yes, I'm gonna make it. Don't tell anybody you saw me do this," he said, and he crawled on all fours to the door. He pulled it open, leaned his head & shoulders in, and began spewing nine hours worth of booze & bar snacks onto the floor of the passenger side."
A nice blend of wry humor & violence make this a must read.
Highly recommended. 4 stars from this reader.
June 15, 2012
What a fantastically-dark wicked book. I was hooked from the beginning until the very end. I'd seen the movie many many years ago but couldn't recall much except that I enjoyed it and it had John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton in it. And it was cold out. The characters are all unsavory and nasty and I loved every single one of them. The ending was outrageous and perfect. Read this book!
January 3, 2021
It’s Christmas Eve and Charlie Arglist, a ‘mob’ lawyer, is skipping town soon with his partner and the money that they’ve been skimming from their bosses. The novel follows Charlie in the hours before he leaves, as he visits the strip clubs, sex shops and bars that are part of his business interests and encounters friends, acquaintances, employees and lovers, old and new for one last time. However things don’t go entirely to plan and Charlie finds himself having to ‘ad-lib’ on his initial plan and has some important and sometimes life or death decisions to make before quitting town.
This is a great noir with a huge slice of humour thrown into the mix which makes this a tense thriller but with genuine laughs along the way. I started out thinking I had the measure of Charlie but as the night stretches and the drunker Charlie gets, I found myself getting more frustrated and confused by some of Charlie’s choices. Like any good noir, there are twists aplenty but I certainly wasn’t ready for the turn the story takes at the end.
Apparently there is a film adaption of this novel too which I’ll have to track down and watch. This was also my first Scott Phillips novel and I must make sure it’s not my last.
This is a great noir with a huge slice of humour thrown into the mix which makes this a tense thriller but with genuine laughs along the way. I started out thinking I had the measure of Charlie but as the night stretches and the drunker Charlie gets, I found myself getting more frustrated and confused by some of Charlie’s choices. Like any good noir, there are twists aplenty but I certainly wasn’t ready for the turn the story takes at the end.
Apparently there is a film adaption of this novel too which I’ll have to track down and watch. This was also my first Scott Phillips novel and I must make sure it’s not my last.
March 16, 2020
Read because seen the movie based on it and liked the movie.
This book is pretty boring and odd at first. Nothing happens, the main character travels from one bar or strip club to another and back several times just driving and talking to the same people all night. Then when everyone else goes to sleep the action started which was okay. Funny at times and once you get what it's about - unfortunately predictable too.
The ending was pretty good but don't want to read on the series, didn't get that interested in any of the characters.
This book is pretty boring and odd at first. Nothing happens, the main character travels from one bar or strip club to another and back several times just driving and talking to the same people all night. Then when everyone else goes to sleep the action started which was okay. Funny at times and once you get what it's about - unfortunately predictable too.
The ending was pretty good but don't want to read on the series, didn't get that interested in any of the characters.
January 9, 2024
Some key components :
-Seedy setting
-Part 1 scene setting
-Part 2 more action
-Fails the Bechdel test by a country mile
But within this unpromising framework lies some sharply observational writing, some character development, some clever plot development, and a fitting ending. I liked it despite myself.
-Seedy setting
-Part 1 scene setting
-Part 2 more action
-Fails the Bechdel test by a country mile
But within this unpromising framework lies some sharply observational writing, some character development, some clever plot development, and a fitting ending. I liked it despite myself.
August 9, 2018
This has the feel of The Long Good Friday about it, by way of Fargo, maybe, but it delivers little of those movies' emotional intensity.
The author brilliantly depicts the seedy, slimy reality of small-town strip-clubs, the tired and sleazy side of exotic dancers and adult bookshops.
He also nails middle-age ennui, and the miserable hostility which can develop between ex-wives, ex-husbands, ex-girlfriends, ex-family... and the estranged children, confused about who their parents actually are.
So you get astute observations, plenty of social commentary, and a lot of driving around town between bars and clubs on a snowy Christmas Eve. It all hinges on embezzlement, betrayal and untrustworthy conspirators - so this should really have been one helluva read.
Yet somehow it falls flat, as if dragged down by the weight of its own misery.
I got the impression that the ending was deliberately played as to be almost farcical... but it undermined much of the reader's investment.
I didn't dislike it, and kept rattling through the pages because I wanted to find out what had happened, and what would happen.
Trouble was, the answers to those questions were anti-climatic.
So I'm unlikely to go searching for anything else by this author.
6/10
There are more reviews of crime thrillers over at http://www.murdermayhemandmore.net
The author brilliantly depicts the seedy, slimy reality of small-town strip-clubs, the tired and sleazy side of exotic dancers and adult bookshops.
He also nails middle-age ennui, and the miserable hostility which can develop between ex-wives, ex-husbands, ex-girlfriends, ex-family... and the estranged children, confused about who their parents actually are.
So you get astute observations, plenty of social commentary, and a lot of driving around town between bars and clubs on a snowy Christmas Eve. It all hinges on embezzlement, betrayal and untrustworthy conspirators - so this should really have been one helluva read.
Yet somehow it falls flat, as if dragged down by the weight of its own misery.
I got the impression that the ending was deliberately played as to be almost farcical... but it undermined much of the reader's investment.
I didn't dislike it, and kept rattling through the pages because I wanted to find out what had happened, and what would happen.
Trouble was, the answers to those questions were anti-climatic.
So I'm unlikely to go searching for anything else by this author.
6/10
There are more reviews of crime thrillers over at http://www.murdermayhemandmore.net
March 15, 2009
A bleak yet frequently funny noir novel in the Jim Thompson or Gold Medal school. This is the book that became the basis for the John Cusak-Billy Bob Thorntan film.
It's a brisk, readable tale that follows failed lawyer Charlie Arglist on a farewell tour of 1979 Wichita as he contemplates an escape with money skimmed from his mobster boss.
We get a look at Charlie's spartan existence, failed relationship and desolate outlook before brutal twists send his plans awry and pit him against friends and foes alike.
The novel unfolds almost totally with Charlie at center stage and very simple events are kept lively by off-beat characters, grim humor and a fairly brisk pace.
It's a brisk, readable tale that follows failed lawyer Charlie Arglist on a farewell tour of 1979 Wichita as he contemplates an escape with money skimmed from his mobster boss.
We get a look at Charlie's spartan existence, failed relationship and desolate outlook before brutal twists send his plans awry and pit him against friends and foes alike.
The novel unfolds almost totally with Charlie at center stage and very simple events are kept lively by off-beat characters, grim humor and a fairly brisk pace.
March 14, 2021
This book was so much fun. Sort of a blend of noir and black comedy, with a rural rather than big city backdrop. Carl Hiaasen meets Jim Thompson. Amid the cyclone of mayhem executed and experienced by this cast of characters, all occupying various levels of degeneracy, many poignant and serendipitous elements managed to survive. My first Scott Phillips read; most definitely not my last.
October 31, 2016
This copy is signed by the author Scott Phillps.
May 23, 2021
I like a flawed character but in this novel all the leads are absolute garbage with very little in the way of redeeming features. There's a thread of slight mystery running through which is the only reason I made it to the end - that and the fact its quite short so by the time you're half way through you light as well finish.
I don't read a lot of this sort of book, so I'm unsure if the author was playing on a trope but all the women were either strippers with kind hearts or prissy, rich and horrible (through our male protagonists eyes at least) which wore a little thin by the end. Saying that none of the characters had much depth...just general criminal vibes throughout.
It is well written though, and I enjoyed the descriptive elements of the book a lot-I feel like I can picture the town, which is nice.
I don't read a lot of this sort of book, so I'm unsure if the author was playing on a trope but all the women were either strippers with kind hearts or prissy, rich and horrible (through our male protagonists eyes at least) which wore a little thin by the end. Saying that none of the characters had much depth...just general criminal vibes throughout.
It is well written though, and I enjoyed the descriptive elements of the book a lot-I feel like I can picture the town, which is nice.
September 24, 2019
2.5*
I purchased this book after reading about it in "Books to Die For" and learning that it had been nominated for several awards including the Edgar Award for Best First Novel. While it is no doubt a crime novel, unfortunately for me it is by no means a mystery. I might have been tempted to give this a higher rating if I hadn't already read a very similar sort of book earlier this month - "The Getaway" by Jim Thompson. If you are a fan of noir crime novels, you will probably like this book but I find reading books in which all the characters are unpleasant and there is no puzzle to solve is just distasteful... but I can't give this 1* because the writing was good and despite the fact I found the plot disagreeable, I read it right through.
I purchased this book after reading about it in "Books to Die For" and learning that it had been nominated for several awards including the Edgar Award for Best First Novel. While it is no doubt a crime novel, unfortunately for me it is by no means a mystery. I might have been tempted to give this a higher rating if I hadn't already read a very similar sort of book earlier this month - "The Getaway" by Jim Thompson. If you are a fan of noir crime novels, you will probably like this book but I find reading books in which all the characters are unpleasant and there is no puzzle to solve is just distasteful... but I can't give this 1* because the writing was good and despite the fact I found the plot disagreeable, I read it right through.
Read
June 17, 2020This is my kind of story. Tight and lean. No real explanation, no long drawn out history or back story.
Just a story of two dudes who steal a shit load of money from their boss and we get to follow one of those dudes around for a long night while he deals with all the bullshit that comes with that decision.
I remember seeing the movie years and years ago but couldn’t remember much about the plot or anything.
Just a story of two dudes who steal a shit load of money from their boss and we get to follow one of those dudes around for a long night while he deals with all the bullshit that comes with that decision.
I remember seeing the movie years and years ago but couldn’t remember much about the plot or anything.
February 5, 2021
This is a fantastic novel. I had seen the movie years ago and liked it, but the book is, as the old saying goes, better than the movie. This is fantastic. This was my first Scott Phillips book, and hot damn, it's great. I can't wait to read more of his work. He is phenomenal.
This novel was terrific in just about every way. I absolutely loved it.
This novel was terrific in just about every way. I absolutely loved it.
December 14, 2023
I read it and it really didn’t catch my attention. I did like the twist on the end but it was bit more that crime doesn’t pay ending to give the story a moral ending than something that was earned.
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