It’s only been five years since I started reading crime fiction seriously, let alone at all. Seeing as I only read about twenty books a year, all I’ve been able to do is dip my foot into the waters of the crime fiction ocean. My toes have been wet by hard-boiled private investigations, serial killer thrillers, rom-com bounty hunters, police procedurals and mafioso misadventures.
But the one sub-genre of crime fiction that keeps pulling me back in is noir.
The possibility of an ordinary man or woman going down the dark side of the street unwillingly, or with big ideas of a better life, is fascinating and makes for damned compelling reading. Which is why I’m kicking myself for taking so long to get around to reading David Goodis.
Last night I finished one of his earlier novels, 1947’s NIGHTFALL (aka CONVICTED or THE DARK CHASE). I picked it as my first David Goodis almost randomly, although having it freely available through the iPhone’s Stanza app helped.
Being on the iPhone, I only read the novel in dribs and drabs, but I never for a moment lost the thread of the story. Even if I had a break of a week between reads, as soon as I started I was right back in David Goodis’ world. And every time I read, I found myself captivated by the moral complexities of the characters, the psychological bent to their actions and the author’s view of the world, and the thought that maybe it could happen to me too.
Towards the end, Goodis expertly weaves in all the threads binding the characters together and I read the last quarter of the book on the edge of my seat, even if I was lying down in bed or standing in a queue.
I suppose I dragged it out a couple weeks more than needed, but this was because I am painfully aware that he ain’t coming out with any more books to follow. I’ll jump onto another Goodis novel soon, but I’m stretching this ride out as long as I can.
