William Boyle (2)

Somewhat interesting, a story about long term friends and their crime ridden families as they escape the bindings of the past. While well written, the use of far too much back story ruins the pace and bogs it down to no end. Characters are reasonably unique especially Wolfstein due to her early days in the porn business. What appears as a momentum builder midway through, falls flat when three women and a teen are being chased by a mob character. It's neither mystery or drama but somewhere in between though I felt it was mediocre.… (mere)

Shoot the Moonlight Out, the new thriller by William Boyle, starts in 1996 with a tragedy that plays out in the main events of the book that take place in 2001.

The book is dense with plot and characters who have individual personalities but are all shady, shabby, or broken in some way. The setting is as much a character as the people. It’s south Brooklyn the day before yesterday, so there is a grey haze of gritty nostalgia over the whole thing. It’s clear that Boyle knows south Brooklyn down to the last crack in the sidewalk and he brings it to life for the reader.

All in all, Shoot the Moonlight Out is a gripping, character-driven crime novel, perfect for fans of urban noir.… (mere)

A mob widow thinks she has murdered one of her husband's former associates when he hits on her and she clunks him on the head with an ashtray. In a panic, she steals his car and flees to her estranged daughter's house. When her daughter refuses to let her in, her daughter's neighbor, a former porn star, takes her in. All sorts of complications ensue, worthy of a Guy Ritchie movie - the daughter's boyfriend steals from the mob and wants to take the daughter and flee, a man who the porn star conned out of a bunch of money tracks her down and wants her to marry him... ultimately the widow, the porn star, and the widow's granddaughter end up on the run together.

It's a mob thriller, so there's a lot of violence and some of it gets pretty gory. The action scenes are well-written and easy to follow.

In principle, the idea of a mob widow and a porn star, both women in their 60s, fleeing bad guys together, sounds like a lot of fun, and it is, but it also feels like Boyle is trying a little too hard. The porn star is always full of zen-like wisdom and always has the right thing to say. The widow's teenage granddaughter is obnoxiously stupid. Boyle clearly wanted to write some bad-ass women, and that's cool, but every single woman is a bad-ass and it's just too much. My eyes just about rolled out of my head when the granddaughter was rescued by a smoking, drinking, cursing nun.

This is a decent beach read if you're looking for something mindless and fun, but don't expect much else from it.… (mere)