Jim Nisbet (1947–2022)

Nisbet has written more than once about the schisms in our modern society between the high tech go-go world of dot-coms and the drug- addicted losers and what happens when their paths cross. Here, he takes an unemployed Indian-American scientist whose career was ripped up by corporate downsizing and resizing and the like. He feels lost as he tries to keep up appearances, wandering into open houses in California's steroid fueled housing market. The scientist and his wife are pretty sure the neighbors quietly deal drugs. At least, they appear to only be concerned with getting stoned and working on their tans: the stoner and his ex-stripper girlfriend. This story is a bit like Breaking Bad where a buttoned down straight laced guy gets swept up into a world he barely knew about. There's a lot of stream of consciousness here and commentary on everything from chemical warfare to cable boxes to manners to 9/11. It's an odd book and it is an interesting read. It's shortcomings include the fact that the storyline isn't necessarily compelling and though the main character is drawn well, it's really hard to care about what is happening and, as a reader, you keep waiting for something more.
… (mere)

“Snitch World” is a great find. It is a kind of a Bukowski’s “Barfly” meets the tech world kind of story and is told in a somewhat slow pace that just reels the reader in bit by bit. It is a small story, not a grandiose world story, about a small-time guy in San Francisco’s North Beach, who stopped caring so long ago that he doesn’t even remember when. Klinger sometimes scrapes together enough dough to buy some drinks, often hot water with Jameson, but whatever he can afford from the well. It is better for Klinger not to have too much dough at once because it will just pour out of his pockets into the nearest barkeep’s register. He is a petty criminal, prone to sleight-of-hand, robbery, playing messenger, anything that will keep him liquefied. Its dark and dreary and rainy throughout the story. He is not too proud to ask for help or to walk away from trouble, praying that his accomplice’s won’t snitch him out.

But, San Francisco is a small city filled with many cultures and criss- crossing the same blocks as Klinger and his ilk are an army of yuppies running from one dot-com to the next and one IPO to the next. The story tells the tale of how Klinger’s path crosses with that of these yuppies. It is not exactly worlds colliding, but there is a different mood, a different pace to their lives and you begin to wonder who is more desperate, more trapped.

This is a book that is simply beautifully written, perfectly paced, and gently takes the reader into a tale of modern noir. This is worth reading. It certainly is.… (mere)

Jim Nesbit's "Lethal Injection" is an amazing tour de force of a crime thriller. His writing is rich and layered. The story moves along at breackneck speed.

It is a book that is probably unlike anything else you have ever read, beginning with an in-depth scene taking the reader step by step through the final hours of Mencken as his sentence is finally carried out. They are a frenzied, wild last few hours filled with irony, violence, and characters.
But the focus is not really on Mencken. It's Royce, Dr Royce, Dr. Death, who is the star of this show as the doctor wonders if Mencken really did it and delves into his life in an attempt to figure out the truth. This is the doctor's stunning descent into a world he could barely have imagined, a glimpse perhaps into the gates of hell.

Whose life though is crazier Mencken's or Royce's? Royce is stuck in a bitter, hateful marriage where they have to go shopping for new dishes every few months. His career is wasting away and he took on a contract no one else wanted. Is he a righteous man searching for justice or, in the end, is he just another crazed addict trapped in a world of lust and greed?

Life is a game of poker and you gotta deal with the hand you're dealt.… (mere)