A genuine Neo-noir novel?
Is Deadly Donation a genuine “Neo-noir” Novel?
Noir films flourished in the 1940s and 1950s. They were marked by dark, moody cinematography that mirrored the uncertain postwar climate -- a world that was post-atomic and in the midst of a “cold war.” Stories often centered on cynical characters enmeshed in criminal activities. Over the next seventy years, this tradition was re-invented several times, first during the Viet Nam war, and again in the 2000s.
Today’s neo-noir films and books are the descendants -- the great-grandchildren -- of classic noir fiction of the 1940s and 1950s. And like other great-grandchildren today, they have more tolerance for and familiarity with explicit portrayals of violence and sexual content.
The characters and narratives in neo-noir fiction do not play by conventional rules. They shatter our expectations of punishment and redemption, and there are no polite, pleasant, happy endings. These books reflect a deep cynicism -- at the very least, a deep distrust -- of the era in which they are written. Their protagonists grapple with moral dilemmas and institutional corruption all around them. There are no clear-cut heroes or heroines and no clear victories. Life is always on the edge, and the battle with evil is ongoing.
Neo-noir works -- whether films, novels, or short stories -- portray deeply flawed and morally ambiguous characters. Many of the characters, and sometimes, even the protagonists, are driven by greed, lust, jealousy, and alienation. Many find themselves in a downward spiral, with their plans and schemes consistently failing. Consumed by their intense desires, they resort to lying, stealing, cheating, and even murder. Increasingly they are trapped in a web they cannot escape.
Many neo-noir works include:
A femme fatale: Equal parts seductive and disastrous, the femme fatale character lures a protagonist to (conventionally) his doom.
Empathic antiheroes: Make readers cheer for someone who very well may be the bad guy—cynical antiheroes abound.
Vivid cinematography: Highly stylized prose hammers in a sense of intrigue and unease. It is often calmly understated to heighten the drama.
Twists and turns: An ominous, anxiety-ridden atmosphere includes lots of twists and turns, giving the reader/viewer vertigo.
Paranoia: A sense of paranoia and unease. Flashbacks, memory loss, and a lack of trust in community all add to conspiratorial thinking.
Self-reflexivity: neo-noir works refer back to traditional classics while simultaneously updating them to a contemporary era.
So, is Deadly Donation a true neo-noir novel? Let’s look at the leading traits of these novels once again:
The femme fatale: If there is a femme fatale in Deadly Donation, it’s Trish McCormack, the murder victim’s glamorous personal assistant. But unlike the typical femme fatale, Trish is more than merely beautiful and sexy. She’s also polite, smart, and accomplished. Those qualities make her even more dangerous than almost anyone you can imagine.
Empathic antiheroes: Is Rachel Tile, the protagonist and narrator of Deadly Donation a cynical anti-hero? She’s increasingly cynical, and certainly not a hero in the traditional mold. She’s almost destroying herself with alcohol when we first meet her. Decide about Rachel for yourself.
Vivid style: Highly stylized prose is used to hammer in a sense of intrigue and unease. Sure, I think that’s present in Deadly Donation. Rachel’s near stream of consciousness -- also, her highly unreliable narration -- lends the story a giddy quality. You’ll begin to wonder what’s really going on, and why.
Twists and turns: Yes, there’s lots of twists and turns in Deadly Donation and I defy readers to guess the ending. It’s not just Rachel who gets turned around in this book; almost everyone (except perhaps gangster Gene Tretnikov) goes on a ‘high-speed car chase’ in this book. Lots of stuff gets broken!
Paranoia: Flashbacks, memory loss, and a lack of trust produce a sense of paranoia and unease. Gosh, maybe I’d better not admit this. It might scare off faint-hearted readers. But the fact is, Deadly Donation is not a feel-good story. You might want to read a comfy Rom-Com after reading Deadly Donation -- as a chaser.
Self-reflexivity: I’m not sure about this one. Deadly Donation doesn’t really “critique any archetypes” so far as I know. There are no extra-terrestrial characters, no spells cast or magical trances, and no one -- not even the nearly omnipotent Michael Coale -- comes back from the dead. But it might revive your taste for the classic noir works of Dashiell Hammett and James L. Cain.
