Country: USA
Genre: Noir
Pages: 290/445 kb
Synopsis:
Phineas Poe's a private eye and an all-around tough guy. He also used to be a cop. One godforsaken night, he follows a good looking girl into a motel room, has wild sex with her and wakes up in a bathtub filled with ice, without a kidney. At first, Phineas pursues his attacker, but when he finds her, things are not as easy as they should be. Jude is a very seducing girl, just seducing enough to drag Phineas away from his demons for a moment.
Do you want to be famous?
No.
There's something wrong with you, she says.
I know what you're thinking. I know, because I have thought the same thing when reading the premise of KISS ME, JUDAS. Really, this is supposed to be interesting? I know how this sounds. Old, cliché, tired. But the premise is about the only cliché this novel is guilty of. KISS ME, JUDAS is considered a cornerstone novel of the noir genre, and it was self-evident to me after two or three paragraphs. Why? Very simple question. It's been written by one of the most creative and talented people to ever tackle the genre. It's a book that lives and dies by its prose and Will Christopher Baer writes better than most. By that I mean most people I have read. In my life.
Baer made two bold choices that make his prose so spectacular. First, it's written in the present tense. There's a literary debate going whether to use past of present tense in a novel and KISS ME, JUDAS is a terrific argument for the latter. It gives a sense of urgency and an unpredictable edge to the narration. Also, Bear uses the "Cormac McCarthy" style of punctuationless dialogue. Add the lean, hardboiled style and you get an explosive mix. It also gives the text somewhat of a mournful serenity, really stresses the alarming psychological state Phineas Poe seems to be dwelling in for quite some time. That very stylistic choice echoes into the storyline as Phineas' emotional state is gradually revealed. Those two decisions that are purely aesthetic on the surface, have profound and complex reverberations into the narrative. It's quite fascinating to read.
On a storytelling aspect, I thought there were upsides and downsides to KISS ME, JUDAS. The opening is spectacular. Sucked me in, made me a helpless spectator to Phineas Poe's drama. Literally, I felt like I stood in the room next to him, like a ghost, when he called 911 after waking up without his kidney. The rage and the sadness of Phineas got to me, also. His bathroom confrontation with Pooh at the beginning was great. But from the point where he finds Jude, the story shifts its focus and loses some of the momentum it gathered. It becomes a lot more intimate. Phineas hopelessly falls in love with Jude and this fact sweeps his demons into the limelight. Readers discover he's a widower. He was married to a beautiful woman named Lucy, who was ill with Leukemia. Baer goes deep into his protagonist's demons, fears and weaknesses, which is a drastic cut with what he established at the start. It's not bad per se, just an odd choice.
I crouch beside her bed and stumble through the only prayer I know: now I lay me down to sleep and pray the Lord my soul to keep. It's a appropriate, I think. And still I feel worthless. I want to comfort her, to chase her fears into the snow. But sympathy is buried in me, like a stone in the belly of a goat. And the goat is the rare animal that will eat garbage. I hold her hand until she falls asleep, then steal fifty dollars from her purse.
KISS ME, JUDAS is a cornerstone noir novel. But really, it's just a great novel. Everybody can appreciate the poetry of Will Christopher Baer and the crafty deconstruction of the private eye prototype. It's an absolute feast for the mind. I thought it didn't quite live up to the expectations it created at the start, but it's nonetheless way above average. KISS ME, JUDAS is the first volume of a trilogy, which I now intend to read. The last we heard of Will Christopher Baer, he had a novel coming out called GODSPEED. It was in 2007 and I don't think it has hit the market yet. I investigated on that and I had the confirmation that Baer is not dead or ill, so there's still hope. In the meantime, get yourself some Phineas Poe. They're difficult books to track down, but it's worth the effort.
FOUR STARS