Point Blank: Hardboiled, Noir, & Detective Fiction

Blankers!    Find your sun hat, stab that beach umbrella into the sand, and break out the Banana Boat -- this is Five Round Reviews: Summer Edition.   We have 13 short reviews for you--from Jim Harrison & Dorothy B. Hughes to David Heska Wanbli Weiden & Nick Kolakowski. (See the full list below.) Get in touch with the show: Email: pointblanknoir@gmail.com   Twitter: @pointblanknoir   Facebook: Poi...

Throw on your white blazer, power up the speed boat, and cut yourself a line. We're head to '80's  Miami for Charles Willeford's 'Miami Blues."  In what can only be described as a "weird and unsettling novel," we join Hoke Moseley, Frederick J. Frenger Jr, and Susan Waggoner for a bizarre tale of Floridian crime. Get in touch with the show: pointblanknoir@gmail.com Find us on Facebook: https://www...

Blankers! Zip up your windbreakers and don't forget change for the highway tolls — in Episode 58 we head to Chicago to wrap our heads around Chicago Noir. We talk about Chicago as a city for noir, and we look at crime fiction by Nelson Algren, Howard Browne, Frederic Brown, Sara Paretsky, Michael Harvey, Danny Gardner, Bob Hartley, & more. Italian beef, tavern cut pizza, Old Style, Malort, murder....

We promised an episode on The Expendable Man, but we just couldn't contain ourselves to one book by Dorothy B Hughes! We discuss these two masterpieces of crime fiction, sharing why we find Hughes' work so compelling.  We'd love to hear from you: Email: pointblanknoir@gmail.com Facebook: Point Blank: Hardboiled, Noir, and Detective Fiction Join Our Facebook Group: Here  

In Episode 57, we review the hell out of nearly a dozen books, + a couple films! We review: Run Man Run by Chester Himes Plan B by Chester Himes Darktown by Thomas Mullen The Man with the Getaway Face by Richard Stark If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned by Walter Mosley M. Ravenel's The Arrangement Champagne Cowboys by Leo W. Banks Freebooters : A Novel...

Buckle your seat belts! This is going to be a wild ride!  We take a deep dive into "Blacktop Wasteland" by SA Cosby, a novel we both describe as a modern classic.  Cosby takes us on a journey through the rural hills of Virginia for an exhilarating, timely work that highlights everything modern noir crime fiction has to offer.    Get in touch with the show: pointblanknoir@gmail.com Find us on Faceb...

In Episode 45, we revisit to one of the masters of hardboiled detective crime fiction, Raymond Chandler, and his acclaimed second novel, Farewell, My Lovely. Damn, this book is boozy. (And racist!) But also rich with memorable secondary characters (Moose Malloy & Jessie Florian) & Marloweian one-liners. It's a classic example of hardboiled detective fiction that finds Chandler at his most Chandler...

We follow up our discussion of Spy Fiction from E52 with more in-depth reviews of books we read for the show. Books covered: 'A Coffin for Dimitrios' by Eric Ambler 'The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare' by GK Chesterton 'Moonraker' by Ian Fleming 'Spies of the Balkans' and 'Red Gold' by Alan Furst 'The Spy In the Ointment' by Donald Westlake 'The Quiet American' by Graham Greene 'Agent Running i...

From the shadows, we emerge to discuss the huge topic of spy fiction. We look at this genre in broad strokes, covering nearly a century of spy novels. I'm sure we've missed a lot, so if you have books we should have covered, get in touch.  Please find us on Facebook at Point Blank: Hardboiled, Noir, and Detective Fiction. Join our Facebook Group or find the Point Blank group on GoodReads. Send us...

Enjoy this mini-episode review of the 2011 film adaptation of John Le Carré's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Our last episode of 2020. We'll see you next year with a fully rendered episode dedicated to spy fiction.

Hello Blankers! In this episode we celebrate our semicentennial by regaling you with memories of our first three years & by answering tough questions about personal favorite (and least favorite) novels, authors, characters, and settings from the first 50 episodes. 

We made it to 50! In this golden anniversary of a show we return to the gritty, noir world of Jim Thompson with "Pop. 1280." It's another take on the corrupt sheriff that Thompson writes so well. Which character is more menacing; Lou Ford or Nick Corey? Which is the better novel? Tune in to find out. Get in touch with the show: Twitter:  @pointblanknoir Facebook:  Point Blank: Hardboiled, Noir, an...

In Episode 49, we dive deep into Attica Locke's contemporary soon-to-be classic Bluebird, Bluebird.  Justin reviews the western noir film Blood on the Moon, and we go five rounds in Five Round Burst. Get in touch with the show: Twitter:  @pointblanknoir Facebook:  Point Blank: Hardboiled, Noir, and Detective Fiction Itunes:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/point-blank-hardboiled-noir-detecti...

In Episode 48, we introduce Attica Locke's contemporary rural noir soon-to-be classic, Bluebird, Bluebird.  We look more closely at rural noir -- what it is and who the major players are -- in Subject Unknown and take a close look at Chris McGinley's beautiful & disturbing short story collection, Coal Black. Finally, Kurt offers us up a Forgotten Classic, and we talk a bit about Attica Locke's ear...

Hi Blankers!  This is our second of two episodes dedicated to Hawaiian Noir.  Our deep dive is the short, gritty Yakudoshi: Age of Calamity by Chris McKinney, an under-heralded Hawaiian author who should be getting far more attention than he does. We also feature a review of Scott Kikkawa's first novel, Kona Winds,  a historical detective story set in 1950s Honolulu we both enjoyed.  Get in touch...

Welcome to episode 46! We head out into the Pacific for a look at Hawaiian Noir.  For our featured book this time we focus on "For a Song" by Rodney Morales a classic detective tale with a lot of local flavor. In Subject Unknown and 5 Round Burst we focus on more reasons to enjoy Hawaiian Noir. This is part 1 of a 2 part look at the crime fiction of the islands. Get in touch with the show: pointbl...

In Episode 45 we do a deep dive of Richard Stark's The Hunter. Did we like it? Yes, but. . .  Also in this episode, Justin discusses two classic noir films in Cinema Spotlight, and we get back to basics in Five Round Burst. Get in touch with the show: pointblanknoir@gmail.com Twitter:  @pointblanknoir Facebook:  Point Blank: Hardboiled, Noir, and Detective Fiction Itunes:  https://podcasts.apple.c...

Hey, Blankers! In Episode 44 we introduce Richard Stark's The Hunter, featuring the antihero of antiheroes, no-sense thief & miscreant Parker. Wrong Parker once, and you best watch your back.  Also in this episode, Kurt shares a Forgotten Classic, Nightmare Alley, we chat about Crime Fiction in the age of Pandemic, & we learn a bit about prolific-as-hell Donald Westlake.  Get in Touch! Join our Go...

Greetings Blankers! In Episode 43, we dive deep into Philip K Dick's sci-fi-noir classic, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? In Forgotten Classics, Kurt puts Home is the Sailor by Day Keene to the test.  We also review 5 books in 5 minutes during 5 Round Burst. Get in Touch! Join our Goodreads Group Visit our Patreon Email Us Facebook Twitter Don't forget to rate us on Apple Podcasts and share t...

Hello Blankers! Here is another short episode for these very difficult times. I (Kurt) am on my own this time looking at two classic noir era films which cover pandemics. "Panic in the Streets" and "The Killer That Stalked New York" are both from 1950 and feature some interesting noir takes on the issue. I enjoyed watching them and I hope you gain something from them as well.  Wash your hands and...

Greetings Blankers! In Episode 42, don your jet packs because we are going "back to the future" with our introduction to Philip K Dick's sci-fi-noir classic Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?   In Subject Unknown, we discuss Neo-Noir, particularly Sci-Fi Noir. For our Featured Review, we spend time with Dan Stout's terrific Titanshade , and Kurt also sheds light on Philip K. Dick: was he a paran...

Hello Point Blank Listeners. Odds are you are under some type of stay at home order or doing some sort of social distancing. We've got you covered with a mini-episode. We both watched "Riot in Cell Block 11." It's a classic prison noir film that we both enjoyed. We talk about the film without any major spoilers, and it's pretty easy to find online for free viewing. Enjoy!

Welcome to Point Blank! This time around we share another round of Coca-Cola with Paco Ignacio Taibo II as we take a deep dive into An Easy Thing. We both loved this book and can't stop talking about it. In Cinema Spotlight, we still can't get away from Paco as we look at a documentary based on Paco's Che biography. It just happens to be hosted by Paco as well! In 5 Round Burst we look at fiction...

Welcome to Point Blank! Grab your Coke and cigarettes (It's the fuel for both our writer and our detective this episode.) and join us for a discussion of "An Easy Thing" by Paco Ignacio Taibo II. I think we are both in love with Paco's writing and he's a pretty interesting person as well. We'll introduce his work and his life as well as have a discussion about Mexican Noir.  Will this episode reve...

Welcome to Point Blank! We return to Sao Paulo, diving deep into Leighton Gage's Blood of the WIcked, the first Chief Inspector Mario Silva investigation. We'll also reflect on City of God (2003), a Brazilian crime film that both of us agree is a modern classic, and we give you five Brazilian crime fiction hard hitters in Five Round Burst.  Get in touch with the show: pointblanknoir@gmail.com Twit...