“Rose City”: Noir crime fiction at its finest

Rose City, by Michael Pool takes readers on a stroll down the darker side of small town social structures in a journey well deserving of noir acclaim. This skillfully crafted story will keep the pages turning, as the greed and corruption of Teller County unnfolds before the readers eyes. Rose City is everything a noir novel should be. It wouldn’t surprise me to hear the name Michael Poole in noir circles more and more often once the word gets out about his superb noir style and talent.

Cole Quick escaped Teller County once and he thought it was for good. Now he’s returning, following the death of his father, and is quickly reminded of all the reasons he fled this place. When he learns of the gruesome death of his childhood friend, Jimmy, it begins to look like things haven’t really changed much at all. But, there’s more going on in Teller County than what it appears on the surface. Cole takes a walk in the underbelly of Teller County’s drug trade, and finds himself in the middle of Teller County’s social elite. There are dark things happening, corruption, power and greed are behind the heineous events that occurred in Cole’s absence, events that may include Jimmy’s murder and more. The harder he’s pushed,  the more determined Cole becomes to expose those running the show in Teller County for who and what they are, and thwart their corrupt game of greed and power… or die trying.

Cole Quick is a perfectly flawed noir hero, and Rose City is a perfectly dark noir tale. I give it five quills.

Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.