nobody move: a novel
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From the National Book Awardâwinning, bestselling author of Tree of Smoke comes a provocative thriller set in the American West. Nobody Move, which first appeared in the pages of Playboy, is the story of an assortment of lowlifes in Bakersfield, California, and their cat-and-mouse game over $2.3 million. Touched by echoes of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, Nobody Move is at once an homage to and a variation on literary form. It salutes one of our most enduring and popular genresâthe American crime novelâbut with a grisly humor and outrageousness that are Denis Johnsonâs own. Sexy, suspenseful, and above all entertaining, Nobody Move shows one of our greatest novelists at his versatile best.
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– ISBN13: 9780374222901
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2009-12-09
By Noddy (New York)
What Gene and Dean Ween are to rock music Denis Johnson is to crime writing. Hell, make that just writing, period. The man is an uncommonly fine scribbler any way you slice him. I’ve read Nobody Move literally about seven or eight times now, in serial form you understand, and honestly think the guy a miracle of farking nature. That’s why I got myself Nobody Move in book form too–reading Playboy on the subway is something of a faux pas apparently. Right at the end of page four, for instance–the actual second page of this stupendously funny and entertaining story–Johnson types up the following short description of Jimmy Luntz:
“A shave, a haircut, a tuxedo. He was practically Monte Carlo.”
Hysterical. A little later when Anita sees Jimmy toss his gun into the river, Johnson notes the following about the gambling warbler:
“A slouchy guy, a skinny guy. He wasn’t wearing a Hawaiian shirt at the moment but undoubtedly possessed several.”
Or what about the bookie’s collector and shooting victim Ernest Gambol? This dude with the impossibly large head is lounging in Mary’s gaff after that laugh-your-pants-off phone call from Juarez, just sitting there staring into space with his wounded leg out on the ottoman, and here is what Johnson has to say:
“His brow looked even heavier than usual. He kept his lips clamped together. It didn’t seem possible, but maybe he was thinking.”
See, this is exactly why I’m reading for the umpteenth time this nifty and explosive little noir. Some folks complain about the seemingly abrupt and inconclusive ending but for me the only problem with the ending was that it was in fact the end and I didn’t have any more of Johnson’s scintillating prose poetry to feast on. Let’s hope some dope doesn’t get the bright idea of turning this pitch-perfect novel into a movie–some books are just too dang good for the routine blandishments of the silver screen.
2009-11-19
By Kyle Slayzar (Bismarck, ND)
There is something to be said of protagonists of a story that people either cannot relate to or simply do not care for. Anti-heroes are one thing, but when combined with personalities that make them anything but likable makes the story really difficult to follow as you cannot bond with the characters. Nobody Move!, a crime novel by Dennis Johnson, falls into this trap with two protagonists, Jimmy Luntz and Anita, two people on the run together as they met drunkenly at a local bar to which they fall for each other, copulate, and scheme together.
Jimmy is a gambler that is running from a bookie, whose enforcer he shot, and is a true scoundrel but without the Han Solo sexiness. In fact, he’s a complete jerk, someone you wouldn’t mind seeing disappear instead of being the main “hero” of the story. He isn’t even likable. Even Bernie Laplante in the 1992 film Hero (portrayed by Dustin Hoffman) was likable in his antics and attitude; Luntz is just an (three letter expletive deleted). Anita is the only character that is remotely likable as she is the victim of blackmail by her former husband, a district attorney. However, her character quickly becomes unlikable as she also becomes the same three-letter expletive deleted word as Luntz when she engages in crime, sex, drinking, and goes on rants about how degrading it is to shop at JC Penny. Great, now she’s a pompous, arrogant three-letter expletive deleted name.
To make matters worse, it seems as though the whole plot centers around booze, sex, and more f-bombs than a Lil’ John music video. I am not, at all, a prude, but I think there’s a point where such themes contaminate the theme and overall flow of the story by becoming more dominant than the plot itself.
The only redeeming factor in Nobody Move! is that Will Patton narrates. The guy was awesome in Copy Cat and The Postman (probably the only redeeming quality in that film) and does an excellent job in narrating Nobody Move!
All in all, I would recommend John Grisham novels if you want to be moved by mystery.
2009-11-18
By Rhonda Roberts (Orlando, Florida)
Short and sweet, you can breeze through the whole thing in a little more than five hours. Perfect for an extended trip or a week of commutes.
The story is hard to follow. The narrative jumps from character to character; you are never sure who is telling the truth, or if there is one. When Luntz was introduced as a member of a Barber Shop Quartet, I immediately suspected everything afterward was an alcohol fueled fantasy taking place inside his mind. Without revealing whether it was or not I can tell you it doesn’t matter. Keeping your attention fixed on the story is much harder than staying with the plot.
The magic shining jewel in all this is the narrator: Will Patton. He reminds me of a very nasty 1990s Robbie Robertson (for research, consult ‘Robbie Robertson’. It doesn’t matter what the story does – all you want to do is listen to him. His sensual, threadbare voice does what the story does not: takes you to another place – a very dirty place full of sex, sin and dreams.
Will Patton is the only reason I would recommend this. I believe he could read the ingredients off a Burger King wrapper and make it sound like Julia Child’s best Boeuf Bourgogne.
2009-10-20
By Richard A. Mitchell (candia, new hampshire United States)
There is virtually nothing to recommend this book except it is mercifully short. There is no character development and the plot, as thin as it is, is far-fetched. Lots of blood and core and amateurs shooting pros fill the 196 pages.
One of the leading characters, Luntz, is a loser of a gambler who owes big money. He shoots Gambol, the enforcer, in the leg. Being an amateur, he does not finish him off, so of course, Gambol survives to chase him down. At the same time, the beautiful damsel, Anita, about to plead guilty to embezzling $2.3 million, links up with Luntz for no accountable reason. The prosecutor and the judge have the money she embezzled, so of course, everyone joins forces to get it back. What few plot twists and turns that do occur all happen in the last twenty to thirty pages. They are too late and too feeble to save the book.
There was potential at the outset, with Luntz a possible loveable loser of a schmuck gambler and Anita a clever conniver. But the potential is frittered away.
I was not sure while reading this whether the book was an attempt to do a noir modernization of Hammett or a spoof of the genre. Either way it did not work for me. I found it lacking in either attempt. I would skip this one and, next time, I will not pick a book by the award the author won for a prior novel.
2009-10-18
By Bennet Pomerantz (Seabrook, Maryland)
The style is called Crime Noir. With authors like Spillance, Collins, Hammett, Cain and Gorman. It is the darker side of detective fiction. It is a complex puzzle that builds to a finally that twists and tuens.
A man who owes a large sum of money to a small time crime boss. The boss sends an agent to collect. The man shoots the hood, steals his car and leaves him for dead…but the collector didnt die. Now this formula thriller becomes a high stakes game of Cat and mouse. Murder, blackmail and triple crosses fill these CDS..you will be hooked
This audio production recanted by narrator Will Patton is a dark place where life’s low lives act and react. If you want a major thriller that builds and intrigues, you found it here. It is worth listening to!
Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD
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