{"product_id":"new-jersey-noir-the-jack-colt-murder-mystery-novels-book-one-paperback","title":"New Jersey Noir: The Jack Colt Murder Mystery Novels, Book One - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eWilliam Baer\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn the bridge over Paterson's Great Falls, a retired state trooper is murdered by a girl in a grammar school uniform. The victim was the beloved uncle of Jack Colt, a private investigator descended from the inventor of the revolver. While investigating his uncle's murder, Colt realizes that it is intertwined with two other cases of his. These involve the family secrets of extremely powerful New Jersey figures, including the governor, a judge, and a mob boss.\u003cbr\u003e In \u003cem\u003eNew Jersey Noir, \u003c\/em\u003e William Baer reinvigorates the detective genre while exploring the Garden State's rich cultural history, glamor, and gore. Baer's novel is fast-paced and utterly gripping, brimming with intrigue and suspense.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePRAISE FOR\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNEW JERSEY NOIR: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAn accomplished poet, playwright, and short-story writer, William Baer has turned to crime, creating a brilliant debut novel, the hard-boiled whodunit \u003cem\u003eNew Jersey Noir.\u003c\/em\u003e If you're looking for classic noir elements, you'll find them here, in spades. And you'll find fine literary elements here, as well: precise prose, perfect pacing, stunning imagery, complex characterization, grand historical and cultural contexts, and a superb sense of place. More than anything else, \u003cem\u003eNew Jersey Noir\u003c\/em\u003e is a loving tribute to the Garden State by a writer who appreciates its grime as much as its glory.\u003cbr\u003e - Hollis Seamon (Jersey girl, born and raised), author of \u003cem\u003eSomebody Up There Hates You\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNot since Donna Tartt's \u003cem\u003eThe Secret History\u003c\/em\u003e have I read a novel as mesmerizing, engrossing, and delectable as William Baer's \u003cem\u003eNew Jersey Noir-\u003c\/em\u003ea book so compelling that I was forced to drop everything and commit myself for several hours to experiencing, vicariously, the strange and haunted darkness that is the shadow world of this novel. In prose as fast-moving as a bullet, Baer compels the reader to keep flipping pages more and more rapidly. Baer's writing is taut and gut-wrenching. \u003cem\u003eNew Jersey Noir\u003c\/em\u003e and Baer's talent presage a brilliant career for this wonderfully gifted writer.\u003cbr\u003e - Terri Brown-Davidson, author of \u003cem\u003eMarie, Marie, Hold On Tight\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eJack Colt, the private investigator in William Baer's \u003cem\u003eNew Jersey Noir, \u003c\/em\u003e romances the genre to the suspenseful effect that JJ \"Jake\" Gittes achieves in Roman Polanski's acclaimed \u003cem\u003eChinatown.\u003c\/em\u003e In place of technicolor LA, however, Baer evokes a cinematic chiaroscuro New Jersey, specifically Paterson, its history and politics limned over a baseline of Springsteen, doo-wop, and Whitney Houston. In the early pages of this compelling mystery when Colt muses that his fellow detective, Luca Salerno, \"was tough all right, but not tough enough to look into the heart of darkness,\" the allusion to Joseph Conrad alerts us that we are in for a more trenchant narrative than a gumshoe and dames thriller. Baer fulfills by deftly executing the universal themes of incest, adultery, madness, and undisguised evil rising out of the swamps of the Meadowlands and beyond.\u003cbr\u003e - Dennis Must, author of \u003cem\u003eHush Now, Don't Explain\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABOUT THE AUTHOR: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWilliam Baer\u003c\/strong\u003e, a recent Guggenheim fellow, is the author of twenty-two books including \u003cem\u003eTimes Square and Other Stories, Classic American Films, Luís de Camões: Selected Sonnets, \u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Unfortunates\u003c\/em\u003e (recipient of the T. S. Eliot Award). A former Fulbright in Portugal, he's also received the Jack Nicholson Screenwriting Award and a Creative Writing Fellowship in fiction from the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information, visit him at williambaer.net.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 266\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.6 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e February 26, 2018\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53398427304301,"sku":"9781927409824","price":31.79,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1001\/0823\/9213\/files\/Y3hDQnY4OWhBeGYwNWxPbVAzVk5hdz09.webp?v=1780394157","url":"https:\/\/cleanfreaklab.myshopify.com\/products\/new-jersey-noir-the-jack-colt-murder-mystery-novels-book-one-paperback","provider":"Clean Freak Lab","version":"1.0","type":"link"}