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A review by citizen_noir
The Churchgoer by Patrick Coleman
5.0
Usually I can tell whether I like a book or not by the length of time it takes me to read it. If I like it, it’ll go fast. If I love it, it’ll go even faster; an intense feeding that happens at all hours of the day and night. But with THE CHURCHGOER, the spectacular debut novel by Patrick Coleman, I purposefully slowed down, savoring not just the elegantly paced plot, but every morsel of Coleman’s sentence structure and word choice.
Coleman is an interesting writer. His work has appeared in literary journals and a book of poetry even won a prize in 2015. As a lover of crime noir, I love that his debut novel is set as a surf noir.
Believe it or not, surf noir is a scintillating sub genre of mystery fiction. Amidst the stacks of crime sub genres, besotted with everything from cat detectives
to run of the mill hard boiled dicks, rides a glorious wave of surf noir. Have you read (or even heard of) TAPPING THE SOURCE or THE DOGS OF WINTER by Kem Nunn? How about CUTTER AND BONE, TO DIE IN LA or DREAMLAND by Newton Thornburg? More recently how about Don Winslow’s THE DAWN PATROL, THE GENTLEMAN’S HOUR, SAVAGES, and THE WINTER OF FRANKIE MACHINE? Or, if you’re into nonfiction, the Pulitzer Prize winning BARBARIAN DAYS by William Finnegan?
You can’t miss with any of these books, and that includes Coleman’s debut about Mark Haines, a former evangelical youth pastor who abandons his wife, his daughter, and his beliefs. If you’re looking for a great novel - not just a mystery, but a spectacular, well-written novel - look no further than this book. Oh yeah, those other books are really great, too.
Coleman is an interesting writer. His work has appeared in literary journals and a book of poetry even won a prize in 2015. As a lover of crime noir, I love that his debut novel is set as a surf noir.
Believe it or not, surf noir is a scintillating sub genre of mystery fiction. Amidst the stacks of crime sub genres, besotted with everything from cat detectives
to run of the mill hard boiled dicks, rides a glorious wave of surf noir. Have you read (or even heard of) TAPPING THE SOURCE or THE DOGS OF WINTER by Kem Nunn? How about CUTTER AND BONE, TO DIE IN LA or DREAMLAND by Newton Thornburg? More recently how about Don Winslow’s THE DAWN PATROL, THE GENTLEMAN’S HOUR, SAVAGES, and THE WINTER OF FRANKIE MACHINE? Or, if you’re into nonfiction, the Pulitzer Prize winning BARBARIAN DAYS by William Finnegan?
You can’t miss with any of these books, and that includes Coleman’s debut about Mark Haines, a former evangelical youth pastor who abandons his wife, his daughter, and his beliefs. If you’re looking for a great novel - not just a mystery, but a spectacular, well-written novel - look no further than this book. Oh yeah, those other books are really great, too.