Roachkiller - Post-modern Noir with a touch of Dystopia

Roachkiller and Other Stories by R. Narvaez
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As more and more noir creeps into my own writing, I have decided to explore some of the classic, best, and brand new voices in the genre.
I think it is common to compare newer writers to the classic ones by creating some sort of mathematical formula. One part Hammett, add two parts Ellroy and a touch of Leonard and stir - that sort of thing.

After reading R. Narvaez's story collection, I have a hard time coming up with such a formula - the work is very fresh, inventive, full of touches of humour, brooding violence, suspense, and damn if he doesn't sneak some satire in there. Basically, this guy is the real deal - and sure, he has shades of lots of writers in the genre, from Pelecanos to Dick, as in Philip K. Wait - that sci-fi guy? Yeah, that one.

The first chunk of stories start on the streets of Brooklyn, with a pregnant numbers running housewife, and move down into Puerto Rico with the superb Juracan - a Maltese Falconesque story that is in the running for best of the collection (if there were not so damn many good ones). Later in the collection, the stories jump into the near future for some dystopian hard-boiled tales that bring up memories of Bladerunner, Oryx and Crake, and somehow even A Canticle For Leibowitz.

Now, to be clear, I only came up with these comparisons when I started this review - in the midst of the stories, I was too lost in the characters. The problem with a lot of s.s. collections is you finish a story, where you were committed to the characters, and then another one starts up while you are still thinking of the previous ones. I kind of think this is why people don't read a lot of short stories. The jump cuts, and compression of the narrative is hard on the brain - and often, the stories are uneven. What amazed me about Narvaez's writing, story after story he came up with compelling characters that hooked me from the first page.

Sometimes he did it with an interesting POV - as in the title story. Roachkiller is in first person, but the lead character (recently released con and hired killer), refers to himself in the third person.
"Roachkiller knows what you're thinking. But there was a time Roachkiller would have killed a man for a six-pack."

I found myself in Roachkiller's head, and soon after, in the head of Bianco a truck driver stuck in the middle of a badly planned heist (Santa's Little Helper). I also loved the diversity in the stories - Unsynchronicity and Ibarra Goes Down are shaggy dog noirs that play with the idea of when bad things happen to good people (which so often happens in noir). I have to admit in delighting in watching these characters spiral downward.

I had to shave a star - but really it is half a star - for some of the endings. They do leave you hanging at times, not a lot of resolution. But for what they lack in closure, they gain in resonance. These people stay with me. Small beautiful scenes that makes me want to read the collection again (and I plan to).

The closing stories with the Philp K. Dick vibe might seem out of place within the collection. I am guessing there could be another collection with just these stories. It was a risk to push the genre into sci-fi dystopia here - but I think it works. In fact, Rough Night in Toronto, might be the best story - a clever satire of men trying to live with (or under) machines that not only have AI, but basically run the earth. At one point a character is on an "integrated train" across from a pair of robots (known as "arties")

"The male had a copper mohawk and a huge scarf wrapped around his neck. The female had long, copper metal tresses and had spray-painted her face pink. Liberal hipster arties. The worst."

I laughed out loud.

The final aptly titled story, Zinger, has a convict on the electric chair at the throwing of the switch suddenly swapping bodies with an innocent single dad who happens to be a comedian. I finished the book, and thought, holy crap, the guy does George Saunders, too.

One of my favorite reads in a while. Highly recommended reading for noir fans, and P.K. Dick fans alike. Definitely a writer to watch.

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