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"Waiwaiole's Wiley series, starring a Portland, Oregon, poker player and part-time detective, is nothing if not dark, but in this stand-alone thriller [Dark Paradise] set on Hawaii's Big Island, the author pulls the blackout curtains all the way down. Cop novels are rarely true noir, but this is not an ordinary cop novel. Geronimo 'Gee' Souza is a cop, yes, but the way his life is falling down around his ankles (wife problems, girlfriend problems, gambling problems), he seems more like the doomed hero in a David Goodis novel. And that's before he gets caught in the middle of a meth war between native islanders (all childhood pals), Mexicans representing a cartel, and the Japanese Mob. Meanwhile, an old-beyond-her-years teenager is plotting revenge against her seriously abusive father, until she too, becomes a pawn in the drug war (or so it seems at first). Waiwaiole has an Elmore Leonard touch with his lowlifes, injecting plenty of pop culture and humanizing quirks, but these guys never seem unrealistically lovable the way Leonard's rogues sometimes do. They're more like the cut-to-the-bone characters in a Daniel Woodrell novel, or even early Pelecanos...loose cannons careening about a confined space: it's big, but it's still an island, and in the end, there's no place to run. Noir fans need to know about Waiwaiole right now. He's the real thing, and he's too good to miss."
"Set on Hawaii's Big Island, this fast-moving stand-alone [Dark Paradise]... focuses on the battles over who will control the island's lucrative drug trade. In the middle of the muddle is criminal investigator Geronimo Souza, who simply wants to keep the collateral damage to a minimum. ... Geronimo's heroic attempts to control the chaos grow increasingly desperate. Violent and profane, this noir exercise draws a devastating picture of drug-induced carnage, though readers should be prepared for plenty of island patois (e.g., 'What da kine I fockin' wen tell you fo' watch?')."
"Waiwaiole has been praised for his mastery of the detective noir genre, but he does more here [Wiley's Refrain] than channel Raymond Chandler. He respects the conventions of the genre but makes it more believable by making his main character more nuanced. ... I found all three Wiley books intelligent, satisfying, engrossing reads of the kind that are welcome on a rainy Sunday when all you want to do is curl up and go somewhere else in your mind."
"Neo-noir spoken here, even more fluently than in Wiley's striking debut. ... When a friend calls and says she's in trouble, it's meat and drink for Wiley, the quintessential noir anti-hero (dark demeanor, heart of gold). He drops everything to go to her aid. ... Dookie, her malevolent pimp, ...is a true monster, maybe the most unregenerate, over-the-top baddie in recent crime fiction. ... Wiley does it all: He shuffles, deals, and scores impressively. We may be watching the emergence of a major talent."
"Lono Waiwaiole's Wiley novels are the past and the future of hardboiled crime fiction rolled up together inside prose that's as cold and as shiny as the city streets--but there's hope and redemption there too, glinting like the morning sun on wet pavement. Buy this book."
"Prose so sharp you can't even feel the cut, scalpel-like in its precision, and driving to the heart by way of the gut. Lono Waiwaiole is that rarest of writers--brutally honest, unflinchingly brave, and not about to take no for an answer. Wiley's Shuffle will grab you by the neck and yank you forward, all the while capturing your heart with a pickpocket's touch. Neither Wiley, nor Waiwaiole, are to be missed!"
"A dark, disturbing and wickedly funny tale of crime, depravity and redemption on the mean streets of Portland, Oregon. Lono Waiwaiole writes prose so sharp, your fingers will bleed as you turn the pages. Crime stories don't get any darker, or more briskly entertaining, than this. Wiley's Shuffle puts Waiwaiole in the same league as Elroy, Leonard, and Lehane...and gives them good reason to start looking over their shoulders. If this book was any darker, the pages would be pitch black."
"In the tradition of the best noir writers, Lono Waiwaiole offers spare hard-hitting prose, eminently believable characters, and a story that rips along at a ferocious pace. Wiley's Shuffle is the real deal."
"From beginning to end, Wiley's Lament is impressively written. Its opening sentence is to die for. ... And there are many more examples where Waiwaiole chooses exactly the right phrase for the right occasion to capture the bleakness and gritty atmosphere that permeates both Wiley's life and this entire novel. ... Lono Waiwaiole may be the newest member of the Class of Noir, but it's my bet he'll be sticking around when other classmates are forgotten."
"...a furiously paced tale that chews through some of [Portland's] most economically and spiritually destitute residents while offering glimmers of redemption among the losses...."
"...impressively dark and dangerous first mystery...(with) the kind of writing that tears at the heart."
"First-time novelist Waiwaiole writes like a seasoned pro. He delivers this noir tale with crackling dialogue, riveting, often poetic insight into human character, and a brutal poignancy that leaves the reader praying for the redemption of felonious Wiley, the battered 'bad guy' who thinks deep, moves fast, and takes no prisoners. More novels, please, from Lono Waiwaiole!"
"Hard-hitting, down-and-dirty prose characterizes this first novel, set largely in the dirtier side of Portland, Oregon. A safe bet."
"Noir afficianados will embrace [Wiley's Lament], a somber, violent tale of loss and redemption."
"Melancholic, existentially adrift, and as solitary as Crusoe before the advent of Friday, Wiley's in a bad way. A creditable debut by a writer who speaks fluent noir." |