{"id":10135,"date":"2024-03-20T21:33:43","date_gmt":"2024-03-21T01:33:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/?p=10135"},"modified":"2024-03-20T21:37:05","modified_gmt":"2024-03-21T01:37:05","slug":"book-review-the-girl-with-the-lollipop-eyes-by-lucy-leitner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/book-review-the-girl-with-the-lollipop-eyes-by-lucy-leitner\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: The Girl With the Lollipop Eyes by Lucy Leitner"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Girl With The Lollipop Eyes<\/em>, by Lucy Leitner<\/p>\n

Blood Bound Publishing, 2023<\/p>\n

ISBN: 9781940250618<\/p>\n

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition<\/p>\n

Buy:\u00a0\u00a0Amazon.com <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The back cover advertises this as a “detective adventure in slacker noir.”\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure what that means, but this type of book works well when read in an overstuffed recliner with a six-pack of wobbly-pops.\u00a0 It\u2018s not the story alone that drives this, it\u2019s mainly the characters and overall style.\u00a0 No further doubt: Leitner has a unique writing style all her own and deserves more recognition.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t a horror novel, it\u2019s a detective novel, in the style of the old Spillane ones.\u00a0 But it\u2019s written in Leitner\u2019s offbeat, humorous way, and that makes it a lot more entertaining than anything Mickey wrote in the Mike Hammer series.\u00a0 The book is carried start to finish by wannabe PI Thor Cole, his miscreant sidekicks, and the writing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is old-fashioned detective fiction, with plenty of pounding the pavement, talking to people for leads, and the occasional fight.\u00a0 On the surface, there’s not much there.\u00a0 That\u2019s where Leitner\u2019s skill comes in: she turns a simple plot into an addicting rush of a read.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You can\u2019t help but love Thor Cole and his attempts to be a brilliant detective. He lives in a seedy Pittsburgh apartment, and things just never seem to go right.\u00a0 He gets in trouble with his roommate Brittanie for using household appliances as weapons in fights and not replacing them (this guy should advertise for the George Foreman Grill).\u00a0 He manages to bash himself in the head with a bicycle in a misguided attempt to prevent bike theft.\u00a0 Somehow, most of his “detective” work has him winding up at bars and drinking too much.\u00a0 He\u2019s a perfect folk hero for the neighborhood, and his antics, and constant snarky way of looking at things, are what makes him such an engrossing character.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The sleuthing part of the book is simple enough. Cole and company are investigating a hit and run in their trashy neighborhood, and it\u2019s a highly entertaining ride as they smash and crash their way through the case: subtlety is not in their vocabulary.\u00a0 The case does evolve into a larger plot concerning the whole neighborhood and sleazy developers, but this is really all about the tone and style, and it\u2019s perfect for the characters and neighborhood.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s what makes Cole great: he\u2019s the kind of dude that ordinary, blue-collar people will love.\u00a0 The story itself may not be new, but the writing certainly is, and keeps readers engaged right to the end.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Leitner also does a great job bringing Pittsburgh to life: she clearly knows Pennsylvania and its quirks.\u00a0 You have to be a local to know about beer stores, swill brands like Iron City and Straub, the unofficial Steelers fight song (not a good choice), etc.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bottom line: it\u2019s a don\u2019t miss.\u00a0 Leitner has already shown a singular voice with her dystopian satires: add “multi-faceted” to the list with this “slacker noir” tale.\u00a0 Hopefully, Cole will return, and isn\u2019t put out to pasture: who needs a stylish Sonny Crockett for a detective when you have a banged-up, alcohol-chugging Thor Cole? Cole would have whipped him in a fight anyhow.\u00a0 Highly recommended.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Girl With The Lollipop Eyes, by Lucy Leitner Blood Bound Publishing, 2023 ISBN: 9781940250618 Available: Paperback, Kindle edition Buy:\u00a0\u00a0Amazon.com     The back cover advertises this as a “detective adventure in slacker noir.”\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure what that means, but this type of book works well when read in an overstuffed recliner with a<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[458,645,749,5198,2332,3500,5614],"class_list":["post-10135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-detective-fiction","tag-horror-book-reviews","tag-horror-books","tag-lucy-leitner","tag-noir-fiction","tag-satire","tag-the-girl-with-the-lollipop-eyes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10135"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10189,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10135\/revisions\/10189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}