Die a Little : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: WHAT "CHICK LIT" SHOULD BE
Review: I just got this book for a gift and couldn't put it down! I read it
in 2 days straight, but now I'm sad I read it so fast cause it's over.
It's just like a good old fashioned noir with a rockin' and realistic
female protagonist. Although I've never been to LA I feel like I got
back from a really cool visit there in the 1950's. Ms. Abbott's
descriptions pefectly capture an era and your imagination. I hope and
pray she is writing a sequel or something else. This book reads like a
really cool movie. I am only jealous that I didn't write it myself. I
recommend it to everyone. And unlike Bridget Jones and her frothy
pals, I think guys would dig this too.

Rating:
Summary: A more lyrical James Ellroy
Review: I just got this book yesterday--and read the whole thing overnight. I have always loved James Ellroy, and Abbott's first book is a beautifully written addition to the hardboiled LA noir literary landscape. I was especially moved by the poignant and lyrical prose that Abbott uses to detail her more poetic and haunting contribution to the genre. The characters are pitch-perfect. The men are sympathetically conflicted, racing back and forth between clenched toughness and masked fragility. And the women are complex, sophisticated, and insightful--infinitely more layered than the only two variations of femininity in traditional noir, the femme fatale and the innocent belle.

What's best about Abbott's novel is the way in which she elevates the entire genre. This is not simply a great example of hardboiled fiction: it is an intricate literary narrative with tremendous grace and style--from the achingly beautiful reverie of its opening, to the shockingly uncanny reverses of its taut plot, to the poignant quietness of its ending.

Judging from what I think is her first effort, Abbott promises to be a major talent. I will be fascinated to see what she produces next!

Rating:
Summary: Now for Something a Bit Different
Review: I was hooked on this book by the end of the first page. There is something really different about it--aside from the powerful characters being women. You feel like you've stepped into Hollywood in the fifties because the author so captures the atmosphere of that era. After I finished, I felt like going out and finding some old movie magazines. Do they still publish them? And yet, the writing is very literary--poetic even. Waiting eagerly for the next book. Hope she sets it in Hollywood in the fifties too.