Low Town: The Straight Razor Cure: Low Town 1

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I've been a life time reader and usually have a pretty good filter. I don't get taken in by hype. I don't get in too much of a hurry to read the new hot book. I now have goodreads to help me make sure I don't spend my hard earned dollars on bad books. I was taken in by this book folks. It happens, but how was I to know that Daniel Polansky sleeps with Smurfs.

The building that houses the Old Mill Antiques Centre is substantial and is listed. Used previously as The Ridley Seed Company premises and seed mill, The Old Mill is fronted by a 16th Century Gentleman’s Town House. The Centre has recently been extensively refurbished to a very high standard and has approximately 40 antiques dealers over four floors. The best part of this noir/fantasy mashup is that I feel that this is not just a noir book with fantasy furniture or vice versa. Both the elements of noir and the elements of fantasy are essential to the story. For instance, the voice and the concept of the story would fail miserably without the noir part, and the plot would be impossible without the fantasy elements. A strong debut novel with a hero who doesn't waste time worrying about the moral implications of cutting someone's throat." -- Kirkus Low Town was also published as The Straight Razor Cure depending where in the world it happened. I like the first title better, but in no case do I think the cover art does it justice, particularly not this abomination:I have no idea what that adds up to really. So for now I’m going to go with 2 Stars since I couldn’t even remember the main characters name. The area was generally out of bounds for any self-respecting citizen to venture, especially during the hours of darkness as muggings were widespread, crime was commonplace, and press gangs were known to scour the waterfront to board suitable men for conscription and impressment into the Royal Navy. There are shops and pubs and events galore, as well as many places to shop. There are lovely side streets to explore with fine houses and cottages, the remains of a Friary, eight sets of steps to get up and down the town, a bridge, old residential caves and much more.

Many of these taverns and alehouses were dirty, seedy drinking dens of vice and intemperance, dimly lit with tallow candles, where drunkenness was commonplace, and many unlawful and immoral schemes were plotted.

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From that point on though, the voice did soften a little bit, but not to the point where it wasn't good, just not as good. Also, the plot, which as you know revolved around the deaths of kids around Low Town, seemed to string out a little bit and it felt like at the end of each day, the main character was `reset' and it had hints of feeling almost like a series of short stores linked together by the main plot point.

The story? Good solid detective noir stuff. Someone is murdering children in the Warden’s section of town, Low Town, the dregs, basically, and he enlists to stop it. Why he does so is only hinted at. His story is that he’s an ex-cop and was relieved from duty for some nebulous reason. There also seems to be some loss in his life associated with a young girl that particularly hits home for him enough that he interrupts his usual business of pushing drugs. Well, see for yourself. It's not a bad book and apparently there's a feel that many readers like immensely and really get into. It must be a matter of taste. For me this was mediocre at best. Will I follow it up? Aside from the voice, which I'll try to limit my raving on, I was impressed how this drug dealing (and strung out user as well) was able to garner as much sympathy form me as he did. (I suppose trying to find the murderer of an innocent child does that.) I found myself rooting for The Warden when he got into his skirmishes with the hoax, (Low Town slang for the cops) and I didn't even mind so much when he loaded up on pixie dust (Low Town cocaine I think.) Between 1914 and 1938, many of the old buildings and concentrated masses of tenement houses that once filled the bank sides were demolished during a slum clearance programme with hundreds of these residents being relocated to the newly built Balkwell and Ridges Farm estates. Continue up the High Street and you will see Northgate ahead of you, the only one of the five gateways into the town which still exists. In the burgess’s hall above is a museum which, from 1st November 2007, become the first independent museum in Shropshire to be given accreditation by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council and, if you’re visiting between Easter and October, is well worth a visit.The property briefly comprises of an entrance hall, large dining/living room with characterful stone fireplaces and mullioned windows providing views over the property’s lawn gardens and towards the church, separate dining room/snug, a breakfast kitchen, and an externally accessed utility room. The first floor landing is particularly long and provides access to four double bedrooms, with bedroom one also benefitting from an en-suite, and a good-sized house bathroom. The property is situated close to superb rural walks and only a short walk away from Kirkburton’s bustling center and all its amenities. A character cottage, rare to the market and in a lovely location. There was also a high concentration of public houses in the Low Town of North Shields, where at one time, there were 16 public houses recorded on Clive Street alone. Bridgnorth itself is a picturesque and historic market town that has its origins in the 12th Century. The town is divided into High Town and Low Town - High Town being set on a sandstone ridge one hundred feet above the river, with Low Town situated alongside the river and the two are connected not only by main traffic routes but also by several strategically placed flights of steps and an historic funicular railway. Documentation: understanding of the monument is enhanced by the excavations in 1969-1970 and the archaeological survey carried out in 2001. There were some flaws with this novel (use of stereotypes and a twist that was relatively easy to work out), but they were so inconsequential to me that barely warrant mention. I was that entertained whilst reading this!

Quite brilliant...[ Low Town ] is as good a debut as I've read in along time. [It] has it all - and as the name suggests, it is sharp, steely and viciously bloody. Highly recommended." --John Berlyne, SF Revu But, despite his goodwill, and with the mistrust of his colleagues who still hold a grudge for his person, this action may have been and the worst choice he could have made over the past half decade as, becoming the main suspected for the murder, he will find himself amidst a situation that will put him into an adventure for his survival, and when more bodies of young children begin to emerge, Warden will have to do the impossible to find the perpetrator - because, if he fails to find him in time, it will threaten to bring him, those he cares, and even the city itself into their absolute destruction. A noir crime story set in a fantasy setting Low Town is a dark tale of drug dealers, realistic politics, corrupt cops, and vile sorcery. And while this is Daniel Polansky’s debut novel, it does not read that way at all, but displays the deft touch of a master storyteller, which is why it is a must read for all fans of grimdark.It is one thing for a story to make good on its promises, another for a story to be well told, but perhaps both the least and most important factor is whether or not the story is fresh or nuanced. A new tv show about people surviving a zombie apocalypse had better have something unique about it when compared to The Walking Dead, or else the new show will come across as bland or uninspired. I did feel the world was a little medieval European generic, but honestly, many authors who set noir in fantasy worlds don’t focus on the setting as much as the mood and character. To me, this was one of the weaker points of Low Town. Polansky did a reasonable job of making the rough-and-tumble of Low Town clear, as well as particular locations needful to the story, but I didn’t have as much sense of the fantastical ingredients or even the political structure of the city, just the relationship of the law enforcement agencies to the criminals. But, in a way, it really is the untutored viewpoint of a person who has lived his life in a very narrow environment, only leaving it for war. He has a lot of class bitterness without great insight into the structure overall that might help the reader differentiate the world. Co-op Pharmacy Pattingham in Wolverhampton, 7 High Street, Pattingham, Midcounties Co-operative Food at 7.3 miles