Something More than Night

One thing I have noticed in many years of purchasing books from Amazon, and reading the Amazon reviews before I do, is that too many (about half) are written by folks who have obviously never read the book. Looking at the reviews here by actual readers, I notice a frequent complaint is that this novel interrupts the narrative every time it really gets going, and never manages to regain momentum. I agree entirely with those reviewers. What we have here is a potentially great idea... Boris Karloff and Raymond Chandler, old school chums, investigating a crime involving an old friend who was an investigator for the LA DA and is now a private detective. Not to spoil things, but the main gimmick here is an electrical device invented by a mad scientist, which can revive the dead, or vampirically transfer traits from one individual to another... a transfer that usually kills the donor. The main bad guys work for Pyramid Studios, an ultra-low-budget outfit whose features are generally unwatchable. The baddies most often encountered are the Sparx Brothers, a transmogrification of a today-totally-forgotten movie comedy team of those days (early 1930s), the Ritz Brothers. There's a lot of wild action, but the action is intercut with incredibly long stretches in which nothing happens other than tedious exposition. While I mainly enjoyed the novel, if I had been the publisher's editor, my blue pencil would have had to be sharpened so many times it would have worn down to a mere nub.

Novelist and screenwriter Raymond Chandler and actor Boris Karloff team up to helpthe local police investigate the "suicide" of a movie producer. What can they come upwith?A decent romp of a story! Kim Newman injects many movie references to movies youknow and movies that were never made. A brief misstep in the middle of the book takesit down a peg for me, but it quickly rebounds and makes a good use of time.I believe this is a stand-alone and will not become a series.

Apologies to the author. Horror is not my favorite. I think it is amazing that the author made this story work.

Yet another gem from Kim

‘The streets were dark with something more than night.’ Raymond Chandler, Introduction to Trouble is My Business (1950)‘Something More Than Night’ by Kim Newman is a glorious genre spanning novel that features two former British schoolboys now living in the USA. On occasion they become involved in investigating cases in which crime and horror intertwine.As a long time fan of crime fiction, including works by classic writers such as Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, and horror in film and literature both the premise and execution of this novel was a delight. Definitely my kind of book.Kim Newman is well known for his encyclopaedic knowledge of film, genre fiction and popular culture. In this novel he has embraced the tropes of hard-boiled detective fiction alongside those of pulp horror.In Hollywood during the late 1930s Raymond Chandler writes detective stories for pulp magazines. His long time friend, William ‘Billy’ Pratt, known to the world as Boris Karloff, plays monsters in the movies. Together, they undertake investigations into unusual goings-on in a town run by monsters both human and inhuman.In the middle of the night Raymond receives a phone call from Billy with news that he had been asked by the police to identify the body of a man whose car had crashed off Malibu Pier; a death that closely resembles one in Marlow’s recently published ‘The Big Sleep’. Billy quips: ‘Could this be the work of one of your demented fans, R.T.?’ … so begins this fast paced crime/horror noir. I won’t say more about the plot in order to avoid spoilers.The novel is narrated by Chandler in a rambling style that is almost stream-of-consciousness. It is quite a complex plot as R.T. is prone to asides and jumping about in time.In his informative Afterword Newman details the real life connections between his imaginary comrades and provides details of the many books that he consulted to write this novel. He also writes:“If I listed all the films and TV shows that have fed into this book, we’d be here for several months.”So yes - there’s a lot of cultural references interwoven throughout the novel.I felt that ‘Something More Than Night’ is a terrific novel - a tour de force that honours both the hard-boiled detective fiction and the pulp horror of the period. The relationship between R.T. and Billy is a joy and I expect that this is a novel that I will be revisiting.Although this is a standalone novel, Newman cites a few links to his other published works. Of course, there always exists the possibility that Newman will decide to write more adventures for R.T. and Billy. I certainly hope so as I feel that it’s rich territory for exploration.Highly recommended.

This fictional homage to Raymond Chandler and Boris Karloff is really quite something. Although the author acknowledges that there is no recorded meeting between these two; who’s to say that they didn’t sometimes move in the same circles? Many passages are absolutely delightful and there are any number of Hollywood luminaries scattered throughout the text. Mary Shelley and Frankenstein feature strongly and the author raises some interesting thoughts on what inspired the young writer and what the real message is behind her book.I can’t say that Something More than Night was an easy read. The time period that Chandler and Karloff shined in is well captured and I did enjoy seeing Chandler brought to life.

I found it impossible to get into this book. The characters spend so much time recounting their backstories that it feels like you have come into the book about half way through. Because of this it moves at a glacial pace. Also, some of the backstories seem as though they could make better novels than the one you are reading. The basic conceit of Chandler and Karloff working together is interesting, but I don’t think it is well realised in this novel. Neither character comes across convincingly..

I really enjoyed this book set during Hollywood’s golden age. Kim Newman knows his facts and the interplay between Raymond Chandler and William Pratt was excellent. The story zipped along at a frantic pace. All in all a very enjoyable read.

Very much enjoyed this book from start to finish. Well written and clever in story, concept and execution.