Low Town: The Straight Razor Cure: Low Town 1 - Softcover

Daniel Polansky

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1444721313 ISBN 13: 9781444721317

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton, 2012

Synopsis

Drug dealers, hustlers, brothels, dirty politics, corrupt cops . . . and sorcery. Welcome to Low Town.In the forgotten back alleys and flophouses that lie in the shadows of Rigus, the finest city of the Thirteen Lands, you will find Low Town. It is an ugly place, and its cham-pion is an ugly man. Disgraced intelligence agent. Forgotten war hero. Independent drug dealer. After a fall from grace five years ago, a man known as the Warden leads a life of crime, addicted to cheap violence and expensive drugs. Every day is a constant hustle to find new customers and protect his turf from low-life competition like Tancred the Harelip and Ling Chi, the enigmatic crime lord of the heathens.The Warden's life of drugged iniquity is shaken by his dis-covery of a murdered child down a dead-end street . . . set-ting him on a collision course with the life he left behind. As a former agent with Black House--the secret police--he knows better than anyone that murder in Low Town is an everyday thing, the kind of crime that doesn't get investi-gated. To protect his home, he will take part in a dangerous game of deception between underworld bosses and the psy-chotic head of Black House, but the truth is far darker than he imagines. In Low Town, no one can be trusted.Daniel Polansky has crafted a thrilling novel steeped in noir sensibilities and relentless action, and set in an original world of stunning imagination, leading to a gut-wrenching, unforeseeable conclusion. "Low Town" is an attention-grabbing debut that will leave readers riveted . . . and hun-gry for more. "From the Hardcover edition."

About this title

About the Author

Daniel Polansky was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He can be found in Brooklyn, when he isn't somewhere else. His debut novel, THE STRAIGHT RAZOR CURE, received great acclaim. TOMORROW, THE KILLING is the second novel in his 'Low Town' series.

Review

Polansky brings this world to life with many well-chosen phrases, so that you get the smell and the feel of the place living with you as you read. And unpleasant as it may be at times, Low Town is somewhere you'll want to return to soon. * www.scifibulletin.com * 'The Straight Razor Cure is dark, eloquent work filled with a very real presence that permeates both the world and the characters within it. Polansky has created a wickedly delicious fantasy that leaves a profound impression on the reader. Despite the plague, murderers and dark magic, I can't wait to pay another visit to Low Town' * mithrilwisdom.blogspot.com * An impossible to put down read, showing how dark fantasy can truly be * thefoundingfields.com * 'Daniel Polansky has crafted a thrilling novel steeped in noir sensibilities and relentless action, and set in an original world of stunning imagination, leading to a gut-wrenching, unforeseeable conclusion. Low Town is an attention-grabbing debut that will leave readers riveted . . . and hungry for more' * missiontoread.com * 'I can't remember when I last enjoyed a fantasy book this much' * Books Monthly * 'Polansky transplants his love of crime noir into a magic-steeped, secondary-world fantasy setting. It's an inherently troublesome mash-up that could only work in the hands of a silly satirist or a deft, sensitive dramatist with the blackest sense of humor. Polansky is wholeheartedly the latter - and Low Town is brilliant proof ... Wielding vivid characters and scalpel-sharp banter worthy of fellow dark fantasists Scott Lynch and Joe Abercrombie, Polansky ratchets up the pace ... Polansky has managed to craft an assured, roaring, and rollicking hybrid, a cross-genre free-for-all that relishes its tropes while spitting out their bones. And he does it all while spinning one hell of a gripping mystery' * avclub.com * 'A strong debut novel with a hero who doesn't waste time worrying about the moral implications of cutting someone's throat' * Kirkus Reviews * 'Polansky hits all the right notes in his intelligent first novel, a blend of dystopian fantasy and hard-boiled crime... Sharp, noir-tinged dialogue and astute insights into class struggle mark Polansky as a writer with a future' * Publishers Weekly * 'Quite brilliant... The Straight Razor Cure 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 * 'Polansky's writing is confident and punchy from the offset. The action rips along at a brilliant pace allowing us to experience this gritty world through the eyes of a thrilling, dangerous, flawed, yet strangely endearing protagonist. This is modern, dark fantasy at its best and a debut to be envied.' * British Fantasy Society * 'Saturated with world-weary snark, this is a thoroughly entertaining page-turner which wears its world building lightly. 4 stars' * SFX Magazine *

Edition details

• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1444721313
• ISBN 13: 9781444721317
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 356