READING: Charlie Huston

WARNING: Some rough language may follow.

Some time last year (2006), I read some reviews of Charlie Huston's novel Already Dead. I had never heard of the guy or his books. But, the reviews were very positive and made me curious about the book and about Mr. Huston.

I had just begun my library career, so I decided rather than buy the books, I would check them out of the library. Imagine my surprise when my library didn't have this book. Or any books by him. Since I was one of the fiction buyers (and more importantly, the science fiction & fantasy buyer) I went ahead and ordered Already Dead, as well as his Hank Thompson trilogy: Caught Stealing, Six Bad Things, and A Dangerous Man. Please note: I have not read the Hank Thompson books yet.

The books looked very much like dark, noirish, gritty suspense/crime novels to me. So I was curious why genre magazines were reviewing them. It didn't take long to figure out why. Already Dead and No Dominion feature Joe Pitt, a sometime private eye and all time tough guy. He's also a vampire.

Ok, ok, ok, hang on. It's not like that. This is not cheesy romance love stuff. It's not the vampire stuff you've read a hundred times before. It is dark, noirish, gritty, etc. Joe Pitt is one tough motherfucker. You take all your tough mystery PI types and then make them tougher. That's Joe Pitt. I mean, he's already dead (just like the first book, clever, eh?) so what does he have to worry about? Sure, he can be made permanently dead, but your average fisticuffs and gun shots won't hurt him too much. The thing that makes these books cool is the time and effort Huston put into creating the world that Pitt lives in. Huston has created a Manhattan that has been divided up among several vampire clans. The lower east side is controlled by former hippy Terry and his Society. From 14th street to about Harlem is run by the Coalition. Harlem is run by the Hood. Additionally, there's the Enclave (a sort of zen vampire place), and there are some semi-organized groups of rogues, but mostly it's the four bigger groups.

Joe fits somewhere within all of this. He works for whomever has work. As the books progress, it becomes clear that people do not like Joe Pitt being a free-agent. He's too dangerous to not know where he is or who he supports. Joe just wants to be left alone, but life never works out that way, does it? As Huston says on his website: "To survive, a Rogue must remain invisible to the Clans or prove useful to them in some manner." And Joe just can't help himself; he's a constant thorn in everyone's side.

These books just pop along. I think I read them both in practically one sitting. They read much like a good pulpy noir novel from the 1940s, but they have a modern edge to them that I like. There's a lot of violence, but there's a lot of intelligent intrigue in them, too. It's always nice to find a book that reads like a popcorn novel, but has some depth to it. Huston's plans are to have five books in all about Joe Pitt. I'm already looking forward to the next ones.