Book Review: Cape Cod Noir

This summer I am spending three months on the West coast...far away from my eastern roots. Though I haven’t been really homesick, when I saw “Cape Cod Noir” on a bookshelf I knew that I had to have it! Reading the stories chilled my spine while taking me back to the many summers I spent on the Cape. I think this is definitely a great book for those familiar with this locale though it might be lacking for outsiders.

As you may know, this collection is just one in the “noir” series which collects short stories in different cities around the country. Because the stories are noir, they are often eerie, have some violence, and might give you the chills. I have read other books in this series including “Mexico City Noir” and “New Orleans Noir” both of which I was unable to get into. While some of the stories were well written, I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters in any of the stories. I finally realized that I think my lack of connection with the locales made it hard for me to enjoy the stories.

It is for this reason that when I cracked the spine on the Cape Cod edition, I felt like I had come home. There is a map in the front of the book that shows where each story takes place so that people can orient themselves. This specific edition is broken into thee parts: Out of Season, Summer People, and End of the Line. Obviously, the first section contains stories about residents who are there year round and those in the area from September to May. The Summer People tells of just that, tales that take place during the summer usually involving vacationers. Some of the stories are written very well and have unique narratives. Such is the case with the story “Nineteen Snapshots of Dennisport” which is told in nineteen paragraphs that describe photographs that are not included. With each description, the tale gets creepier and creepier and the narrator begins to realize that her father may be in grave trouble. My favorite in this section is “Second Chance” which is about a school of boys on the Penikese Island. This school actually exists and the author of this story must have done some fantastic research because the descriptions match perfectly with the actual place. This school is for boys who are very troubled and are given one last chance. Stranded on the island away from electricity and modern conveniences, these boys live as if they are in the 1800s. But violence and fear are timeless and certainly find their way to the island in this tale. Part two has a great story called “Bad Night in Hyannisport” which is narrated by a dead man in the tradition of “Sunset Boulevard”. Sadly, I felt that the third section lagged and didn’t contain as many great stories as the first two parts.

While there were certainly some great stories in this collection, I felt that it got a bit redundant towards the final pages. These are not are par on the noir classics of the 1950s but they should not go unnoticed. I believe that some of the authors who contributed are so great that I look forward to reading their other works. Overall, even for a lover of Cape Cod, I would borrow it from the library instead of opening my wallet.

-DLP