Enter your email Address

ENTROPY
  • About
    • About
    • Masthead
    • Advertising
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Info on Book Reviews
  • Essays
    • All Introspection
      Creative Nonfiction / Essay

      Variations on a Theme: Individuation

      February 27, 2021

      Creative Nonfiction / Essay

      Our Side Of The Clouds

      February 26, 2021

      Creative Nonfiction / Essay

      Side Effects May Include Monstrosity

      February 25, 2021

      Creative Nonfiction / Essay

      WOVEN: Bruises Around the Heart

      February 24, 2021

      Introspection

      Variations on a Theme: Individuation

      February 27, 2021

      Introspection

      Variations on a Theme: Radio Days

      February 23, 2021

      Introspection

      Variations on a Theme: Daddy Rocked the Baby, Mother Said Amen

      February 20, 2021

      Introspection

      Variations on a Theme: The End of the World

      February 9, 2021

  • Fiction
    • Fiction

      BLACKCACKLE: Cain, Knocking

      February 24, 2021

      Fiction

      The Birds: A Bird Heart for Forgiveness

      February 19, 2021

      Fiction

      New Skin

      February 17, 2021

      Fiction

      The Birds: Skittering

      February 17, 2021

      Fiction

      Variations on a Theme: Larger Than Life

      February 6, 2021

  • Reviews
    • All Collaborative Review Video Review
      Review

      Review: To Limn / Lying In by J’Lyn Chapman

      February 25, 2021

      Review

      Review: Nudes by Elle Nash

      February 22, 2021

      Review

      Burials Free of Sharks: Review of Xandria Phillips’ Hull

      February 18, 2021

      Review

      Review: Censorettes by Elizabeth Bales Frank

      February 4, 2021

      Collaborative Review

      Attention to the Real: A Conversation

      September 3, 2020

      Collaborative Review

      A Street Car Named Whatever

      February 22, 2016

      Collaborative Review

      Black Gum: A Conversational Review

      August 7, 2015

      Collaborative Review

      Lords of Waterdeep in Conversation

      February 25, 2015

      Video Review

      Entropy’s Super Mario Level

      September 15, 2015

      Video Review

      Flash Portraits of Link: Part 7 – In Weakness, Find Strength

      January 2, 2015

      Video Review

      Basal Ganglia by Matthew Revert

      March 31, 2014

      Video Review

      The Desert Places by Amber Sparks and Robert Kloss, Illustrated by Matt Kish

      March 21, 2014

  • Small Press
    • Small Press

      OOMPH! Press

      February 24, 2021

      Small Press

      Dynamo Verlag

      February 17, 2021

      Small Press

      Abalone Mountain Press

      February 3, 2021

      Small Press

      Gordon Hill Press

      December 8, 2020

      Small Press

      Evidence House

      November 24, 2020

  • Where to Submit
  • More
    • Poetry
    • Interviews
    • Games
      • All Board Games Video Games
        Creative Nonfiction / Essay

        HOW VIDEO GAMES MADE ME BIOPHILIC

        February 12, 2021

        Creative Nonfiction / Essay

        How Zelda Saved Me: The Inspiration, Feminism, and Empowerment of Hyrule

        November 2, 2020

        Board Games

        Session Report: Victoriana and Optimism

        December 14, 2019

        Games

        Best of 2019: Video Games

        December 13, 2019

        Board Games

        Session Report: Victoriana and Optimism

        December 14, 2019

        Board Games

        Ludic Writing: Lady of the West

        July 27, 2019

        Board Games

        Session Report: Paperback and Anomia

        July 27, 2019

        Board Games

        Ludic Writing: The Real Leeds Part 12 (Once in a Lifetime)

        November 10, 2018

        Video Games

        HOW VIDEO GAMES MADE ME BIOPHILIC

        February 12, 2021

        Video Games

        How Zelda Saved Me: The Inspiration, Feminism, and Empowerment of Hyrule

        November 2, 2020

        Video Games

        Best of 2019: Video Games

        December 13, 2019

        Video Games

        Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the Spirit of Generosity

        December 31, 2018

    • Food
    • Small Press Releases
    • Film
    • Music
    • Paranormal
    • Travel
    • Art
    • Graphic Novels
    • Comics
    • Current Events
    • Astrology
    • Random
  • RESOURCES
  • The Accomplices
    • THE ACCOMPLICES
    • Enclave
    • Trumpwatch

ENTROPY

  • About
    • About
    • Masthead
    • Advertising
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Info on Book Reviews
  • Essays
    • All Introspection
      Creative Nonfiction / Essay

      Variations on a Theme: Individuation

      February 27, 2021

      Creative Nonfiction / Essay

      Our Side Of The Clouds

      February 26, 2021

      Creative Nonfiction / Essay

      Side Effects May Include Monstrosity

      February 25, 2021

      Creative Nonfiction / Essay

      WOVEN: Bruises Around the Heart

      February 24, 2021

      Introspection

      Variations on a Theme: Individuation

      February 27, 2021

      Introspection

      Variations on a Theme: Radio Days

      February 23, 2021

      Introspection

      Variations on a Theme: Daddy Rocked the Baby, Mother Said Amen

      February 20, 2021

      Introspection

      Variations on a Theme: The End of the World

      February 9, 2021

  • Fiction
    • Fiction

      BLACKCACKLE: Cain, Knocking

      February 24, 2021

      Fiction

      The Birds: A Bird Heart for Forgiveness

      February 19, 2021

      Fiction

      New Skin

      February 17, 2021

      Fiction

      The Birds: Skittering

      February 17, 2021

      Fiction

      Variations on a Theme: Larger Than Life

      February 6, 2021

  • Reviews
    • All Collaborative Review Video Review
      Review

      Review: To Limn / Lying In by J’Lyn Chapman

      February 25, 2021

      Review

      Review: Nudes by Elle Nash

      February 22, 2021

      Review

      Burials Free of Sharks: Review of Xandria Phillips’ Hull

      February 18, 2021

      Review

      Review: Censorettes by Elizabeth Bales Frank

      February 4, 2021

      Collaborative Review

      Attention to the Real: A Conversation

      September 3, 2020

      Collaborative Review

      A Street Car Named Whatever

      February 22, 2016

      Collaborative Review

      Black Gum: A Conversational Review

      August 7, 2015

      Collaborative Review

      Lords of Waterdeep in Conversation

      February 25, 2015

      Video Review

      Entropy’s Super Mario Level

      September 15, 2015

      Video Review

      Flash Portraits of Link: Part 7 – In Weakness, Find Strength

      January 2, 2015

      Video Review

      Basal Ganglia by Matthew Revert

      March 31, 2014

      Video Review

      The Desert Places by Amber Sparks and Robert Kloss, Illustrated by Matt Kish

      March 21, 2014

  • Small Press
    • Small Press

      OOMPH! Press

      February 24, 2021

      Small Press

      Dynamo Verlag

      February 17, 2021

      Small Press

      Abalone Mountain Press

      February 3, 2021

      Small Press

      Gordon Hill Press

      December 8, 2020

      Small Press

      Evidence House

      November 24, 2020

  • Where to Submit
  • More
    • Poetry
    • Interviews
    • Games
      • All Board Games Video Games
        Creative Nonfiction / Essay

        HOW VIDEO GAMES MADE ME BIOPHILIC

        February 12, 2021

        Creative Nonfiction / Essay

        How Zelda Saved Me: The Inspiration, Feminism, and Empowerment of Hyrule

        November 2, 2020

        Board Games

        Session Report: Victoriana and Optimism

        December 14, 2019

        Games

        Best of 2019: Video Games

        December 13, 2019

        Board Games

        Session Report: Victoriana and Optimism

        December 14, 2019

        Board Games

        Ludic Writing: Lady of the West

        July 27, 2019

        Board Games

        Session Report: Paperback and Anomia

        July 27, 2019

        Board Games

        Ludic Writing: The Real Leeds Part 12 (Once in a Lifetime)

        November 10, 2018

        Video Games

        HOW VIDEO GAMES MADE ME BIOPHILIC

        February 12, 2021

        Video Games

        How Zelda Saved Me: The Inspiration, Feminism, and Empowerment of Hyrule

        November 2, 2020

        Video Games

        Best of 2019: Video Games

        December 13, 2019

        Video Games

        Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the Spirit of Generosity

        December 31, 2018

    • Food
    • Small Press Releases
    • Film
    • Music
    • Paranormal
    • Travel
    • Art
    • Graphic Novels
    • Comics
    • Current Events
    • Astrology
    • Random
  • RESOURCES
  • The Accomplices
    • THE ACCOMPLICES
    • Enclave
    • Trumpwatch
LiteratureReview

City of Rose by Rob Hart

written by Alex Kalamaroff February 26, 2016

City of Rose by Rob Hart
Polis Books, 2016
304 pages – Polis / Amazon

 

This book is a noir cupcake—tasty comfort food sprinkled with bits of wisdom, such as “Fuck, man. You can’t trust anyone who doesn’t get a Johnny Cash reference” and “If collecting scars by means of stupidity were a hobby, I’d be ready to go pro.” It’s crime fiction that delights and reassures us of the genre pleasures: the under-line-able one-liners, the chapter that ends with somebody getting thudded in the head, and of course the Philip Marlowe-ish protagonist whose tough, bitter exterior belies a soft spot for this crazy world.

City of Rose—Rob Hart’s second novel featuring Ash McKenna, a gruff New Yorker who claims he’s “not a detective. I’m just some asshole who’s good at hitting people and can be occasionally clever” (which is pretty much the standard definition of the detective in American fiction)—is set in Portland, a city that’s come to occupy a weird niche in our cultural imagination. It’s a place where “[e]very menu in this town includes at least one instance of the word ‘artisanal,’” and where there are vegan strip clubs. Ash works as the bouncer-janitor-dishwasher at Naturals. This is where he meets Crystal, an ex-drug-addicted stripper whose daughter Rose is missing. This is how he gets pulled back into the game.

To nab a line from crime writer Sara Gran, every detective story is a missing girl story. It’s true of New Yorked, the first novel in the series, in which Ash longs after his deceased beloved Chell, and it’s true here, with Ash and Crystal working together to find Rose, who’s been kidnapped as part of a convoluted political scheme. They encounter the usual obstacles: thugs, drugs, and threats—which, as a total side note, why haven’t the villains in books and movies ever learned that threatening folks never works? Like ever! (A part of me longs for a trope-defying crime novel that ends abruptly and dully, with the protagonist quitting on the central case after being threatened enough.) Together, Ash and Crystal traverse plenty of zany Portland terrain. There’s Powell’s, a Prius, and the Plaid Pantry. And the obligatory hipster hating, of course, with Ash declaring, “It’s like Williamsburg Junior. Same vibe. Goofy fucking hipster kids who are nostalgic for things they never knew.” So sorry Portland, now that you’ve been reduced to a jungle gym of trendy, loath-able clichés.

City of Rose is playful, snappy, and fun—especially compared to New Yorked, which holds to a more somber, ghost-haunted tone throughout. The Portland setting allows Hart to play into his knacks for dialogue and comedic scene setting. For instance, upon being offered a taste-test of Naturals’ vegan nacho cheese, Ash politely declines by saying, “I am not putting nut butters in my mouth.” Or, after spending two pages hunting down a pay phone, he tells his old hacker friend Bombay—because how can you be a useful protagonist and not have an old hacker friend?—“Oh, now you can text me? Why not do that in the first place, instead of sending me trekking through fucking Mordor to find a pay phone?” There’s also an extended vomiting bit that gloriously recalls Chunk’s confessional monologue from The Goonies. It’s to Hart’s credit that he can turn upchucking into such comic gold.

There are some weaker elements, yes. The political angle is introduced too late to resonant in any meaningful way. Jokes about the fact that Ash’s full name is Ashley get repeated to death (which, listen, I get that these jokes are used to illustrate the point that the tellers of them are lamewads, but still joke redundancy to this extent is tiresome). And the Chicken Man’s plan, which is the initial plot-spark of the novel, might be a tad bogus. But then does anyone know who killed Owen Taylor in The Big Sleep? Does it matter? Because this book is genre writing par excellence.

To pursue a half-baked metaphor: genre writing is like a cupcake. We all generally know  what to expect. The cupcake’s final shape and its basic ingredients are predetermined even before we’ve read the recipe—that’s how we know it’s a cupcake, and it’s also why Naturals’ vegan cupcakes are so frequently a failure. “The trick,” Ash says, “is you’ll never make a good vegan cupcake because all the structural stuff you need, like butter and eggs, is not vegan. Why try to make something into something it’s not?” The secret, then, for creating the perfect cupcake is to masterfully employ these basic ingredients, “the structural stuff,” as Ash puts it, while simultaneously adding in your own definitive twist with an extra dash of this-and-that, with a unique mixture of flavors, with the homemade frosting, and with the sprinkles for sure.

The comparative writing challenge then, for someone like Hart, is how to spice up the established elements of the crime genre into something lively and grand, into something that’s at once deliciously original while also being honest in its ambitions. Hart succeeds here not by subverting expectations—though, after all, what’s more stereotypical than a crime novel daring to “subvert genre expectations”—but by upholding and so clearly and thoroughly delighting in them. Which is to say, this a cupcake made by a man who loves cupcakes! And who sticks to the recipe, more or less. There’s that fine mixture of banter, action, and Hart’s signature comedic-noir tone.

All in all, City of Rose is a funny, enjoyable book that makes me eager to read more of Ash McKenna’s adventures. Except now I want an actual—not metaphorical—cupcake. But before we leave off, one last bit of wisdom from Ash: “The only books he has are by Ayn Rand. So I know for sure he’s a degenerate.” Which is to say, don’t be a degenerate, don’t only read Ayn Rand. Read everything else and read as much as you can.

City of Rose by Rob Hart was last modified: February 28th, 2016 by Alex Kalamaroff
Ash McKennecrimefictiongenreNovelPolis BooksRob Hart
0 comment
0
Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
Avatar
Alex Kalamaroff

Alex Kalamaroff is a writer and educator living in Boston. He is the Book Reviews Editor for Entropy. alex [at] entropymag.org / @alexkalamaroff

previous post
There Is No Third Impact: Episode Seven
next post
Douglas Brown: The Bridge between the Avant-Garde and Formalism

You may also like

Works-in-Progress

August 15, 2014

Session Report – Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Rise of the Runelords (Pt. 1)

August 30, 2014

Wheat as Medium: Reading Vi Khi Nao’s Sheep Machine

December 27, 2018

Session Report – A Game of Thrones: The Card Game

July 26, 2014
Facebook Twitter Instagram

Recent Comments

  • furiousvexation Loved this. Killer first line and such a painted picture. Bravo!

    The Birds: a poem ·  February 17, 2021

  • Deidra Brown Wonderful, moving work!

    The Birds: a poem ·  February 15, 2021

  • Ceres Growing up in a rural area, I've observed first-hand the disparate outlooks between urban children with environmentalist parents and children raised in the country. Modern agricultural practices...

    HOW VIDEO GAMES MADE ME BIOPHILIC ·  February 13, 2021

Featured Columns & Series

  • The Birds
  • Dinnerview
  • WOVEN
  • Variations on a Theme
  • BLACKCACKLE
  • Literacy Narrative
  • COVID-19
  • Mini-Syllabus
  • Their Days Are Numbered
  • On Weather
  • Disarticulations
  • The Waters
  • Session Report series
  • Birdwolf
  • Comics I've Been Geeking Out On
  • Small Press Releases
  • Books I Hate (and Also Some I Like)
  • The Poetics of Spaces
  • Tales From the End of the Bus Line
  • Fog or a Cloud
  • 30 Years of Ghibli
  • Cooking Origin Stories
  • YOU MAKE ME FEEL
  • Ludic Writing
  • Best of 2019
  • The Talking Cure
  • Food and Covid-19
  • Stars to Stories
  • DRAGONS ARE REAL OR THEY ARE DEAD
  • Foster Care
  • LEAKY CULTURE
  • Jem and the Holographic Feminisms
  • D&D with Entropy

Find Us On Facebook

Entropy
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

©2014-2021 The Accomplices LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Read our updated Privacy Policy.


Back To Top