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21st out of 127 books
—
71 voters
Concrete Underground
by
Moxie Mezcal (Goodreads Author)
An idealistic journalist sets out to expose corruption among the city's elite and soon finds himself immersed in a conspiracy of murder, blackmail, espionage, and human trafficking. Pitted against the enigmatic CEO of one of the world's largest tech companies, he must play a deadly game threatens to unearth its players' darkest secrets.
ebook, 370 pages
Published
March 13th 2010
by Moxie Uber Alles
(first published March 3rd 2010)
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If you like your books a little off putting with strange and twisted story lines then you really should give "Concrete Underground" a spin.
It starts out as what you believe to be your straight forward whodunnit. Quickly it descends into a story that resembles a hallucination and a dream. Can you tell the difference?! Perhaps you can, perhaps you can't. Fast paced and extremely interesting, it was a story I thought I'd hate but wound up glued to. If you like stories that aren't the run of the mil...more
It starts out as what you believe to be your straight forward whodunnit. Quickly it descends into a story that resembles a hallucination and a dream. Can you tell the difference?! Perhaps you can, perhaps you can't. Fast paced and extremely interesting, it was a story I thought I'd hate but wound up glued to. If you like stories that aren't the run of the mil...more
Another free book from Amazon. It started off wobbly for me, I found it hard to get into. But, I was determined to finish it! However, I felt like I was trying to push through and read it all for the sake of reading it rather than out of pure enjoyment.
That's not to say it's bad. It really isn't! It's rather good but it does depend on what you like. I found it hard to follow simply because you were meant to. This becomes clear when the mental state of the protagonist is revealed as...questionabl...more
That's not to say it's bad. It really isn't! It's rather good but it does depend on what you like. I found it hard to follow simply because you were meant to. This becomes clear when the mental state of the protagonist is revealed as...questionabl...more
"Independent fiction" has been in an interesting place for the past few years. It's definitely started to get a lot more respect than it has, but something I've noticed about a lot of independent authors is that they're telling the same types of stories as the major publishing houses - crime stories, science fiction, and vampire romances. Nothing against the stories themselves, but there's often little to distinguish them from the mainstream.
Concrete Underground, on the other hand, is described...more
Concrete Underground, on the other hand, is described...more
Well I finished it but I didn't think much of it. It's good enough to read, but it's just not great. Number one, and this is a big one for me, is this author has terrible grammar skills. Maybe English is his/her second language, which would be a bit of a legitimate excuse, but what about the editor? I saw a pretty good control of the language, so it seemed the grammar should have been better.
Second, in the spirit of your typical whodunit, Mezcal tries to create mystery and suspense in every poss...more
Second, in the spirit of your typical whodunit, Mezcal tries to create mystery and suspense in every poss...more
I read this book in one day. Mark doesn't know how I read it all in an afternoon/evening. It's good. The ending is very confusing, but I think that's the point -- to get you thinking. Hell, the whole book is kind of confusing (which, again, is the point -- it is a suspense novel, after all) and you have to really work at it to keep track of the characters and events. Don't let that hold you back from reading it -- it's a great dark conspiracy book. It makes you paranoid and gets you thinking. Wo...more
A few interesting ideas drowned by a perpetual plot mechanism: hip dick reporter stumbles on clues, gets beat up (a lot), gets high (drugs, alcohol and the occasional slipped mickey), drools over the purple-haired vixen called ... Violet, wakes up in odd company (laid or not, he can't always remember) etc., etc. throughout four fifths of the book. Thankfully, the last few chapters bring things to another level and provide a different angle to look through. At last.
Could have been better, could h...more
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A bit of a shock to the system coming straight after Joyce's Ulysses, this is a fast-paced, hard-boiled, sexy, trashy, bewildering punk-detective novel with a plot so gloriously convoluted you'll be glad of your eReader's search facility. It's not for the faint of heart and certainly not for the easily offended. The horror is done properly, with enough detail to make you feel queasy but enough left to the imagination to make it unsettling. And the narrator's first name is Dedalus. What more coul...more
A grab-you-by-the-throat sort of book, uncompromising in its portrayal of manipulative Dylan Maxwell and the people whose lives he controls. It's a complex plot, the type that makes you start reading the book all over again as soon as you finish it.
The writing style is highly intelligent and yet easy to read. There were a few minor editing issues in the version I was reading, but not so many that they detracted from the enjoyment of the book.
The writing style is highly intelligent and yet easy to read. There were a few minor editing issues in the version I was reading, but not so many that they detracted from the enjoyment of the book.
I enjoyed this weird story where I really didn't know what was going on even when I finished. Yet it kept me reading and wanting to know more about the story, the characters and the world it was set in. Four stars might be too high, but I found myself thinking about it when I wasn't reading, and after I was done also. Fun read.
I downloaded this for free on my Kindle, which was a good thing because it wouldn't be worth much money if you had to attach a price to it. Things I liked most about this ebook were its fast pace and the weird plot/narrative twist towards the end. Also, it mentions a Lydia Lunch song: "Still Burning". Cool. :)
Quite a good read, but at the end of the book there are 9 questions to help solve the mystery - I would have given an extra star if these were answered somewhere without having to skim back through the book again, but it just makes it feel unfinished to me now. :(
If anyone managed to work it out from the questions please let me know.
If anyone managed to work it out from the questions please let me know.
Genre - Mix and match any or all of the following: noir, post-modern, mystery, urban, steam punk, pulp.
An idealistic investigative reporter goes up against a wealthy, mysterious, psychotic, manipulative titan who gets his kicks by putting those around him into dangerous, sometimes fatal situations.
The plot takes a big-time u-ie in the final third which kinda left me scratching my head, but the writing is tight and the action kept me reading.
An idealistic investigative reporter goes up against a wealthy, mysterious, psychotic, manipulative titan who gets his kicks by putting those around him into dangerous, sometimes fatal situations.
The plot takes a big-time u-ie in the final third which kinda left me scratching my head, but the writing is tight and the action kept me reading.
‘Concrete Underground’ knocked me out. It takes the noir plot and loops it into a feedback cycle until it breaks. It embraces the implausibility of the hero and squeezes horror out of it. Fast, sexy fun is laid on top of a growing layer of scar tissue on human faces until you can’t tell the difference anymore. It wears its influences on its sleeve and even walks you through them, but it makes something new out of them. A true 21st century novel.
Definitely not for the reader with looking for a pretty description. Took a bit to get into but I liked it. Crude, but necessary for the kind of work it desired to be. Nice turn of events, quite creative, enjoyed the ending. Not your typical who done it.
Good for one of those pulpy mysteries. A bit muddled in time. But you have to give it to Moxie Mezcal - to write a book and give it out for free. That's kinda awesome.
Fascinating book. The language is very vivid and the story is completely twisted. It is definitely a brain teaser that I would recommend to anyone to read.
Great Story, I suggest that you read this book with a clear mind so you can pay close attention to the twists and turns of the story, this book had a few grammer errors but other than that it was a good read.
better than the pulp that inspired it, moxie mezcal's writing is compelling, accessible, and really fucking good.
A sexy, Twins Peakesque punk noir. Very enthralling tale with labyrinthine twists.
Gripping, good story, but very violent
Jan 09, 2012
Michelle
added it
What on earth was this about? I thought I had it figured out, but then I was wrong over and over. Those questions at the end only made my head spin even more. What on earth did I just read? What just happened? A psychological thriller? A mystery? A scathing political satire? Something like Shutter Island? Someone help because I really have no way to define this book.
Great read! Multiple plot twists that keeps you interested until the very end.
It was pretty much a hard-boiled thriller. There wasn't much to like about the main character, but the situations and surrounding characters were fairly interesting. The ending left me hanging and wondering what the point of the story was. Its quite possible that was the point.
Really easy to get caught up in. Just when you think you have it figured out everything changes. This book will take your mind on an adventure.
May 08, 2013
MaryBeth Pacific
marked it as to-read
May 01, 2013
Lauren Bishop
marked it as to-read
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“You can leave a place, you can leave a situation. You can quit a job, move to a different house, forget a thing that has happened, or even give up on a love. But the one thing you can never walk away from is yourself.”
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