Spiders Cage

Martin Windrow #2

by Jim Nisbet

A brilliantly noir mystery from the author of Lethal Injection, never before published in English.
"Spider's Cage" sees the return of Martin Windrow, the detective first introduced to readers in "The Damned Don't Die" ("a super thriller" --"Los Angeles Times"). When Jodie O'Ryan, the country singer he adores, disappears after the death of her grandfather, a millionaire oil man, Windrow sets off on their trail. Strangers and storytellers cross his path: friendly tarantulas, a Verlaine-reading prostitute, an androgynous bodyguard, a pimp-entrepreneur-singer, a Salvadorean revolutionary, a car salesman hooked on tranquilizers, a cop who treats the common cold with cocaine cut with amphetamines ... Windrow travels from surprise to nightmare, and from body to body, up until the dark-as-night finale.

176 pages, ebook

First published July 3, 2012

About the author

San Francisco writer Jim Nisbet has published eleven novels, including the acclaimed Lethal Injection. He has also published five volumes of poetry. His novel, Dark Companion, was shorted-listed for the 2006 Hammett Prize. Various of his works have been translated into French, German, Japanese, Italian, Polish, Hungarian, Greek, Russian and Romanian.

Aside from reading and performing his own work for some forty-five years, Nisbet has written and seen produced a modest handful of one-act plays and monologues, including Valentine, Note from Earth, WonderEndz™ SmackVision™ and Alas, Poor Yorick, and himself directed the original productions of most of these works.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Do you think I'm still handsome, baby?" he said.
Sister Opium Jade leveled her brown almond eyes with his. In her stacked heels, she stood tall as Windrow. She moved until no parts per million separated them.

Another great story from Jim Nisbet. Nisbet strikes just the right balance between violent action & wry, sardonic humor I've come to expect, anticipate & enjoy.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

A second Windrow book - so that settles what happened at the end of The Damned Don't Die. It's a hard-boiled detective novel but the writing style is the antithesis of the lean and mean prose typically found in such novels, and as much as I liked the writing, I'm not so sure I like it with this character and this plot. The third-person narration seems on a mission of it's own. For plot we have the will of dead oil baron, who just happens to be the grandfather of a country singer that detective Windrow has been playing around with. Windrow takes a beating, gets driven off the road and flipped through a dining room window of a mansion, earning a trip to the hospital, and still keeps on ticking and trying to find his girl and whom is out to kill him. The last two chapters are an exceptional wrap-up and made me like this one more than I would have otherwise. 3.5 stars.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nisbet outdoes himself, and Jim Thompson, with this gritty and witty detective novel. Short read but one of the best crime noir stories I've read. Helluva lotta fun from an author at the top of his game.