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Boulevard
It’s always sunny in California until you walk on the wrong side of Sunset Boulevard. And yet the bright lights still call to thousands, and every day new arrivals fill the ranks of Hollywood’s underworld of teenage runaways and hopeful stars turned hookers and strippers.
Their stories are too wretched and too sad for society’s attention, but when a high-profile lawyer is murdered at the Chateau Marmont, lackluster detective Jimmy McCann takes to the streets and finds himself enmeshed in this complex web of prostitution and drugs, learning that the killer, a young girl named Casey, is a victim in her own right. Delving into Casey’s troubled community of homeless runaways, characterized by abuse, rape, death and disease, but also by friendship, loyalty and love, Bill Guttentag has crafted a stunning literary crime novel—based on real-life incidents—that will resound with readers everywhere.
Their stories are too wretched and too sad for society’s attention, but when a high-profile lawyer is murdered at the Chateau Marmont, lackluster detective Jimmy McCann takes to the streets and finds himself enmeshed in this complex web of prostitution and drugs, learning that the killer, a young girl named Casey, is a victim in her own right. Delving into Casey’s troubled community of homeless runaways, characterized by abuse, rape, death and disease, but also by friendship, loyalty and love, Bill Guttentag has crafted a stunning literary crime novel—based on real-life incidents—that will resound with readers everywhere.
- GenresFiction
304 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 23, 2010
This book really rubbed me the wrong way. To begin with, there was a mind-boggling number of typos. I understand that some mistakes can slip by (I'm sure I'll make a few in this review), but this was every few pages, and it was jarring enough to keep me from really getting into the story. I would have taken a red pen to it if it wasn't a library book.
As for the story itself: I found the characters 2-dimensional, the plot twists unsurprising, and the ending downright saccharine. Brutal flashbacks are interspersed between scenes of a rag-tag bunch of runaways so sympathetic (conveniently, none of the kids you're supposed to like are ever mentioned using drugs) you half expect them to burst into a number from Oliver. Add your standard noir detective with a few skeletons in the closet, and you have a healthy dose of melodrama.
As for the story itself: I found the characters 2-dimensional, the plot twists unsurprising, and the ending downright saccharine. Brutal flashbacks are interspersed between scenes of a rag-tag bunch of runaways so sympathetic (conveniently, none of the kids you're supposed to like are ever mentioned using drugs) you half expect them to burst into a number from Oliver. Add your standard noir detective with a few skeletons in the closet, and you have a healthy dose of melodrama.
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January 22, 2010I stopped about 85 pages into this one. The story of Casey, a teenage runaway in L.A. is juxtaposed with that of Jimmy McCann, the detective tasked with solving the politically sensitive murder of the Mayor’s close friend. Since we know (or think we know) that Casey did it within the first five pages, a lot of the suspense is thrown out the window. The reader is left with horror after horror perpetrated against Casey by her father and later her pimp in flashbacks.
Ultimately, it felt too much like an R-rated ABC Afterschool Special – lots of sex and violence, but not a lot of well-crafted storytelling.
Ultimately, it felt too much like an R-rated ABC Afterschool Special – lots of sex and violence, but not a lot of well-crafted storytelling.
May 30, 2013
There is definitely a good story in this book somewhere, but it was hard to find it amidst a silly amount of typos and an over-abundance of the word "asshole". 2.5 stars.
September 9, 2024
didn’t really vibe with it but i was traveling all day so no point in not finishing it
February 7, 2010
Boulevard is a hard novel to like. Guttentag's gritty tale of a teenage runaway's life on the street as it intersects with the investigation of a high profile lawyer's murder is modern noir at its best. However, that doesn't make it any easier to enjoy this realistic yet cinematic story of the boulevard of broken dreams.
That the prose is cinematic is no surprise, given Guttentag's "day job" as a documentary filmmaker, and it serves him well, alternating scenes of the investigations's progress with vignettes of dumpster diving and turning tricks. Readers will root for runaway heroine Casey at the same time they cheer on world-weary detective Jimmy McCann. Ending on a faint note of hope, Guttentag shows the possibility of a better life for both Casey and Jimmy, while raising a mocking authorial eyebrow at happy endings.
That the prose is cinematic is no surprise, given Guttentag's "day job" as a documentary filmmaker, and it serves him well, alternating scenes of the investigations's progress with vignettes of dumpster diving and turning tricks. Readers will root for runaway heroine Casey at the same time they cheer on world-weary detective Jimmy McCann. Ending on a faint note of hope, Guttentag shows the possibility of a better life for both Casey and Jimmy, while raising a mocking authorial eyebrow at happy endings.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews