Noir fiction for the modern reader.

SHOOT by Douglas Fairbairn (1973)

Reviewed by Mike Dennis

Is there any such thing as “macho noir”? I’ve never heard of it, but if there were, Shoot would be one of its classic examples.

Written in 1973 by Douglas Fairbairn, it’s a testosterone-loaded novel, which has one of the best openings I’ve read in a long, long time. A group of middle-aged hunters, all buddies and veterans of various wars, are out traipsing through the woods one day in full hunting regalia. As they come to a riverbank, they spot another group of guys, very much like themselves, on the other side. Without any provocation whatsoever, one of the hunters on the other side raises his rifle and fires at our group, wounding one of them. Reflexively, one of our guys, an expert marksman, quickly returns fire, blowing the shooter’s head apart.

A frantic firefight ensues, and eventually, our guys retreat and get the hell out of there without any more casualties. What follows is a well-constructed tale of the nature of manhood and its entwining with pack mentality.

Rex Jeannette is the ultimate alpha male, leading his group of friends through an agonizing analysis of both the bloody event and what they should do about it. Call the police? Go back and confront the attackers again? Do nothing? And speaking of the attackers, what are they going to do? Will they seek revenge for their slain comrade? Will they call the police? Who knows? But Rex is firmly in charge and everyone knows it.

He owns a big department store in town, and when he’s not dealing with the aftermath of the shootout in the woods, he’s busy slugging whiskey and screwing girls who work in his store. He makes constant references to firearms, complete with manufacturer, caliber, and model number. He’s not afraid of anything and he has no patience for anyone who is. Those who step out of line will pay for it.

Fairbairn, the author of the excellent 1977 noir novel, Street 8, is definitely untainted by the world of political correctness and all its stifling restrictions. Understandable, since PC wasn’t really entrenched in 1973. However, you get the impression that through Rex Jeannette, Fairbairn is venting a lot of his own aggression, working out his own hangups, and perhaps searching for his own place in the world.

The climax, while not entirely unexpected, is still somewhat of a surprise, thanks to the tremendous suspense the author has created in the runup to it. The final few lines are a fitting end to an incisive, violent novel.

STREET 8  by Douglas Fairbairn

Review by Mike Dennis, 2010

“Nobody wants to come downtown anymore.  They tell you it’s like coming to a foreign country.”

That’s the sentiment expressed by a Miami native in Street 8, a  hot-blooded 1977 noir novel by Douglas Fairbairn.

The title street, an English translation of Calle Ocho, the main drag of Miami’s Little Havana, is the site of Bobby Mead’s used car lot.  Out of habit, Bobby still calls it by its original name, Southwest 8^th Street, and from the office window of his lot, he’s seen Miami transformed from a sleepy, one-season tourist town into a vibrant Latin city.

The Cubans are everywhere.  They’re even buying cars from him, so for the first time, he hires a Cuban salesman, Oscar Pérez, to accommodate them.  Oscar, however, soon becomes embroiled in the hornets’ nest of exile politics, and the trouble begins.

The problem with Miami’s exile community in 1977 is that, while they’re committed to eliminating Fidel Castro, they also want to wipe out his sympathizers and spies who have infiltrated their organizations.  But exactly who is who?

Told entirely from Bobby Mead’s point of view, Street 8 allows him no letup.  His world is contracting around him, threatening to choke him, and not even his ratty South Beach hotel room offers him any sanctuary.  He has a teenage daughter, but his incredibly twisted relationship with her only serves to further cut him off from the city he once loved.

Fairbairn deftly ushers the reader through the dark fringes of the byzantine world of Miami Cubans.  These were the pre-cocaine-cowboy and pre-Miami-Vice days, and we eventually learn that some of them are more interested in acquiring power in Miami itself than they are in retaking their homeland to the south.

This little-known novel is an excellent noir tale, highly recommended, as it offers an uncompromising look at one man caught up in a city’s convulsive transition.