Book tip

Sirens by Joseph Knox

Here at The Day, we are limited by space and design from doing certain things within the body of a story. For example, I want to say, referring to dark crime fiction, "there's noir and then there's NOIR and now there's REALLY NOIR — only I'd like to put that last one in headline-sized typeface. Why? Because "Sirens," the debut by British novelist Joseph Knox, is out here in America. Boy, is this dark. And brilliant. Disgraced cop Aidan Waits has been fired — or so most think. But he's been tossed a secret lifeline: Infiltrate drug lord Zain Carver's empire — a high rollers' paradise of exotic nightclubs and debauched young rich people — and extricate the 17-year-old daughter of a local politician. Can Waits negotiate a dangerous tightrope without being ID'd or falling prey to the temptations? Knox is deft at atmosphere and characterization and his narrative noose tightens and tightens to brutal levels.