"In what part of the universe does this guy’s mind reside?," I asked when I reviewed Kris Saknussemm's first novel. I'll admit that his latest, Private Midnight, brings him closer to our universe. But his is still more than slightly bent.
Saknussemm described that first book, Zanesville, as "techno-theological post-American monster vaudeville." Private Midnight is of a different genre. The jacket flap calls it "a psychoerotic noir fairytale." Makes sense. Saknussemm has taken noir crime fiction, infused it with a fantasy/horror/supernatural flavor and slathered it with kinky, at times graphic, erotica. Private Midnight's noir has a quintessential feel. The horror and eroticism seem to flow from the private dreams that strike at midnight or later. And it is a fairy tale to the extent the original Grimms' fairy tales were at times quite gruesome and violent, albeit not so overtly sexual.
The tale is told by Birch Ritter, an amiable, no-nonsense police detective with more than his fair share of demons. Imagine Jack Nicholson's J.J. Gittes as a public servant who's toting plenty of childhood and adult personal baggage. Then put him under the direction of David Lynch and you've got some of the idea.
From the standpoint of crime fiction, Private Midnight takes and follows a relatively straightforward path. Ritter and his new, younger partner are assigned to investigate the death of a wealthy businessman who appears to have committed suicide by pouring gas over his Mercedes, chaining himself to the steering wheel and lighting the vehicle on fire. Ritter can't quite put his finger on why the death seems so suspicious to him. As he's puzzling over it at his desk, his former partner drops a card on the desk that contains only an address on Eyrie Street and walks off without a word.
When Ritter goes there, he meets Genevieve Wyvern, a sensual, highly mysterious woman with seemingly hypnotic powers. Not only does she know details of Ritter's past, she claims he's there because he wants her help. She says he wants something he doesn't know how to ask for and that he wants to "see life through a new window." The meeting seems to transport Ritter into another dimension.
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