"What did I have, what did I know? Everything and nothing. I'm not a detective, I'm merely a man with less exacting scruples than most."
That particular quote from Isaiah Coleridge tells you most of what you need to know about Blood Standard.
Admittedly, I'm a bit late to the party in reading this work which came out nearly a year ago, but with the sequel, Black Mountain, due in a couple of months, I figured I better read this one first.
Blood Standard is very much a stand-alone novel, it's also a damn fine story.
I made a note while reading Blood Standard that Isaiah Coleridge is a wonderfully colorful character. I suppose this is true if by colorful I mean shades of blood.
Isaiah goes from the Chicago mob to a posting in Alaska where he steps over a line. He decides to return home and takes work on a horse farm swearing off "the life". When the granddaughter of the owners goes missing he uses his considerable skills to get to the truth. However bleak it may be.
I've often mentioned that the Crime genre is a second cousin to horror. And Blood Standard is A-List material. The writing is so good...
She opened the desk drawer, retrieved a pack of Kools, and lit one. She smoked, dropping the ashes into a ceramic dish that contained a lonely piece of peppermint candy.
Blood Standard is the equivalent of classic noir on steroids. This book will leave the reader bloodied and scarred.
Recommended.
Published by G. P. Putnum's Sons, Blood Standard is available in hardcover, paperback, e-book, and audio formats.
From the author's bio - Laird Barron was born in Alaska, where he raised huskies and worked in the construction and fishing industries for much of his youth. He is the author of several short-story collections and two novels, and his work has also appeared in many magazines and anthologies. A multiple Locus, World Fantasy, and Bram Stoker Award nominee, he is also a three-time winner of the Shirley Jackson Award. Barron lives in Kingston, NY.
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