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The Night Market
It’s late Thursday night, and Inspector Ross Carver is at a crime scene in one of the city’s last luxury homes. The dead man on the floor is covered by an unknown substance that’s eating through his skin. Before Carver can identify it, six FBI agents burst in and remove him from the premises. He's pushed into a disinfectant trailer, forced to drink a liquid that sends him into seizures, and is shocked unconscious. On Sunday he wakes in his bed to find his neighbor, Mia—who he’s barely ever spoken to—reading aloud to him. He can’t remember the crime scene or how he got home; he has no idea two days have passed. Mia says she saw him being carried into their building by plainclothes police officers, who told her he’d been poisoned. Carver doesn’t really know this woman and has no way of disproving her, but his gut says to keep her close.
A mind-bending, masterfully plotted thriller—written in Moore's "lush, intoxicating style" (Justin Cronin)—that will captivate fans of Blake Crouch, China Miéville, and Lauren Beukes, The Night Market follows Carver as he works to find out what happened to him, soon realizing he's entangled in a web of conspiracy that spans the nation. And that Mia may know a lot more than she lets on.
A mind-bending, masterfully plotted thriller—written in Moore's "lush, intoxicating style" (Justin Cronin)—that will captivate fans of Blake Crouch, China Miéville, and Lauren Beukes, The Night Market follows Carver as he works to find out what happened to him, soon realizing he's entangled in a web of conspiracy that spans the nation. And that Mia may know a lot more than she lets on.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 16, 2018
160 people are currently reading
2,431 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Moore
9 books341 followersJonathan Moore is an Edgar Award and Hammett Prize nominated author of six novels.
His third novel, THE POISON ARTIST, was a selection of the BBC Radio 2 Book Club. His novel THE NIGHT MARKET was optioned as a feature film by Amazon Studios and Mandeville Films, and his books have been translated into 12 languages.
Before graduating from law school in New Orleans, he lived in Taiwan for three years, guided whitewater raft trips on the Rio Grande, and worked as an investigator for a criminal defense attorney in Washington, D.C. He has also been an English teacher, a bar owner, a counselor at a wilderness camp for juvenile delinquents, and a textbook writer.
Connect with Jonathan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jonathanmoorefiction.
His third novel, THE POISON ARTIST, was a selection of the BBC Radio 2 Book Club. His novel THE NIGHT MARKET was optioned as a feature film by Amazon Studios and Mandeville Films, and his books have been translated into 12 languages.
Before graduating from law school in New Orleans, he lived in Taiwan for three years, guided whitewater raft trips on the Rio Grande, and worked as an investigator for a criminal defense attorney in Washington, D.C. He has also been an English teacher, a bar owner, a counselor at a wilderness camp for juvenile delinquents, and a textbook writer.
Connect with Jonathan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jonathanmoorefiction.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 300 reviews
December 2, 2017
One of the most awesome aspects of Jonathan Moore's most recent books is how they are all stand alone novels set in a central world; each book falls under a different genre (psychological thriller, police procedural, dystopian thriller) and are set in different time periods. This being the third (dystopian thriller), I wasn't quite sure what to expect. It did have some similar vibes to The Dark Room; there was a bit of romance mixed in with some darker, suspenseful themes, but replace procedural with mobster/conspiracy theories and you'd have a clearer picture of what this book is.
While I loved the blending of lighter elements into the darker structure of TDR, I felt that the romance was a little too strong for my taste in this book. It's worth mentioning that this genre is not my typical go-to; in fact, I rarely read it and I feel like those who enjoy this type of story will appreciate it's subtle nuances much more than I was able to. The writing style is exquisite, and the ending was a nice little one-two punch, so I think I'm in the minority when feeling that the overall story was just a 3 star. Maybe I felt a little hurried along throughout the narrative and wished there had been just a little more meat to give it a few extra pages. Regardless, Moore is incredibly talented and will remain on my list of one-click authors. I admire his bravery at investigating many genres and tying them together in such a fun way.
Many thanks to the publisher for providing my copy.
While I loved the blending of lighter elements into the darker structure of TDR, I felt that the romance was a little too strong for my taste in this book. It's worth mentioning that this genre is not my typical go-to; in fact, I rarely read it and I feel like those who enjoy this type of story will appreciate it's subtle nuances much more than I was able to. The writing style is exquisite, and the ending was a nice little one-two punch, so I think I'm in the minority when feeling that the overall story was just a 3 star. Maybe I felt a little hurried along throughout the narrative and wished there had been just a little more meat to give it a few extra pages. Regardless, Moore is incredibly talented and will remain on my list of one-click authors. I admire his bravery at investigating many genres and tying them together in such a fun way.
Many thanks to the publisher for providing my copy.
January 31, 2018
”He didn’t know what was going on with him. He felt so hollowed out, he could almost hear the rush of the emptiness inside him. It was the blank sound at the mouth of an elevator shaft.
He had no idea what would fill that hole, no sense of what he was looking for.”
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m looking for---U2
The ethereal sounds of the Joshua Tree album kept floating through my head as I read this book, played at a slower speed so Bono’s enunciation was elongated. Blue and red electric sheep froliced on the periphery of my vision. I watched my cell phone spin slowly in a pitcher of water. Bubbles streamed upward as if it were drowning. I put a book on top of the pitcher, not a good book, but one of those books that trees weep over the making. I’d already turned the TV to face the wall. I unplugged everything electronic in the house. It took a sledgehammer to break my computer into enough jagged pieces to ease the bubbling anxiety in my stomach. I looked at the scattered plastic pieces on the lawn and resisted the urge to fling them over the fence or better yet throw them into the nearest bog and watch them sink from view. I shut the blinds to keep from looking at them.
Where’s Deckard when you need him?
I’m writing this on a Big Chief Tablet with a #2 pencil. (I tore the cover off the tablet because the Indian was inducing me to buy Indian Motorcycle Cigars.) Old school, you say? Well read this book, and you might think that old school is as hip as you want to be. I have a friend who is going to pick these pages up and take them to another friend and so on. Some brave soul in Russia will be the one who actually loads my words up to the web. I hope the glow worms in his head don’t make him give me up for a lifetime supply of Black Aria perfume.
Need, want, desire. Who can separate them anymore?
”Three women were taking shelter from the rain beneath the bar’s awning, their faces lit by the paper-thin glowcard advertisements they held. Every few seconds, one of the women would tap a glowcard against her cell phone to consummate a purchase. Discarded screens pulsed like LED embers around their feet, twinkling with soft music and looping videos.”
If you resemble this ensemble, then you probably should stop reading this review now because it is probably pointless. This review will not tell you what you want to hear. It will not liberate you. You are probably already lost.
What do I tell you about Ross Carver? He is a cop who lands in…”gray moss. Like a carpet of it spread across a rot-shrunken log. Carver could see the bones of his fingers, could see the riverine fissure marks in his skull where patches of scalp had eaten away.” He is thrown into a decontamination unit along with his partner, Jenner. He wakes up in his bed with no memory of...well...much of anything. His beautiful and intriguing neighbor Mia is sitting by his side reading a book to him.
It all feels right with a serpentine twist of something very wrong.
"If she's not crazy," Jenner said, "then she knows something. But maybe it's not the same thing she's telling you."
There is absolutely nothing wrong with Mia’s apartment, though.
”He saw no TVs, no computers, no telephones and no radios. Instead, she had books. Hundreds and thousands of hardback volumes on shelves built throughout the apartment. It smelled like the Rare Books room of the San Francisco Library--aged leather and the exotic musk of dry paper.”
Oh sweet nectar...daddy’s home.
Mia peels the labels from her wine bottles. That might sound eccentric, but not to me. I want to drink a bottle of wine because I’ve chosen to drink a bottle of wine.
Carver, the poor bastard, really tries, but he is caught in a situation where, even if he wins every battle, he will still lose the war. The conspiracy is bone deep. To bring it down, he’d have to reboot civilisation and leave it...dark. This book is set in the near future, or so they say. I’m the one sitting here watching my cell phone drown in the present, or is it already the past?
Jonathan Moore has written a loosely connected San Francisco trilogy which frankly ends with a glow-rious bang. The writing is top shelf; the thrills bring chills, and the noir atmosphere drips with the metallic essence of Blade Runner. It is only science-fiction if you don’t want to believe.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
He had no idea what would fill that hole, no sense of what he was looking for.”
”I have kissed honey lips
Felt the healing in the fingertips
It burned like fire
This burning desire
I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was one empty night
I was cold as a stone
But I still haven't found
What I'm looking for
But I still haven't found
What I'm looking for”
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m looking for---U2
The ethereal sounds of the Joshua Tree album kept floating through my head as I read this book, played at a slower speed so Bono’s enunciation was elongated. Blue and red electric sheep froliced on the periphery of my vision. I watched my cell phone spin slowly in a pitcher of water. Bubbles streamed upward as if it were drowning. I put a book on top of the pitcher, not a good book, but one of those books that trees weep over the making. I’d already turned the TV to face the wall. I unplugged everything electronic in the house. It took a sledgehammer to break my computer into enough jagged pieces to ease the bubbling anxiety in my stomach. I looked at the scattered plastic pieces on the lawn and resisted the urge to fling them over the fence or better yet throw them into the nearest bog and watch them sink from view. I shut the blinds to keep from looking at them.
Where’s Deckard when you need him?
I’m writing this on a Big Chief Tablet with a #2 pencil. (I tore the cover off the tablet because the Indian was inducing me to buy Indian Motorcycle Cigars.) Old school, you say? Well read this book, and you might think that old school is as hip as you want to be. I have a friend who is going to pick these pages up and take them to another friend and so on. Some brave soul in Russia will be the one who actually loads my words up to the web. I hope the glow worms in his head don’t make him give me up for a lifetime supply of Black Aria perfume.
Need, want, desire. Who can separate them anymore?
”Three women were taking shelter from the rain beneath the bar’s awning, their faces lit by the paper-thin glowcard advertisements they held. Every few seconds, one of the women would tap a glowcard against her cell phone to consummate a purchase. Discarded screens pulsed like LED embers around their feet, twinkling with soft music and looping videos.”
If you resemble this ensemble, then you probably should stop reading this review now because it is probably pointless. This review will not tell you what you want to hear. It will not liberate you. You are probably already lost.
What do I tell you about Ross Carver? He is a cop who lands in…”gray moss. Like a carpet of it spread across a rot-shrunken log. Carver could see the bones of his fingers, could see the riverine fissure marks in his skull where patches of scalp had eaten away.” He is thrown into a decontamination unit along with his partner, Jenner. He wakes up in his bed with no memory of...well...much of anything. His beautiful and intriguing neighbor Mia is sitting by his side reading a book to him.
It all feels right with a serpentine twist of something very wrong.
"If she's not crazy," Jenner said, "then she knows something. But maybe it's not the same thing she's telling you."
There is absolutely nothing wrong with Mia’s apartment, though.
”He saw no TVs, no computers, no telephones and no radios. Instead, she had books. Hundreds and thousands of hardback volumes on shelves built throughout the apartment. It smelled like the Rare Books room of the San Francisco Library--aged leather and the exotic musk of dry paper.”
Oh sweet nectar...daddy’s home.
Mia peels the labels from her wine bottles. That might sound eccentric, but not to me. I want to drink a bottle of wine because I’ve chosen to drink a bottle of wine.
Carver, the poor bastard, really tries, but he is caught in a situation where, even if he wins every battle, he will still lose the war. The conspiracy is bone deep. To bring it down, he’d have to reboot civilisation and leave it...dark. This book is set in the near future, or so they say. I’m the one sitting here watching my cell phone drown in the present, or is it already the past?
Jonathan Moore has written a loosely connected San Francisco trilogy which frankly ends with a glow-rious bang. The writing is top shelf; the thrills bring chills, and the noir atmosphere drips with the metallic essence of Blade Runner. It is only science-fiction if you don’t want to believe.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
January 31, 2020
This is a gloriously thrilling multi-genre dark, dystopian Crime Noir, the last in this trilogy. Moore has written an unforgettable tale set in a future San Francisco dominated by mobile phones, advertisements and glowcards, where people are caught up in a never ending cycle of purchasing the latest must have product, currently Black Aria perfume. They will even destroy themselves in their attempts to acquire these must have goods. Inspector Ross Carver is no different, this is how it is, until he finds himself on a crime scene with his partner, Jenner. They cannot believe what they see as they are hustled by the FBI into a decontamination unit. Carver wakes up 2 days later with no memory of what has happened, but feeling unwell. Reading to him is his neighbour, Mia Westcott, who has looked after him when he was returned to his apartment. An account of his actions jars with Carver as the scent of burnt metal and bleach pervades his possessions and gun. This is a story of a bleak and terrifying future, of unreliable memories, and manipulative forces behind the scenes.
It soon becomes clear that Jenner has similar problems with his memory and what he remembers, an interview with Patrick Wong. Patrick is discovered murdered, along with two other people, and he has been dead for some time, so Jenner could not have seen him. As explanations are sought which cannot be given, Hernandez, their boss, suspends Carver and Jenner. The unusual Mia lives as a recluse with none of the technological gadgets that comprise the modern world, a reminder that the world used to be different. Carver gets closer to Mia, although he is uncertain whether he trusts her or the information that she imparts. Carver, Jenner, and Mia delve into the murder of singer, Hadley, search for the truth behind their memory loss and endeavour to find out what really happened. Nothing is as it seems as danger and death follow them everywhere.
Moore evokes a beautifully atmospheric, bleak, sinister, and menacing picture of San Francisco and its numerous poverty stricken districts. A city where people lack the capacity to control themselves such as police officers going over the top in beating up a young woman, the existence of an underworld and an all powerful surveillance, including the use of drones. The novel is a joy to read, Moore's prose is eloquent and vibrant, and immediately hooks in the reader. Carver is a compelling character, driven to do what he does best, investigate, only the major thrust of his search is for himself, doomed to feel that something or someone important is missing from his life. A wonderfully thought provoking read of a world which does not seem that far fetched. Highly recommended! Many thanks to Orion for an ARC.
It soon becomes clear that Jenner has similar problems with his memory and what he remembers, an interview with Patrick Wong. Patrick is discovered murdered, along with two other people, and he has been dead for some time, so Jenner could not have seen him. As explanations are sought which cannot be given, Hernandez, their boss, suspends Carver and Jenner. The unusual Mia lives as a recluse with none of the technological gadgets that comprise the modern world, a reminder that the world used to be different. Carver gets closer to Mia, although he is uncertain whether he trusts her or the information that she imparts. Carver, Jenner, and Mia delve into the murder of singer, Hadley, search for the truth behind their memory loss and endeavour to find out what really happened. Nothing is as it seems as danger and death follow them everywhere.
Moore evokes a beautifully atmospheric, bleak, sinister, and menacing picture of San Francisco and its numerous poverty stricken districts. A city where people lack the capacity to control themselves such as police officers going over the top in beating up a young woman, the existence of an underworld and an all powerful surveillance, including the use of drones. The novel is a joy to read, Moore's prose is eloquent and vibrant, and immediately hooks in the reader. Carver is a compelling character, driven to do what he does best, investigate, only the major thrust of his search is for himself, doomed to feel that something or someone important is missing from his life. A wonderfully thought provoking read of a world which does not seem that far fetched. Highly recommended! Many thanks to Orion for an ARC.
November 28, 2017
The Night Market by Jonathan Moore is a sci-fi/dystopian genre with a little mix of romance. I definitely wouldn't consider this to be a thriller. With that being said, this book is not for everyone and I unfortunately am included in that everyone.
Detective Ross Carver and his partner Jenner get a call late Thursday night about a homicide. Jenner and Carver show up to the scene and a man is dead on the floor with an unknown substance that has eaten him alive. All of a sudden, a bunch of men show up with hazard suits and take Jenner and his partner off to a decontamination trailer. Both Carver and Jenner wake up three days later without having any memory of what happened at the scene.
The premise of the storyline was awesome... but it just was not there for me at all. The biggest issue I had with this novel were the characters. I felt like I was reading a robotic conversation between Jenner and Carver pretty much the majority of the novel. It just felt so blah and I was bored. I did not connect with any of the characters and it was MISSING so much depth.
Additionally, the story felt so ALL over the place. I felt like the author was trying too hard to have romance, suspense, sci-fi and a little bit of everything in this novel. I struggled big time trying to figure out how the puzzle fit nicely. It didn't...... haha period.
This is my first novel by Jonathan Moore... so I'm wondering if this is his type of writing style? Unfortunately, this novel was not really enjoyable for me.
Overall, 2.75 stars for me. Thank you so much to Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for an advanced arc in exchange for an honest review.
Publication date: 1/16/18.
Detective Ross Carver and his partner Jenner get a call late Thursday night about a homicide. Jenner and Carver show up to the scene and a man is dead on the floor with an unknown substance that has eaten him alive. All of a sudden, a bunch of men show up with hazard suits and take Jenner and his partner off to a decontamination trailer. Both Carver and Jenner wake up three days later without having any memory of what happened at the scene.
The premise of the storyline was awesome... but it just was not there for me at all. The biggest issue I had with this novel were the characters. I felt like I was reading a robotic conversation between Jenner and Carver pretty much the majority of the novel. It just felt so blah and I was bored. I did not connect with any of the characters and it was MISSING so much depth.
Additionally, the story felt so ALL over the place. I felt like the author was trying too hard to have romance, suspense, sci-fi and a little bit of everything in this novel. I struggled big time trying to figure out how the puzzle fit nicely. It didn't...... haha period.
This is my first novel by Jonathan Moore... so I'm wondering if this is his type of writing style? Unfortunately, this novel was not really enjoyable for me.
Overall, 2.75 stars for me. Thank you so much to Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for an advanced arc in exchange for an honest review.
Publication date: 1/16/18.
September 17, 2017
EXCELLENT! Coming: January 17, 2018. DON'T MISS IT!
"Do you ever think there's maybe something that's gone wrong in the world."
THE NIGHT MARKET brings to the reader a futuristic Super-Freaky-Creepy....and Scary existence....Mysterious characters....and Frightening situations all rolled into one remarkable....and suspenseful conspiracy thriller.
So....welcome to a dark and dangerous new world. SFPD Inspector's Carver and Jenner work homicide. They see some terrifying and gruesome crime scenes, but nothing compares to what they encountered Thursday night. If only they could remember....if only they knew who to trust.
"These days you don't know if a bird's a bird."
Chilling Story. Skillfully Plotted. Non-stop Intensity.
I so enjoyed Jonathan Moore's THE POISON ARTIST, but THE NIGHT MARKET....it blew me away!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. REALLY loved this one!
November 8, 2017
I received a free advance copy from the publisher for review.
Here’s a New Year’s resolution you will actually enjoy. Pick up a copy of this in January of 2018 when it releases and read it as quickly as possible. I promise you that it’ll be a lot more fun than a diet.
In the near future San Francisco is a city where most neighborhoods are so desperately poor that people scavenge wiring and bricks from crumbling buildings to sell for a little cash yet the upscale retail area can wrap a swanky hotel in silk as part of an elaborate launch event for a new perfume. Inspector Ross Carver and his partner Jenner have been doing their best to maintain order, but things seem to get worse by the day.
Carver and Jenner get called to a house where patrol officers have found a body, and the two detectives walk into a horrific sight. Before they can begin to process the scene some federal agents show up claiming jurisdiction and rush the cops through a decontamination process that finishes with the men being drugged.
Carver wakes up in his apartment days later with no memory of what happened to find a mysterious and beautiful neighbor lady taking care of him. Supposedly he’s been down with a bad case of the flu, but he quickly finds clues that make him determined to figure out what really happened. As he begins to unravel the conspiracy behind everything Carver will be shocked to his core at what he learns.
I was hooked from the opening scenes of this, but during the first part I thought that Jonathan Moore had made an error by telling us what happened to Carver and Jenner. It seemed like starting with Carver waking up and piecing together the night they found the body would have been a better way to do it, but when other revelations are made all my reservations went right out the window. Moore knew exactly what he was doing with every step in this novel, and letting us in on one mystery from the jump makes a reader feel fully in the know which makes the twists later that much better when we realize we were as clueless as Carver all along.
Technically this is the conclusion to a trilogy, but it’s not your traditional three-part story. The books are part of a shared universe in San Francisco with some previous events referenced and one supporting player showing up in all of them yet each have different main characters. All could be shelved in the crime/mystery section, but they’re in distinctly different sub-genres. The Poison Artist is a psychological suspense novel, The Dark Room is pretty much a police procedural whodunit, and then The Night Market shifts to a future setting and is a sci-fi conspiracy thriller.
The most common factor is the atmosphere that Moore creates with his vivid writing. There’s a touch of the surreal to each in which characters seem to be almost drifting through a dreamscape at times. Yet there’s also a reality to it all that keeps a sense of tension and momentum and also give you firm footing even when things get weird. It’s a tricky tightrope to walk, and Moore does it with style that make these books a successful fusion of literature with genre fiction. With the shift to a future version of San Francisco he creates a dystopian vibe that reminded me of Blade Runner while still being original and unique.
There’s no shortage of grim versions of the future and on the surface this has some of the tropes of any sci-fi conspiracy story, but one of my favorite things was the secret at the heart of this. I’m not even going to discuss it under a spoiler tag because it’s just too good to risk ruining so I’ll just say that I thought it was clever in its originality and terrifying in its implications as well seeming all too plausible.
Barring any unforeseen dark horse candidates popping up in the next two months this is going to be my best book of 2017.
Here’s a New Year’s resolution you will actually enjoy. Pick up a copy of this in January of 2018 when it releases and read it as quickly as possible. I promise you that it’ll be a lot more fun than a diet.
In the near future San Francisco is a city where most neighborhoods are so desperately poor that people scavenge wiring and bricks from crumbling buildings to sell for a little cash yet the upscale retail area can wrap a swanky hotel in silk as part of an elaborate launch event for a new perfume. Inspector Ross Carver and his partner Jenner have been doing their best to maintain order, but things seem to get worse by the day.
Carver and Jenner get called to a house where patrol officers have found a body, and the two detectives walk into a horrific sight. Before they can begin to process the scene some federal agents show up claiming jurisdiction and rush the cops through a decontamination process that finishes with the men being drugged.
Carver wakes up in his apartment days later with no memory of what happened to find a mysterious and beautiful neighbor lady taking care of him. Supposedly he’s been down with a bad case of the flu, but he quickly finds clues that make him determined to figure out what really happened. As he begins to unravel the conspiracy behind everything Carver will be shocked to his core at what he learns.
I was hooked from the opening scenes of this, but during the first part I thought that Jonathan Moore had made an error by telling us what happened to Carver and Jenner. It seemed like starting with Carver waking up and piecing together the night they found the body would have been a better way to do it, but when other revelations are made all my reservations went right out the window. Moore knew exactly what he was doing with every step in this novel, and letting us in on one mystery from the jump makes a reader feel fully in the know which makes the twists later that much better when we realize we were as clueless as Carver all along.
Technically this is the conclusion to a trilogy, but it’s not your traditional three-part story. The books are part of a shared universe in San Francisco with some previous events referenced and one supporting player showing up in all of them yet each have different main characters. All could be shelved in the crime/mystery section, but they’re in distinctly different sub-genres. The Poison Artist is a psychological suspense novel, The Dark Room is pretty much a police procedural whodunit, and then The Night Market shifts to a future setting and is a sci-fi conspiracy thriller.
The most common factor is the atmosphere that Moore creates with his vivid writing. There’s a touch of the surreal to each in which characters seem to be almost drifting through a dreamscape at times. Yet there’s also a reality to it all that keeps a sense of tension and momentum and also give you firm footing even when things get weird. It’s a tricky tightrope to walk, and Moore does it with style that make these books a successful fusion of literature with genre fiction. With the shift to a future version of San Francisco he creates a dystopian vibe that reminded me of Blade Runner while still being original and unique.
There’s no shortage of grim versions of the future and on the surface this has some of the tropes of any sci-fi conspiracy story, but one of my favorite things was the secret at the heart of this. I’m not even going to discuss it under a spoiler tag because it’s just too good to risk ruining so I’ll just say that I thought it was clever in its originality and terrifying in its implications as well seeming all too plausible.
Barring any unforeseen dark horse candidates popping up in the next two months this is going to be my best book of 2017.
November 11, 2017
A futuristic thriller with a twisted scheme to sabotage society in a way to benefit a few!
San Francisco is home to detective Ross Carver and the horror/crime scene he discovers in a luxury apartment. A dead body and a suspicious substance covering it. Something is terribly wrong and Ross finds himself thrust into a decontamination process.
Ross wakes up in bed and discovers he has been unconscious and has no memory of the past two days! His neighbor, Mia is by his side and is playing nurse. Just what is her motivation?
This book is set in the future and has quite a bit of scientific and technology references relating to the "conspiracy" that has taken over the city.
Fans of strong police procedural stories should enjoy and this one has a complex and terrifying conclusion that somehow seems possible in our heavily technology inundated society.
Thanks to Netgalley for my ARC
San Francisco is home to detective Ross Carver and the horror/crime scene he discovers in a luxury apartment. A dead body and a suspicious substance covering it. Something is terribly wrong and Ross finds himself thrust into a decontamination process.
Ross wakes up in bed and discovers he has been unconscious and has no memory of the past two days! His neighbor, Mia is by his side and is playing nurse. Just what is her motivation?
This book is set in the future and has quite a bit of scientific and technology references relating to the "conspiracy" that has taken over the city.
Fans of strong police procedural stories should enjoy and this one has a complex and terrifying conclusion that somehow seems possible in our heavily technology inundated society.
Thanks to Netgalley for my ARC
November 10, 2017
Detective Ross Carver and his partner are on duty on what seems to be any other Thursday night when the get the call that there has been a homicide. Arriving at the scene in a luxurious home things don't seem to be quite right that night but Ross and his partner go about securing the scene. Just as they've about cleared the home and gone in to inspect the body a group of men enter the premises dressed in hazard gear and yank Ross and his partner out into a decontamination trailer.
On Sunday Ross awakens in his apartment with his neighbor, Mia, watching over him. Ross has no memory of the what had happened to land him in his neighbors care but she tells him he was brought in by what looked like other officers and told he’d been poisoned. Ross only has memories from the Wednesday before and needs to find out just what happened to him the last four days and how he ended up back at his place unconscious.
First, The Night Market by Jonathon Moore seems to be loosely tied to two of his previous books, The Poison Artist and The Dark Room. I did not realize this when picking this one up or I might have passed this one by myself. I'm not sure how much of the story has been built in the other two reads or even how connected that they are but all throughout this book I was finding myself wondering just what was missing but perhaps that may be the answer.
This story while not a bad one overall still seemed to me to be a bit disjointed at times as if things were just tossed in here and there on a whim. It starts off a bit as a police procedural then moves onto science fiction the perhaps a drama with a mystery and even a bit of romance all the while changing from each genre here and there throughout the book. Normally combined genres draw me in and don't want to let go but with this one I struggled with how they fit quite often although there were still moments of being completely engaged. All in all a rather odd experience to say the least. When finished with this one I still struggled a bit with my thoughts since there were times it really shined and had some interesting ideas in the story but overall I think it's one that ended as a just OK read for me and unfortunately will be a bit forgettable when said and done.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.wordpress....
On Sunday Ross awakens in his apartment with his neighbor, Mia, watching over him. Ross has no memory of the what had happened to land him in his neighbors care but she tells him he was brought in by what looked like other officers and told he’d been poisoned. Ross only has memories from the Wednesday before and needs to find out just what happened to him the last four days and how he ended up back at his place unconscious.
First, The Night Market by Jonathon Moore seems to be loosely tied to two of his previous books, The Poison Artist and The Dark Room. I did not realize this when picking this one up or I might have passed this one by myself. I'm not sure how much of the story has been built in the other two reads or even how connected that they are but all throughout this book I was finding myself wondering just what was missing but perhaps that may be the answer.
This story while not a bad one overall still seemed to me to be a bit disjointed at times as if things were just tossed in here and there on a whim. It starts off a bit as a police procedural then moves onto science fiction the perhaps a drama with a mystery and even a bit of romance all the while changing from each genre here and there throughout the book. Normally combined genres draw me in and don't want to let go but with this one I struggled with how they fit quite often although there were still moments of being completely engaged. All in all a rather odd experience to say the least. When finished with this one I still struggled a bit with my thoughts since there were times it really shined and had some interesting ideas in the story but overall I think it's one that ended as a just OK read for me and unfortunately will be a bit forgettable when said and done.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.wordpress....
July 7, 2017
Brilliant. The last book in the loosely connected Noir San Francisco trilogy and probably my favourite of the three, The Night Market is creepy and intense, set years after the events of the previous books and throwing us into a world that is the same but also quite quite different.
Beautifully descriptive both in character and setting the San Francisco we find in “The Night Market” has a tangibly different feel to it than before. Carver lives here, is part of the law here and so through him we can see the different nuances and the sense of feeling Mr Moore brings to the narrative is wonderfully absorbing.
From the very first chapters where we, the readers, feel the full impact of what happens to Carver, then watch him haunted by the missing memories, determined to find out the truth, it is utterly gripping and plays on your mind while you are away from it -It never really lets up until that very last page, with its beautifully emotive ending. The theme running through it is scarily authentic, a possible future that is far from beyond the realms of possibility – a thought provoking nightmare journey that Carver takes us on with him.
An unpredictable story told with razor sharp edges and deeply felt impassioned moments, The Night Market cleverly and rather brutally yet beautifully brings an end to this show – With The Poison Artist you get a psychological thriller with a classically layered unreliable narrator, with The Dark Room you get a tense, nail biting police procedural and character drama, with The Night Market you get a speculative dystopian tale and holding all of these together is that city – San Francisco – in all its glory – and the people that live there.
If you’ve not read The Poison Artist or The Dark Room yet then I recommend them – whilst each novel stands on its own, read all together they make a complete work of art.
Highly Recommended.
Beautifully descriptive both in character and setting the San Francisco we find in “The Night Market” has a tangibly different feel to it than before. Carver lives here, is part of the law here and so through him we can see the different nuances and the sense of feeling Mr Moore brings to the narrative is wonderfully absorbing.
From the very first chapters where we, the readers, feel the full impact of what happens to Carver, then watch him haunted by the missing memories, determined to find out the truth, it is utterly gripping and plays on your mind while you are away from it -It never really lets up until that very last page, with its beautifully emotive ending. The theme running through it is scarily authentic, a possible future that is far from beyond the realms of possibility – a thought provoking nightmare journey that Carver takes us on with him.
An unpredictable story told with razor sharp edges and deeply felt impassioned moments, The Night Market cleverly and rather brutally yet beautifully brings an end to this show – With The Poison Artist you get a psychological thriller with a classically layered unreliable narrator, with The Dark Room you get a tense, nail biting police procedural and character drama, with The Night Market you get a speculative dystopian tale and holding all of these together is that city – San Francisco – in all its glory – and the people that live there.
If you’ve not read The Poison Artist or The Dark Room yet then I recommend them – whilst each novel stands on its own, read all together they make a complete work of art.
Highly Recommended.
June 24, 2018
Jonathan Moore has created a near-future San Francisco that I want no part of. The outlying areas of the city are bleak. Abandoned neighborhoods and dilapidated buildings exist in the dark. Streetlights don’t work; everything of value, including the wiring inside the streetlights, has been stolen. It’s a dangerous place to be. It’s safer within the lighted areas of the city, but there is still something wrong with the world there, too. Smash-and-grab crime is rampant. Mail consists of glowcards that are activated by touch. And yet, there are still working pay phones.
This is the world in which Ross Carver and Cleve Jenner of the SFPD are called to a crime scene where a body is being eaten by an unknown substance. Two patrolmen who were the first responders, Carver, and Jenner are almost immediately removed from the scene by the FBI and taken to a decontamination vehicle for treatment. They wake up in their homes days later feeling very sick and not remembering very much.
I was told this book would mess with my head, and it did. It also touched a nerve. It justified my anger and disgust with the corporate world and with governments who support it. This is fiction, but look at the response it brought out in me! Isn’t that what a good book does? I cared about the characters, I wanted to know what was happening and why, and I easily placed myself in this city. So, while this is not a book I would usually read, I really enjoyed it.
This is the world in which Ross Carver and Cleve Jenner of the SFPD are called to a crime scene where a body is being eaten by an unknown substance. Two patrolmen who were the first responders, Carver, and Jenner are almost immediately removed from the scene by the FBI and taken to a decontamination vehicle for treatment. They wake up in their homes days later feeling very sick and not remembering very much.
I was told this book would mess with my head, and it did. It also touched a nerve. It justified my anger and disgust with the corporate world and with governments who support it. This is fiction, but look at the response it brought out in me! Isn’t that what a good book does? I cared about the characters, I wanted to know what was happening and why, and I easily placed myself in this city. So, while this is not a book I would usually read, I really enjoyed it.
December 6, 2017
Not having read The Poison Artist or The Dark Room, I was new to the dark and disturbing San Francisco Moore has created in this loosely related series. Here, a futuristic city is revealed one tech piece at a time, each seamlessly integrated into the lives of the characters and balanced cleverly on the line of believability so that it's hard to determine just how far forward we're supposed to be. It is immediately, creepily plausible, keeping your mind absorbed in the 'what ifs' from the first page.
After attending a terrifyingly bloody murder, things start to fall apart for homicide detectives Carver and Jenner- beginning with neither having any real memory of just what happened that night. Of course, in this San Francisco, neither the questions nor the answers are going to be what you'd expect. The book blends many of the traditional sci fi and dystopian themes: dangerously omnipotent tech companies, brutal policing, surveillance, memory control- but Moore keeps it interesting by focusing the story through the eyes of Carver, the dogged detective determined to do the right thing and find out what's going on, no matter the danger. He's immediately likeable, clever and capable, the kind of man you know won't let things lie. He is a character we all know well, his dependability allowing us to get behind him from the start, and making him the perfect foil for the uncertainty of the events that surround him. Whatever the questions, we are reassured that he is the answer. And boy does he ever answer them....
Well written, intelligently plotted, and with the kind of ending that kicks you in the gut, this is one to put on your list for 2018.
ARC via Netgalley.
After attending a terrifyingly bloody murder, things start to fall apart for homicide detectives Carver and Jenner- beginning with neither having any real memory of just what happened that night. Of course, in this San Francisco, neither the questions nor the answers are going to be what you'd expect. The book blends many of the traditional sci fi and dystopian themes: dangerously omnipotent tech companies, brutal policing, surveillance, memory control- but Moore keeps it interesting by focusing the story through the eyes of Carver, the dogged detective determined to do the right thing and find out what's going on, no matter the danger. He's immediately likeable, clever and capable, the kind of man you know won't let things lie. He is a character we all know well, his dependability allowing us to get behind him from the start, and making him the perfect foil for the uncertainty of the events that surround him. Whatever the questions, we are reassured that he is the answer. And boy does he ever answer them....
Well written, intelligently plotted, and with the kind of ending that kicks you in the gut, this is one to put on your list for 2018.
ARC via Netgalley.
November 16, 2017
Decided to keep this at 4 stars after letting sitting on this review for awhile.
The publisher did a great job with piquing my interest and while I can't say that this was 'A mind-bending, masterfully plotted thriller', it certainly was unique and did keep me guessing. (or maybe confused is a better word)
I'm going to start with what I didn't care for:
-This takes place in the 'near-future'. No time frame is ever mentioned, and the futuristic references aren't always obvious, so it took me a while to get comfortable in the setting the author was trying to create. I kind of feel that if you are going to go futuristic, commit 100%.
- The beginning started out strong and really had me invested, but the mid way point really fizzled for me. It didn't pick up again until the last 1/4 of the book.
-This ties a bit into my first issue. The futuristic mentions were just thrown in with no backstory or explanation of what they are or how they got to be. For example: glow cards. Cool concept, would have liked to know more of how they came to be versus just accepting that they are.
What I liked:
-The characters! Carver, Mia, even Jenner, were well written and likable.
-The concept of the story. While at times a bit over the top, the underlying message of how people can be controlled and manipulated was very creative, not to mention how determined the bad guys were at keeping their secrets.
-The ending. I recently read that this is book 1 to an upcoming series, so the ending was a perfect lead in to book 2 and certainly left me intrigued wanting to know more of what's in store for Carver and Jenner.
It's hard to classify this in any one genre, which might be a good thing as it has a little bit of everything for most readers. It's police procedural, Sci-Fi, Mystery, and Romance all thrown into one!
ARC provided by NetGalley
The publisher did a great job with piquing my interest and while I can't say that this was 'A mind-bending, masterfully plotted thriller', it certainly was unique and did keep me guessing. (or maybe confused is a better word)
I'm going to start with what I didn't care for:
-This takes place in the 'near-future'. No time frame is ever mentioned, and the futuristic references aren't always obvious, so it took me a while to get comfortable in the setting the author was trying to create. I kind of feel that if you are going to go futuristic, commit 100%.
- The beginning started out strong and really had me invested, but the mid way point really fizzled for me. It didn't pick up again until the last 1/4 of the book.
-This ties a bit into my first issue. The futuristic mentions were just thrown in with no backstory or explanation of what they are or how they got to be. For example: glow cards. Cool concept, would have liked to know more of how they came to be versus just accepting that they are.
What I liked:
-The characters! Carver, Mia, even Jenner, were well written and likable.
-The concept of the story. While at times a bit over the top, the underlying message of how people can be controlled and manipulated was very creative, not to mention how determined the bad guys were at keeping their secrets.
-The ending. I recently read that this is book 1 to an upcoming series, so the ending was a perfect lead in to book 2 and certainly left me intrigued wanting to know more of what's in store for Carver and Jenner.
It's hard to classify this in any one genre, which might be a good thing as it has a little bit of everything for most readers. It's police procedural, Sci-Fi, Mystery, and Romance all thrown into one!
ARC provided by NetGalley
October 21, 2022
Amazing read.
It’s set in San Francisco in the not too distant future. Much of the city is completely dark at night. All of the redwoods are gone. There are more sparrows than ever before… roosting on what remains of buildings long looted of their fixtures, their copper, even their bricks. Drones fill the night skies - many delivering drugs to darkened neighborhoods.
Citizens are being watched, unaware by whom or by what.
This begins as a typical cop procedural and then twenty-five pages in or so it takes a drastic turn and then it becomes a futuristic thriller that could have come out of a Jim Nisbet or a Jack O’Connell terror-scape.
”Somehow the world changed. It went dark a long time ago, but nobody noticed. Except you. You saw something, figured it out. And now you have to tell me what it is.”
Highest Recommendation
It’s set in San Francisco in the not too distant future. Much of the city is completely dark at night. All of the redwoods are gone. There are more sparrows than ever before… roosting on what remains of buildings long looted of their fixtures, their copper, even their bricks. Drones fill the night skies - many delivering drugs to darkened neighborhoods.
Citizens are being watched, unaware by whom or by what.
This begins as a typical cop procedural and then twenty-five pages in or so it takes a drastic turn and then it becomes a futuristic thriller that could have come out of a Jim Nisbet or a Jack O’Connell terror-scape.
”Somehow the world changed. It went dark a long time ago, but nobody noticed. Except you. You saw something, figured it out. And now you have to tell me what it is.”
Highest Recommendation
January 29, 2018
This psychological thriller was great entertainment for me. The tale effectively mashes a police procedural with a science fiction dystopia, the latter of which emerges slowly on the reader’s consciousness.
For the most part we are in the zone where the detective hero seeks to solve a set of vicious murders that appear gang-related. But we get a taste of some kind of larger conspiracy at the beginning along with our protagonist. San Francisco police detective Carver and his partner Jenner come across a weird homicide scene where the body has in a short time taken on the appearance of gray moss (“Like a carpet of it spread across a rot-shrunken log”). Soon thereafter, the FBI takes over the scene, and the detectives are whisked off to some kind of decontamination procedure. We part synchrony with our hero when he wakes up with no memory of the night and under the care of his very reclusive apartment neighbor, Mia. It was a bit frustrating to experience Carver slowly work toward what we already think we know, obviously some kind of cover up of nefarious government secrets. But the truth is stranger than simple imagination can render, and each small step of progress kept me turning the pages.
At first I was in the same boat with him over whether to trust Mia, who seems too kind and savvy to be believed, yet was glad he takes the chance to collude with her. Because paranoia runs deep and wide when shadowy forces erase your memory, Carver, Mia, and Jenner have to be especially creative to work the case in secret. The setting of San Francisco makes a satisfying playground for a variety of subtle gambits, violent scenarios, tense close-calls, and tragic losses of other allies along the way. The small pieces of the puzzle begin to add up to some sort of fiendish scheme by powerful figures in business and government, but how high does it go and what is its purpose?
This story draws upon some of the same fascination we get from other heroes struggling to survive against faceless enemies while handicapped from memory problems. Think of movies such as Jason Bourne, Memento, or even Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Certainly the book is not up to the genius of P.K. Dick’s chilling dystopias and paranoid mind-benders, but the skills in Moore’s delivery show some strengths. For example, I appreciate his clever way of slowly revealing the elements of the dystopia at play in this near-future world. Urban decay we can take in stride, but here we get an exaggerated state of large areas of the city being left to deteriorate and become a haven for squatters and looters. A huge underclass lives in abject poverty, many getting by from scavenging electrical cables or pipes. Meanwhile, the rich flaunt their luxurious lifestyles and maintain security with the best tech and muscle their money can buy, which includes a major role of the police force. While all this seems only a moderate extension from where we are now, Moore deftly slips in small clues about more profound differences at work in this society. For example, early in the book when Carver is checking his mailbox he is beset by a memory with short-term projections from today’s tech combined with some mystifying elements:
He remembered standing here shoulder to shoulder with his neighbors, each of them looking through the day’s offerings: stacks of postcard-sized disposable screens, images lighting up and soft music playing at the touch of human fingers. Gemstones and real silk. Scotch whiskey casked one hundred years ago. A subscription service that could send cuts of meat … Tap the screen to your wallet and enter your PIN code, and …any of it could come to your bedroom window by drone. More than once, he’d looked up to see trembling hands beside him. Tears on his neighbor’s cheek; his own vision hot and blurred.
In so many ways this book plays on the sense of the world being a dystopia already. In the war between the haves and have-nots, it is not hard to believe the former would go to great lengths to maintain their status. Thus, while the McGuffin at the end may be silly to many, the fight of our heroes here is a pleasurable fantasy to stand in place of the helpless feeling many of us experience in the face of ominous changes in our social reality wrought by new technologies and certain of our leaders (guess who).
This book was provided by the published for review through the Netgalley program.
For the most part we are in the zone where the detective hero seeks to solve a set of vicious murders that appear gang-related. But we get a taste of some kind of larger conspiracy at the beginning along with our protagonist. San Francisco police detective Carver and his partner Jenner come across a weird homicide scene where the body has in a short time taken on the appearance of gray moss (“Like a carpet of it spread across a rot-shrunken log”). Soon thereafter, the FBI takes over the scene, and the detectives are whisked off to some kind of decontamination procedure. We part synchrony with our hero when he wakes up with no memory of the night and under the care of his very reclusive apartment neighbor, Mia. It was a bit frustrating to experience Carver slowly work toward what we already think we know, obviously some kind of cover up of nefarious government secrets. But the truth is stranger than simple imagination can render, and each small step of progress kept me turning the pages.
At first I was in the same boat with him over whether to trust Mia, who seems too kind and savvy to be believed, yet was glad he takes the chance to collude with her. Because paranoia runs deep and wide when shadowy forces erase your memory, Carver, Mia, and Jenner have to be especially creative to work the case in secret. The setting of San Francisco makes a satisfying playground for a variety of subtle gambits, violent scenarios, tense close-calls, and tragic losses of other allies along the way. The small pieces of the puzzle begin to add up to some sort of fiendish scheme by powerful figures in business and government, but how high does it go and what is its purpose?
This story draws upon some of the same fascination we get from other heroes struggling to survive against faceless enemies while handicapped from memory problems. Think of movies such as Jason Bourne, Memento, or even Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Certainly the book is not up to the genius of P.K. Dick’s chilling dystopias and paranoid mind-benders, but the skills in Moore’s delivery show some strengths. For example, I appreciate his clever way of slowly revealing the elements of the dystopia at play in this near-future world. Urban decay we can take in stride, but here we get an exaggerated state of large areas of the city being left to deteriorate and become a haven for squatters and looters. A huge underclass lives in abject poverty, many getting by from scavenging electrical cables or pipes. Meanwhile, the rich flaunt their luxurious lifestyles and maintain security with the best tech and muscle their money can buy, which includes a major role of the police force. While all this seems only a moderate extension from where we are now, Moore deftly slips in small clues about more profound differences at work in this society. For example, early in the book when Carver is checking his mailbox he is beset by a memory with short-term projections from today’s tech combined with some mystifying elements:
He remembered standing here shoulder to shoulder with his neighbors, each of them looking through the day’s offerings: stacks of postcard-sized disposable screens, images lighting up and soft music playing at the touch of human fingers. Gemstones and real silk. Scotch whiskey casked one hundred years ago. A subscription service that could send cuts of meat … Tap the screen to your wallet and enter your PIN code, and …any of it could come to your bedroom window by drone. More than once, he’d looked up to see trembling hands beside him. Tears on his neighbor’s cheek; his own vision hot and blurred.
In so many ways this book plays on the sense of the world being a dystopia already. In the war between the haves and have-nots, it is not hard to believe the former would go to great lengths to maintain their status. Thus, while the McGuffin at the end may be silly to many, the fight of our heroes here is a pleasurable fantasy to stand in place of the helpless feeling many of us experience in the face of ominous changes in our social reality wrought by new technologies and certain of our leaders (guess who).
This book was provided by the published for review through the Netgalley program.
September 30, 2017
3.5 stars
I don't even know what just happened...Seriously, what did I just read?
So Is that part of a series or not? Sort of??? Maybe???? Apparently....
UGH!
The beginning of this book was off the hook. And since I said "hook", I think it is safe to say that the opening pages had me hooked. It is late on a Thursday night and Inspector Ross Carver and his partner, Jenner, have been called to a crime scene. There is a dead man on the floor. He is covered in an unrecognizable substance which appears to be eating through the man's skin. Before he and his partner can get closer to look, they are removed from the scene by the FBI who take them to be decontaminated/disinfected.
That was Thursday night. Carver wakes up and it is Sunday and his neighbor, Mia, is sitting in a chair next to him. They really do not know each other but she saw him getting dropped off and decided to help care for him. Carver is unsure about her, heck, he really does not know her at all but decides to keep her close so he can fill in some missing gaps for him.
I can't really say much else. There are some twists and turns and cat and mouse moments in this book. The pacing is fast and to be honest, I really had no idea what was going to happen next. The book is set in, the not so near future, San Francisco. This book had many "feels" to it. At times it felt set in the 80's, at times dystopian, at times in the future, it was weird yet strangely compelling and interesting. I don't think that this book is for everyone. It was weird. But fans or Moore should not be disappointed.
I received a copy of this book from Houghton Miflin Harcourt and NetGalley in return for an honest review.
See more of my reviews at www.openbookpost.com
I don't even know what just happened...Seriously, what did I just read?
So Is that part of a series or not? Sort of??? Maybe???? Apparently....
UGH!
The beginning of this book was off the hook. And since I said "hook", I think it is safe to say that the opening pages had me hooked. It is late on a Thursday night and Inspector Ross Carver and his partner, Jenner, have been called to a crime scene. There is a dead man on the floor. He is covered in an unrecognizable substance which appears to be eating through the man's skin. Before he and his partner can get closer to look, they are removed from the scene by the FBI who take them to be decontaminated/disinfected.
That was Thursday night. Carver wakes up and it is Sunday and his neighbor, Mia, is sitting in a chair next to him. They really do not know each other but she saw him getting dropped off and decided to help care for him. Carver is unsure about her, heck, he really does not know her at all but decides to keep her close so he can fill in some missing gaps for him.
I can't really say much else. There are some twists and turns and cat and mouse moments in this book. The pacing is fast and to be honest, I really had no idea what was going to happen next. The book is set in, the not so near future, San Francisco. This book had many "feels" to it. At times it felt set in the 80's, at times dystopian, at times in the future, it was weird yet strangely compelling and interesting. I don't think that this book is for everyone. It was weird. But fans or Moore should not be disappointed.
I received a copy of this book from Houghton Miflin Harcourt and NetGalley in return for an honest review.
See more of my reviews at www.openbookpost.com
July 30, 2019
Sorry I thought I wrote a review for this one after I finished it. Moore is one of my new favorite authors. I don't know why he is not more well known. Poison Artist and the Dark Room are wonderful books and I highly recommend them. If Moore continues on he will break out soon.
d.
d.
February 27, 2018
"These days you don't know if a bird's a bird."
Sad to say this novel was not for me. It’s a futuristic dystopian thriller with a small romantic component.
I did like the idea of the novel. Imagine, a near future where your memories are erased....Let's back up a little. Inspector Ross Carver and his partner, Jenner are called to the scene of a death. When they get there, two policemen are waiting for them. To their amazement, the body of the victim is undergoing autodegradation. Bones are disappearing in front of their eyes. Just then, the FBI (or so they say) walk into the room and take them to a decontamination trailer. Next thing they know, they are given something and when Ross Carver wakes up in his own bed at his apartment, he can't remember anything from the last three days and to his surprise, his neighbor Mia is reading to him.
Ross knows something is very wrong and when Jenner admits he's having problems with his memory too and they are surrounded by a funny smell, they are both determined to discover what was done to them. But, who can they trust? Is Mia hiding information from them? Who's the mastermind? And is the world going mad?
Like I said earlier, the premise was a good one but I failed to enjoy The Night Market. It might be this reader's fault for not realizing this was a futuristic suspense novel and I can't say that I have read this genre before. I felt the prose dragged in certain parts and I didn't buy the Mia-Ross interaction.
Thank you, NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the chance to read The Night Market.
Cliffhanger: No
2/5 Fangs
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March 31, 2021
This is a quiet kind of near-future noir - one that took me a bit by surprise. There were echoes of BladeRunner here, not because of androids, more because of the feeling; a kind of loneliness in the middle of a bustling city, and a sense of isolation that shaded everything with a tinge of melancholy.
I admired the way that some of the noir tropes here were turned on their head, and the level of thought that had gone into the creation of this subtly wrong world.
Another win for the TBR- cleanout, and another author whose back catalogue I can't wait to explore further.
I admired the way that some of the noir tropes here were turned on their head, and the level of thought that had gone into the creation of this subtly wrong world.
Another win for the TBR- cleanout, and another author whose back catalogue I can't wait to explore further.
February 1, 2018
"'Jesus," Jenner said. "What is it?'
'Flies. On the glass. Thousands of flies.'"
This book reminds me of an article I read a month ago about how smartphones are literally changing the way people's brains work, ruining our concentration, executive function, and memory as well as destroying our relationships with the people we spend physical time with (I wish I could find the exact article so I could quote the passage where it says that hey, maybe children should just get used to being ignored by parents who favor their phones which henceforth has filled me with shame every time I reach for my phone when I'm at home and thus is why I've read eleven books in the past month, since it seems more wholesome to ignore my kid in favor of books instead of Twitter). While featuring Jonathan Moore's trademark neon lights shining through the mist, endless Bay area fog, a complete lack of sunshine, and hard-boiled dudes and mysterious femmes with lovely profiles and evocative perfume, this also contains drones that look like sparrows, a Black Dahlia rip-off killer, and a nefarious, city-spanning corporation with a finger in every pie This is probably the weakest of Moore's loose San Fran trilogy for me, maybe because the crime at the heart of it seemed like an awful lot of trouble to go through for the outcome , but since getting his first book under his belt, weak Moore is still pretty sweet stuff, and I do love the smell of cedar.
'Flies. On the glass. Thousands of flies.'"
This book reminds me of an article I read a month ago about how smartphones are literally changing the way people's brains work, ruining our concentration, executive function, and memory as well as destroying our relationships with the people we spend physical time with (I wish I could find the exact article so I could quote the passage where it says that hey, maybe children should just get used to being ignored by parents who favor their phones which henceforth has filled me with shame every time I reach for my phone when I'm at home and thus is why I've read eleven books in the past month, since it seems more wholesome to ignore my kid in favor of books instead of Twitter). While featuring Jonathan Moore's trademark neon lights shining through the mist, endless Bay area fog, a complete lack of sunshine, and hard-boiled dudes and mysterious femmes with lovely profiles and evocative perfume, this also contains drones that look like sparrows, a Black Dahlia rip-off killer, and a nefarious, city-spanning corporation with a finger in every pie This is probably the weakest of Moore's loose San Fran trilogy for me, maybe because the crime at the heart of it seemed like an awful lot of trouble to go through for the outcome , but since getting his first book under his belt, weak Moore is still pretty sweet stuff, and I do love the smell of cedar.
Read
July 19, 2017"Do you ever think there's maybe something that's gone wrong with the world?"
The setting is San Francisco, but in a possibly near future time, when Inspector Ross Carver and his partner Jenner come upon a sight so unusual -- well the dead body part is not out of the ordinary -- it's the fact that it looks like it is has been cooked and eaten that takes them by surprise. Moments later, the FBI storms their scene and whisks them off to be decontaminated. Carver wakes a few days later to find his neighbor, Mia, reading to him. What follows is an incredible tale of greed and memory manipulation that has affected the entire society.
This was such a fast paced, action packed thriller that I could not put it down once I read the first few lines. The writing is excellent and the characters are immediately compelling as is the story line. It's part a scary treatise on what is happening in the lives of consumers, and also a complex mystery involving a shady fringe group and a diabolical scheme. There's a bit of a sci-fi element to the narrative and I absolutely loved the theme and the execution of the book's premise. I've only previously read THE DARK ROOM by this author, but am dying to get a hold of the other book in this literary triptych, THE POISON ARTIST. The picture that the author paints of a world in decline is enough to make me take a step back from my daily life and contemplate this alternate reality. It could happen.
Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the e-book ARC to read and review. I just got the approval today and couldn't wait to get to it and read it in one sitting. Highly recommended!
The setting is San Francisco, but in a possibly near future time, when Inspector Ross Carver and his partner Jenner come upon a sight so unusual -- well the dead body part is not out of the ordinary -- it's the fact that it looks like it is has been cooked and eaten that takes them by surprise. Moments later, the FBI storms their scene and whisks them off to be decontaminated. Carver wakes a few days later to find his neighbor, Mia, reading to him. What follows is an incredible tale of greed and memory manipulation that has affected the entire society.
This was such a fast paced, action packed thriller that I could not put it down once I read the first few lines. The writing is excellent and the characters are immediately compelling as is the story line. It's part a scary treatise on what is happening in the lives of consumers, and also a complex mystery involving a shady fringe group and a diabolical scheme. There's a bit of a sci-fi element to the narrative and I absolutely loved the theme and the execution of the book's premise. I've only previously read THE DARK ROOM by this author, but am dying to get a hold of the other book in this literary triptych, THE POISON ARTIST. The picture that the author paints of a world in decline is enough to make me take a step back from my daily life and contemplate this alternate reality. It could happen.
Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the e-book ARC to read and review. I just got the approval today and couldn't wait to get to it and read it in one sitting. Highly recommended!
March 6, 2018
Jonathan Moore’s sci-fi /detective mutt of a book, The Night Market, takes place in a future of extreme and unbridled retail. The uncontrollable urge to snatch any item close at hand, the incessant compulsion to seize stuff, regardless if you need it or not runs rampant throughout the San Francisco populace. Though, in hindsight, I did not need to read Moore’s book to experience this, I went to Costco last Saturday morning and experienced it first hand. And it was horrible, the angry herds thundering towards the free food samples, crazed and out of control. My seven-year-old son was engulfed in a swarm of ravenous retirees by the Kirkland bruschetta display. I managed to just grab his hand before we were swept up in an onrushing horde of the famished. They kept screaming: “The Oreo Dream cheesecake is over here!” Or, “there’s jumbo shrimp with cocktail sauce in aisle 20!”
“Make it stop, daddy, make it stop,” my boy, Monte, screamed.
“You animals!“ I roared. “You mud-sucking swines, get away from my child, and this very delicious bacon sample!” I ripped open an outrageously sized crate of hard salami and brandished a four foot long cured sausage like a death-dealing shillelagh. Anyone getting too close to my kid or my delicious bacon taster perched delicately upon a soda cracker would be bludgeoned into next week!
But back to The Night Market. Inspector Ross Carver and his partner are called out on a particularly nasty call. A putrefying body is quickly being devoured by some unnaturally expeditious means. Before they can do much more than take a gander at the melting corpse, they are nabbed by several FBI agents, hosed down quicker than a Kappa Delta coed at a Spring Break bar, decontaminated, and then drugged and memory wiped. Carver wakes unable to recall the last several days, smack in the middle of a perplexing and bloody mystery. What exactly happened and why? He doesn’t know whom he is dealing with but they wield advanced medical technology and an unforgiving mindset so he needs to stay on his toes if he wishes to survive.
Moore does an exceptional job of world building in this futuristic tale. Everything is grounded and vivid, and while it may not be the future we would hope for—in fact it is a pretty horrible and bleak destiny—sadly, it’s definitely one we could get. Inspector Carver’s mission unraveling this mystery is driving and dramatic. The secrets are surprising. This was a rousing tale and maybe a warning for where our out of wack consumer priorities will have us headed.
“Make it stop, daddy, make it stop,” my boy, Monte, screamed.
“You animals!“ I roared. “You mud-sucking swines, get away from my child, and this very delicious bacon sample!” I ripped open an outrageously sized crate of hard salami and brandished a four foot long cured sausage like a death-dealing shillelagh. Anyone getting too close to my kid or my delicious bacon taster perched delicately upon a soda cracker would be bludgeoned into next week!
But back to The Night Market. Inspector Ross Carver and his partner are called out on a particularly nasty call. A putrefying body is quickly being devoured by some unnaturally expeditious means. Before they can do much more than take a gander at the melting corpse, they are nabbed by several FBI agents, hosed down quicker than a Kappa Delta coed at a Spring Break bar, decontaminated, and then drugged and memory wiped. Carver wakes unable to recall the last several days, smack in the middle of a perplexing and bloody mystery. What exactly happened and why? He doesn’t know whom he is dealing with but they wield advanced medical technology and an unforgiving mindset so he needs to stay on his toes if he wishes to survive.
Moore does an exceptional job of world building in this futuristic tale. Everything is grounded and vivid, and while it may not be the future we would hope for—in fact it is a pretty horrible and bleak destiny—sadly, it’s definitely one we could get. Inspector Carver’s mission unraveling this mystery is driving and dramatic. The secrets are surprising. This was a rousing tale and maybe a warning for where our out of wack consumer priorities will have us headed.
January 18, 2018
Thank you to HMH Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!
I hadn't heard must about Jonathan Moore or his bother books before picking up THE NIGHT MARKET, but I will definitely have to go back and visit his previous work. This was a dark thriller meets sci-fi set in the not-so-distant future and it grabbed me right from the start.
Late one night, Inspector Ross Carver is investigating a crime scene of a single male victim in one of the last luxury homes in the area. The strange part is that he's covered in a substance that is eating through his skin. Before Carver can investigate further, FBI agents invade his crime scene and quickly escort him away to be disinfected and forced to drink some liquid. What follows are seizures and shock-enduced coma and him regaining consciousness two days later.
His neighbor, Mia, is in his apartment with him. He has no memory of what happened or what he saw at the crime scene. Mia informs him that he was poisoned - at least that's what the police told her that carried him home. Can he trust what Mia is telling him? Will he be able to get to the bottom of what happened to him and why did the FBI remove him so quickly and erase him memory?
The mystery surrounding this story was great. It kept me reeled in and I needed to know what happened to him and what that unknown substance was. Moore can weave a thrilling story, there's no doubt about that. I'm not the biggest sci-fi reader, but I'm glad I picked this one up. It's always good to step outside your comfort genres every once in awhile. There is a romance element to this story as well, but I didn't find it to be too overwhelming to the story.
Overall, if you want a dark sci-fi mystery, then you need to check out THE NIGHT MARKET. It'll grab you and not let go!
I give this 4/5 stars!
I hadn't heard must about Jonathan Moore or his bother books before picking up THE NIGHT MARKET, but I will definitely have to go back and visit his previous work. This was a dark thriller meets sci-fi set in the not-so-distant future and it grabbed me right from the start.
Late one night, Inspector Ross Carver is investigating a crime scene of a single male victim in one of the last luxury homes in the area. The strange part is that he's covered in a substance that is eating through his skin. Before Carver can investigate further, FBI agents invade his crime scene and quickly escort him away to be disinfected and forced to drink some liquid. What follows are seizures and shock-enduced coma and him regaining consciousness two days later.
His neighbor, Mia, is in his apartment with him. He has no memory of what happened or what he saw at the crime scene. Mia informs him that he was poisoned - at least that's what the police told her that carried him home. Can he trust what Mia is telling him? Will he be able to get to the bottom of what happened to him and why did the FBI remove him so quickly and erase him memory?
The mystery surrounding this story was great. It kept me reeled in and I needed to know what happened to him and what that unknown substance was. Moore can weave a thrilling story, there's no doubt about that. I'm not the biggest sci-fi reader, but I'm glad I picked this one up. It's always good to step outside your comfort genres every once in awhile. There is a romance element to this story as well, but I didn't find it to be too overwhelming to the story.
Overall, if you want a dark sci-fi mystery, then you need to check out THE NIGHT MARKET. It'll grab you and not let go!
I give this 4/5 stars!
September 29, 2017
Brilliant is the only word to define this book. It was extremely captivating and I'm positive that it'll be one of the best books you'll read in 2018!
Also a big thanks to NetGalley for giving me an ARC of it.
Also a big thanks to NetGalley for giving me an ARC of it.
March 10, 2023
3.4⭐
A skillfully written dark thriller, with a science fiction undertone courtesy of Phillip K Dick. San Francisco police Inspector Ross Carver and his partner are called out to investigate a strangely decomposing body found in an upscale home. They are suddenly and roughly seized and decontaminated by persons identifying themselves as F.B.I. agents. Carver later wakes up at home with no memory of the last two days. Fast paced, with well drawn characters the story is also a morality play about corporate greed, rampant consumerism and the potential evils of technology misused. Suspension of disbelief required is mild to moderate. There are several unlikely coincidences but they're cleverly explained. Not as complex or original as Jeff Noon's Nyquist mysteries, which I've been recently reading, still a better than average example of it's kind. I'll most likely be reading more of Moore. -30-
A skillfully written dark thriller, with a science fiction undertone courtesy of Phillip K Dick. San Francisco police Inspector Ross Carver and his partner are called out to investigate a strangely decomposing body found in an upscale home. They are suddenly and roughly seized and decontaminated by persons identifying themselves as F.B.I. agents. Carver later wakes up at home with no memory of the last two days. Fast paced, with well drawn characters the story is also a morality play about corporate greed, rampant consumerism and the potential evils of technology misused. Suspension of disbelief required is mild to moderate. There are several unlikely coincidences but they're cleverly explained. Not as complex or original as Jeff Noon's Nyquist mysteries, which I've been recently reading, still a better than average example of it's kind. I'll most likely be reading more of Moore. -30-
February 14, 2018
Part crime, part dystopian sci fi, part literary crime, part romance this has everything. Out of the 2 thag I've read so far this was by far the strongest. The characters are new and the style of book is different, but the dark undertones are still all Moore. Really enjoyed this. My only flaw was that at times I felt the plotting was a bit disjointed. Things were mentioned and then not brought up again many pages later. Will read the 2nd book even though Ive read this to complete this weirdly compelling thriller series.
June 12, 2018
I loved, loved, loved it! I must admit I had no idea what to expect when I started this book but it sucked me in from the first page. It wasn't long before I was thinking - what the actual fuck is going on here?
The Night Market is a delicious, somewhat dystopian look at the near future, it's a vision of how things could be and it's not pretty. But the writing and plot had me transported. It's Gotham City, Sin City with Bruce Willis or Mickey Rourke playing the lead cop, inspector Ross Carver. There's a hint of Bladerunner so I can see Sean Young there as well, maybe not as Mia, she would have to be a delicate blonde but definitely the singer, Hadley. The future has never looked so shiny, or so bleak. But roll up folks and buy the latest gadgets - you know you want to! You can't help yourself. Think Umbrella Corporation, there's no virus but the danger is just as deadly and contagious.
Can a small band of brave souls put a dent in the voracious capitalist machine that controls our lives. you'd better hope so or this future might be here before you know it. Phew, i think I managed to give you a flavor without any actual clues. Trust me it's better that way. And put your smartphone down right now!
I'll say one thing for Jonathan Moore, his books are all very different. This one is by the best in my opinion and I'll certainly keep an eye out for his next one.
The Night Market is a delicious, somewhat dystopian look at the near future, it's a vision of how things could be and it's not pretty. But the writing and plot had me transported. It's Gotham City, Sin City with Bruce Willis or Mickey Rourke playing the lead cop, inspector Ross Carver. There's a hint of Bladerunner so I can see Sean Young there as well, maybe not as Mia, she would have to be a delicate blonde but definitely the singer, Hadley. The future has never looked so shiny, or so bleak. But roll up folks and buy the latest gadgets - you know you want to! You can't help yourself. Think Umbrella Corporation, there's no virus but the danger is just as deadly and contagious.
Can a small band of brave souls put a dent in the voracious capitalist machine that controls our lives. you'd better hope so or this future might be here before you know it. Phew, i think I managed to give you a flavor without any actual clues. Trust me it's better that way. And put your smartphone down right now!
I'll say one thing for Jonathan Moore, his books are all very different. This one is by the best in my opinion and I'll certainly keep an eye out for his next one.
September 29, 2018
Witty post-apocalyptic satire on gotta-have-it consumerism and the unseen forces that exploit our desires.
Kind of an up-to-the-minute rewriting of 1984, with a more wistfully idealistic hero and much less sociological or political analysis. The book instead works as a police procedural. It's the culmination of a trilogy set in San Francisco, but also works for readers new to the series, as I am.
January 10, 2018
The Night Market by Jonathan Moore is a futuristic dystopian thriller with just the right amount of romance added into the mix for those who like a little bit of spark in their books! It kept me turning pages, eager to know what happens next as the plot barrelled on.
I didn't realise this book was the third part of a series of standalones with each book set in the same world yet following different storylines. This in no way affected my reading experience, everything was introduced exceedingly well and in such great detail that I could probably have painted a picture of each scene!
The story starts when detective Ross Carver and his partner Jenner get a phone call late one Thursday night and are called to the scene of a crime so bizarre that neither of them have seen anything like it before. A man is found dead in his bedroom, covered in a substance that is eating its way through his skin. The neighbours say they witnessed him, naked and screaming, desperately beating against the bedroom window as though to escape.
Before the detectives can get a closer look, the FBI burst in, suited in Hazmats with guns pointed their way, demanding that they evacuate the house immediately. They are ushered into an emergency decontamination unit outside with no explanations and are forced to take a strange liquid that quickly renders them unconscious.
They each wake up back in their own homes, three days later, with no memory what-so-ever of the whole ordeal. We then follow them as they try to piece together their fragmented memories and untangle themselves from the web of lies that has been spun around them.
The plot was fast-paced and filled to the brim with action. It was a thrilling ride from beginning to end, and I would highly recommend both the author and this book to those interested in stories that engage the mind and make you question everything that you think you know. Heart-racing, filled with plenty twists-and-turns and simply phenomenal. 4 very well-deserved stars.
I received this ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I didn't realise this book was the third part of a series of standalones with each book set in the same world yet following different storylines. This in no way affected my reading experience, everything was introduced exceedingly well and in such great detail that I could probably have painted a picture of each scene!
The story starts when detective Ross Carver and his partner Jenner get a phone call late one Thursday night and are called to the scene of a crime so bizarre that neither of them have seen anything like it before. A man is found dead in his bedroom, covered in a substance that is eating its way through his skin. The neighbours say they witnessed him, naked and screaming, desperately beating against the bedroom window as though to escape.
Before the detectives can get a closer look, the FBI burst in, suited in Hazmats with guns pointed their way, demanding that they evacuate the house immediately. They are ushered into an emergency decontamination unit outside with no explanations and are forced to take a strange liquid that quickly renders them unconscious.
They each wake up back in their own homes, three days later, with no memory what-so-ever of the whole ordeal. We then follow them as they try to piece together their fragmented memories and untangle themselves from the web of lies that has been spun around them.
The plot was fast-paced and filled to the brim with action. It was a thrilling ride from beginning to end, and I would highly recommend both the author and this book to those interested in stories that engage the mind and make you question everything that you think you know. Heart-racing, filled with plenty twists-and-turns and simply phenomenal. 4 very well-deserved stars.
I received this ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
January 19, 2018
My first Jonathan Moore book! A dystopian sci-fi "thriller" set in a unique world. Quite an intriguing read.
A bit mobster feel, tied in with sci-fi themes with memory loss and a weird gray moss that turns people into pulp. WHAT?! After being around this element, Carver and his partner Jenner, wake up days later with no memory of the event and things just don't make sense.
I felt there were a ton of elements to this story - thriller, mobster, sci-fi and romance. At times it felt all over the place and I felt like maybe I had also been introduced to this memory loss poisoning thing that was happening to Carver. WHY CAN'T I REMEMBER WHAT'S HAPPENING??? The author did a great job in making some lighter moments happen mixed in with the darker theme. Quite frankly, I may start peeling the labels off my wine bottles like Mia does. I really love the idea of this! I did get a little lost along the way, yet I was absolutely and totally intrigued with this book. It's a weird mixture of feeling to have when reading a book. Sci-fi isn't necessarily my go-to genre, so please take that into account. (I believe someone once said that it's only sci-fi if you don't believe!).
I could've done without the romance - I felt it was a bit too much in this read. I also didn't feel connected to any of the characters. I'm not sure if it's because of the way the world is and that's how people just are... or if there was just something missing for me that I can't quite pin point. While I needed to know what was going to happen and was absolutely interested in the storyline, it just didn't QUITE work for me as well as I had hoped it would. Things felt a little bit rushed at the end. I do admire the author's unique writing style and think this is better suited for those who really like those sci-fi books with a little strange.
Thank you to HMH Books for this copy!
A bit mobster feel, tied in with sci-fi themes with memory loss and a weird gray moss that turns people into pulp. WHAT?! After being around this element, Carver and his partner Jenner, wake up days later with no memory of the event and things just don't make sense.
I felt there were a ton of elements to this story - thriller, mobster, sci-fi and romance. At times it felt all over the place and I felt like maybe I had also been introduced to this memory loss poisoning thing that was happening to Carver. WHY CAN'T I REMEMBER WHAT'S HAPPENING??? The author did a great job in making some lighter moments happen mixed in with the darker theme. Quite frankly, I may start peeling the labels off my wine bottles like Mia does. I really love the idea of this! I did get a little lost along the way, yet I was absolutely and totally intrigued with this book. It's a weird mixture of feeling to have when reading a book. Sci-fi isn't necessarily my go-to genre, so please take that into account. (I believe someone once said that it's only sci-fi if you don't believe!).
I could've done without the romance - I felt it was a bit too much in this read. I also didn't feel connected to any of the characters. I'm not sure if it's because of the way the world is and that's how people just are... or if there was just something missing for me that I can't quite pin point. While I needed to know what was going to happen and was absolutely interested in the storyline, it just didn't QUITE work for me as well as I had hoped it would. Things felt a little bit rushed at the end. I do admire the author's unique writing style and think this is better suited for those who really like those sci-fi books with a little strange.
Thank you to HMH Books for this copy!
July 31, 2017
I confess this is my first Jonathan Moore book but it won't be my last! Set in the near future, homicide detectives, Carver and Jenner are called to a suspicious scene where they encounter what can only be called an X-files sort of situation that leaves them both with no memories of what happened. When Carver awakens in his own bed, he finds his lovely neighbor, Mia reading aloud to him and she has been caring for him for two days. Intrigued, he tries to discover more about her while struggling to regain his own memories. But none of this is easy and as he and Jenner are drawn deeper into a mysterious plot involving mind-control and murder, he realizes there is more to Mia than meets the eye. Can she be trusted? Frighteningly real and tightly paced, this book is a great thriller!
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