60 episodes
Point Blank: Hardboiled, Noir, & Detective Fiction Justin & Kurt
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4.6 • 49 Ratings
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Point Blank is a podcast about hardboiled, noir, and detective fiction. Mixing serious analysis and humor, the co-hosts (Justin and Kurt) discuss a classic or contemporary work of crime fiction each episode. In addition to major works, they offer shorter reviews, and examine noir-ish topics such as alcoholism in detective fiction, the femme fatale, and race and labor in crime fiction. Stroll with Kurt and Justin down the rain drenched alleys and mean streets as they explore the fascinating world of crime fiction.
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E56 -- Five Round Reviews
In Episode 57, we review the hell out of nearly a dozen books, + a couple films!
We review:
Run Man Run by Chester Himes
Plan B by Chester Himes
Darktown by Thomas Mullen
The Man with the Getaway Face by Richard Stark
If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned by Walter Mosley
M. Ravenel's The Arrangement
Champagne Cowboys by Leo W. Banks
Freebooters : A Novel by Elleston Trevor
Satan Takes the Helm by Calvin Clements
The Shadow of What We Were by Luis Sepulveda
Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand
Get in touch with the show: pointblanknoir@gmail.com
Find us on Facebook and join our Facebook group: Point Blank: Hardboiled, Noir and Detective Fiction
Twitter: @pointblanknoir
Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/point-blank-hardboiled-noir-detective-fiction/id1276038868
Support the show: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pointblankcrime
Don’t forget to rate us on Apple Podcasts and share the show with your friends! -
E 55 -- S.A. Cosby -- Blacktop Wasteland
Buckle your seat belts! This is going to be a wild ride!
We take a deep dive into "Blacktop Wasteland" by SA Cosby, a novel we both describe as a modern classic.
Cosby takes us on a journey through the rural hills of Virginia for an exhilarating, timely work that highlights everything modern noir crime fiction has to offer.
Get in touch with the show:
pointblanknoir@gmail.com
Find us on Facebook and join our Facebook group to discuss these books with other listeners.
Point Blank: Hardboiled, Noir and Detective Fiction -
E 54 -- Raymond Chandler -- Farewell, My Lovely
In Episode 45, we revisit to one of the masters of hardboiled detective crime fiction, Raymond Chandler, and his acclaimed second novel, Farewell, My Lovely.
Damn, this book is boozy. (And racist!) But also rich with memorable secondary characters (Moose Malloy & Jessie Florian) & Marloweian one-liners.
It's a classic example of hardboiled detective fiction that finds Chandler at his most Chandleresque.
Get in touch with the show:
Twitter: @pointblanknoir
Facebook: Point Blank: Hardboiled, Noir, and Detective Fiction
Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/point-blank-hardboiled-noir-detective-fiction/id1276038868
Website: www.pointblankpodcast.com
Support the show:
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pointblankcrime
Don’t forget to rate us on Apple Podcasts and share the show with your friends! -
E53: Strap on Your Rocket Shoes, It's Time to Review Some Spy Fiction
We follow up our discussion of Spy Fiction from E52 with more in-depth reviews of books we read for the show.
Books covered:
'A Coffin for Dimitrios' by Eric Ambler
'The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare' by GK Chesterton
'Moonraker' by Ian Fleming
'Spies of the Balkans' and 'Red Gold' by Alan Furst
'The Spy In the Ointment' by Donald Westlake
'The Quiet American' by Graham Greene
'Agent Running in the Field' by John Le Carre
'The Berlin Memorandum' and 'The 9th Directive' by Adam Hall
'Slow Horses' by Mick Herron
Get in touch with the show!
Find us on Facebook 'Point Blank: Hardboiled, Noir, and Detective Fiction'
Send us an email at pointblanknoir@gmail.com -
E52: To Spy Fiction With Love
From the shadows, we emerge to discuss the huge topic of spy fiction. We look at this genre in broad strokes, covering nearly a century of spy novels. I'm sure we've missed a lot, so if you have books we should have covered, get in touch.
Please find us on Facebook at Point Blank: Hardboiled, Noir, and Detective Fiction.
Join our Facebook Group or find the Point Blank group on GoodReads.
Send us an email: pointblanknoir@gmail.com -
Cinema Spotlight: "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"
Enjoy this mini-episode review of the 2011 film adaptation of John Le Carré's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
Our last episode of 2020. We'll see you next year with a fully rendered episode dedicated to spy fiction.
Customer Reviews
Ep 48
I’m going to go back and listen to more of these. The first thing that impressed me about this podcast was the capital K knowledge of the two hosts. To wit, they UNDERSTAND literature. Specifically, they have a sense what is craft, of what it is that makes a species of fiction shine or fall flat. Right and left these guys make pointed observations and references about specific sub-genres and about subtle stylistic effects in the works under discussion. It’s like they’re university English department faculty, but minus the boredom. Also, the podcast is PROFESSIONAL in its manner. Viz., the hosts have clearly prepared the material beforehand, and the talk flows seamlessly, but it’s NEVER stilted. It’s like they’re having a conversation, but there are no “uhms” and “ahhs.” This is a fantastic podcast for fans of crime fiction.
I get it.
Looks like someone just learned all the buzz words and phrases!
Point Blank Does Hawai’i Right
Justin and Kurt have done for Hawai’i what they have done for France, Nigeria, Japan, Brazil, Mexico and others: they’ve introduced noir from Hawai’i to the rest of America, and they’ve done it right. They review and discuss with enthusiasm and thought, and Hawai’i writers are in their debt.
Best of all, they recognize that noir is not only the sole province of the line wolf white guy. They’ve introduced me, and probably countless others, to done truly great reads.
Nobody does noir, hardboiled and detective fiction better. Many say the genre is dying, but thanks to these guys I have hope that it’s patently untrue.
Keep up the good work: noir needs you!