LOOKING INTO THE DARKNESS: DOMENIC STANSBERRY'S THE LIZARD

In the eighties Wild At Heart writer Barry Gifford founded Black Lizard Books . In that original incarnation of the press, not only did Gifford bring back the works of crime writers like Jim Thompson, he also gave a shot to current authors who carried a noir torch and took it to a literary edge. The Lizard, Domenic Stansberry's latest in over, a decade reminded be of those books Barry Gifford oversaw and not just because of the title.

As always Stansberry gives a protagonist both rich in history and flaws. S.E. Reynolds, a once skilled investigative reporter, supports his family and upper middle class lifestyle as a political speechwriter. Past and present clash when his affair goes awry, an old colleague goes missing, and a body is discovered. It pulls all pulls him into a shadowy conspiracy that puts his life and those he loves on the line.

Stanberry's plot and prose moves through subgenges and transforms his protagonist. After opening flashback, it begins as an investigative thriller,with Reynolds looking into the disappearance, it slides into a suspense cover up as he struggles to distance himself from the truth he's discovered is connected to himself, it then hints at what that beginning hinted at with a downward spiral. He deftly movs the setting from a tony, professional California to a sleazy New Mexico desert community.

Stansberry carries a gift for tapping into noir's psychology.He uncovers the Achilles heel of his protagonist and pokes at it to the extreme.. He pushes Reynolds and reader on less than solid ground where both question his sanity.

Molotov Press out of San Francisco published The Lizard as well as brought back his earlier book, The White Devil.. In many ways they carry the torch for what Gifford started It's great match of an author and publisher who both journey into the darkest pockets ot noir.