The Goodbye Coast: A Philip Marlowe Novel

Ide, author of the acclaimed “IQ” mysteries, gives crime fiction buffs a modern Philip Marlowe with all of the original’s determination, attitude, and charm, plus some 21st-century angst. Raymond Chandler’s iconic PI reimagined has a decade of investigative experience but still harbors anger toward his father. Emmett, once a legend in the LAPD, is a grieving alcoholic on permanent leave. Marlowe’s straightforward missing-persons case—diva mother, dead father, runaway teenager—turns messy when he rescues the girl from a shooter but has no safe house better than Emmett’s. Teen meets curmudgeon, and playfully performed bickering ensues. The narration shines here. Adam voices Marlowe with a touch of Hollywood deadpan, though never Bogarts it. This nostalgic glow cools as L.A.’s criminal underground surfaces leads, and threats. Armenian gangbangers, Russian gangsters, a British woman as Client B, and a chorus of diverse Angelenos speak with convincing, consistent accents reflecting many backgrounds, bringing the Golden Age up to now. As the pressure rises, Adam’s narration intensifies.