Queenpin: A Novel

It didn't hit me until the very end of the book that our heroine was never even given a name. That's because she rules the narrative with her forceful, first-person account of how she went from a pencil-pushing, sweater-wearing 9-to-5er to a "queenpin." I've only read Abbott's young adult novels before this one and one of the things, okay, two of the things, that I've always liked about them are the fiercely intense, fiercely rivalrous homoerotic relationships between her female heroines, and the fact that she lets them be bad people if she wants, without judgement.I don't usually like crime noir fiction because I feel like a lot of it is very misogynistic. And yeah, you might be thinking, "But wait, Nenia, you read bodice-rippers, you of all people shouldn't be talking about misogynistic." It's true that bodice-rippers sometimes carry an internalized misogyny of their own class, but it's penned by women, from a woman's gaze. It's an entirely different sort of misogyny than the variety where the heroine is constantly written from the male gaze, even as she's looking at herself in the bathroom mirror, and every "strong" heroine must be given a history of (usually sexual) abuse, and all of the men toss off bigoted one-liners while getting called "smooth" and "tough" in reviews.Awful things happen to our plucky unnamed heroine and the woman who takes her under her marabou boa-wearing wing. They do awful things to other people. But both of them are full of agency, and I can't tell you how satisfying it was to see these women doing the things that men do, and taking advantage of that sexism to, in some cases literally, get away with murder. QUEENPIN is literally a Lana Del Rey song come to life, and if the idea of that appeals to you, put on Ultraviolence, plug in your ear buds, and just bask in the truly messed up glory that is QUEENPIN.Here's looking at you, kid.3 to 3.5 stars

This novel was a great change of pace for me. The narrator is a young woman from a small, undistinguished city who gets a job keeping the books at a small casino and quickly uses her looks and intelligence to start moving up in the underworld.Her sponsor is Gloria Denton, a legend in this noir world: closing on middle age, but still beautiful -- and even more smart and dangerous. Our narrator idolizes Denton and wants to prove herself worthy of her attention and perhaps one day becoming her equal. Denton herself, tough as nails though she is, appears to genuinely like her apprentice, taking pleasure in teaching her how to dress and telling her what she needs to know to thrive in gangland.But, because this is a noir, trouble comes in the form of a member of the opposite sex. Soon passion, lies, and violence complicate the relationship between mistress and apprentice, and our narrator has to make life or death choices about where her loyalty lies.The book is well-written, and I didn't even notice until I was 2/3 of the way through that we never learn the narrator's name. Others address her with nicknames and she never shares the truth with us. Which only makes sense. You never know who to trust in this world.I'm definitely going to check out Megan Abbot's other noir novels.

The noir mimicry is near perfect in this modern noir that is set in the fifties in Las Vegas but is knowingly subverted by inverting the usual gender roles and stereotypes. A young woman, keeping the books in a seedy club is rescued and mentored by a woman who has been in the know since the days of Bugsy Segal, the infamous Gloria Denton. The nameless young woman gets a thorough tutelage in all things financially mercenary as well as how to hold and carry herself in the crime world and how to spot the grift.And then she meets the man that tempts her to betray her mentor and herself with predictable results. I can't fault Abott's writing or her mimicry or even her plot, but Queenpin felt too aware of itself to me. Rather than being one of those dark dispatches from the underworld that characterizes old and new noir, Queenpin felt like an exercise in revealing the ultimate silliness of all those femme fatales and the chumps who loved them by making a transparant homme fatale. Not that this is a bad mark to shoot for it just fell a little flat for me, thought rather than felt. That said, Megan Abott is still a very interesting writer and Queenpin is still worth a look especially for fans of noir both old and new.

QUEENPIN was my first introduction to Megan Abbott, based on a Kemper review of said author, not said novel, but it certainly won't be my last. The voice carried me like a tumbleweed in the middle of New Mexico. It sang like a blue canary in the middle of spring. It had heart, promise...Well, you get the idea.The unnamed narrator proved every bit as powerful as she did mysterious. She jumped up on stage, fully exposed, front and center, with hardly a stitch on her, and proceeded to take on all comers. She had guts, panache, and often a clever way with words. She showed first-hand why noir novels can be such powerful reads. While we saw the other characters through her eyes, they were fully fleshed out as well.The story was raw, exposed, and everything a great noir should be. I don't know if I'd call QUEENPIN great, as it had a few flaws, like all the characters within the confines of the novel, but it was a damn fine read.The storyline clipped along at a thoroughbred pace, and like the main character, I raced rather dramatically toward the ending. As for the ending, it may not have been a complete surprise, but it wrapped up the story rather nicely. If you like noir, especially with a female lead, you may want to hop on the Megan Abbott bandwagon. And have your red flag ready, you're probably going to need it.Robert DownsAuthor of Falling Immortality: Casey Holden, Private Investigator

This is a straight forward hard boiled novel, which leans into tropes, has a lot of cliches and relies on stupid decisions to drive the plot. I was disappointed as Abbott is a highly regarded writer. I thought it was entertaining but the characters were too thin and the writing was not particularly atmospheric (which I think is important in noir to build the world and help suspend reality).

When a young woman is taken under the wing by mob Queenpin Gloria Denton what starts out as an exhilarating journey of crime, gambling, wealth and discovery gradually ends up in a vicious cat and mouse game of survival. At the centre of the novel is the relationship between the two women – master and apprentice until a man comes between them and then a battle of wits ensues. Author Megan Abbott creates a refreshing spin on the noir crime genre that keeps the reader gripped with twists and turns right to the bitter end. Queenpin is a book that I’d highly recommend to any crime fiction fan.

Megan Abbott is my hero. This book changed how I see noir, and I bought her three other noir novels (Die A Little, Bury Me Deep, and The Song Is You) just on the back of this one, no hesitation. I've never read female characters like these. The voices are so authentic yet complex, meaty and gritty with such substance. I recommend this book to everyone I can, even buying them their own copies to get them to read it. Queenpin is the final word in any argument that noir doesn't work with female protagonists. I wish I could read it again and again.

I’ve dipped into this genre to see if it’s for me but it’s not really. Decent enough little book and fans will love it so don’t let a non believer put you off!

This book is amazing. I can't praise it enough. It's an absolute triumph for voice, style and craft – and it's packed with the darkest, richest noir passion. If you like a classic, hardboiled noir voice, read this book. If you want to learn to write like a true master, read this book. In terms of sheer craft, 99% of writers can't get within a million miles of Megan Abbott.